Union's women start 1-1 at Nuremberg - Heiseler sets an example!

Union's women start 1-1 at Nuremberg - Heiseler sets an example!

1. FC Union Berlin celebrated a remarkable debut in the women's Bundesliga on September 7, 2025, when the team achieved a 1-1 draw against 1. FC Nürnberg at the An der Alten Försterei stadium. Despite the disappointment of the draw, the game was a historic moment for the club, scoring their first Bundesliga goal and attracting a strong crowd of around 11,000 spectators. Lisa Heiseler converted a hand penalty in the 41st minute to make it 1-0 for Union. Selma Licina then secured Nuremberg the point with her equalizer in the 90th minute.

In the game, Union Berlin clearly dominated the statistics: they had 27 shots on goal, while Nuremberg only sank 6. In addition, Union Berlin played 434 passes compared to 219 from Nuremberg and received 15 corners. Despite this superiority, the Union women were unable to achieve the desired victory, which disappointed Heiseler, who was previously named Union Footballer of the Year 2025. Licina, on the other hand, praised the point win for Nuremberg.

Atmospheric atmosphere and innovative activities

The Sunday evening kick-off time proved unpopular with fans as the summer holidays ended that weekend. To improve the experience for the young spectators, Union Berlin handed out school bags with surprises and letters of apology for the children's teachers. This initiative underlined the club's commitment to building a young fan base and promoting women's football.

However, the start of the women's Bundesliga was not only important for Union Berlin. There were also many other exciting games in the same round. Bayern Leverkusen won in front of a record crowd and SC Freiburg found themselves in an exciting duel with Bremen, where a penalty in the final phase ended the game 1-1. At the same time, Wolfsburg found control of a game against Hamburger SV, in which HSV equalized in stoppage time.

Growing interest in women's football

At the same time, the entire women's Bundesliga has increased in popularity. According to one Sports show report The league recorded record numbers of both spectator numbers and financial income in the 2023/2024 season. However, the fundamental challenges still exist as the clubs are not yet profitable and the average negative season result per club is around 1.9 million euros.

Nevertheless, the DFB sees the development as positive and plans to expand the league from twelve to 14 teams next season. This could not only strengthen the league's financial foundation, but also focus attention on professionalization and growth in women's football. Viewership reached a new record of 379,653 spectators across 22 match days, demonstrating the growing interest and commitment in this sport.

With the 1-1 draw, Union Berlin got off to a promising start and shows that women's football in Germany is on the right track. The fans can hope for more exciting encounters and continued growing interest in the women's Bundesliga.