FC Carl Zeiss Jena (women)

Carl Zeiss Jena

Ground	Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld
Chairman	Ralf Schmidt-Röh
Manager	Christopher Heck
League	Frauen-Bundesliga
2023–24	2nd of 14 (promoted)
Home colours Away colours

FC Carl Zeiss Jena is a German women's football club from Jena, Thuringia. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the highest level of women's football in Germany.

Carl Zeiss Jena played regional women's football since 2016–17 but became more prominent, when it merged with FF USV Jena in 2020.

History

HSG Uni Jena, USV Jena, FF USV Jena

Former logo of FF USV Jena

After becoming the last East German women's football champion in 1991, Uni Jena was admitted to the Bundesliga after the reunification of Germany. They were relegated after one season and have remained in the second tier league (then Regionalliga, later 2. Bundesliga) since then. In 2003 Jena became champions of the northeastern Regionalliga but failed to achieve promotion to the Bundesliga. The decisive match was lost at home against Hamburger SV. A year later they qualified for the newly founded 2. Bundesliga and were grouped into the southern division.

In 2004 a new women's club was founded, so the USV Jena became the FF USV Jena (FF for Frauenfußball, women's football) ^[1]

In 2005 and 2006 they came in third, in 2007 even in second place. In the 2007–08 season, Jena finished first in the 2. Bundesliga Süd and got promoted to the Bundesliga. In 2008–09 the managed a 9th place and improved to an 8th place the next season. The team's biggest success was reaching the final of the 2009–10 Frauen DFB-Pokal, where they lost 1–0 to FCR 2001 Duisburg.^{[ citation needed ]}

From 1 July 2020 on, the club will play under a new name, after agreeing to a merger with the men's football club Carl Zeiss Jena. ^[2]

Carl Zeiss's women's section

Carl Zeiss entered a women's team in the Thüringenliga, the 4th level, for the first time in the 2017–18 season. It remained in that league for three years, finishing first eventually. ^[3] The team was created by transferring over USV Jena III. USV Jena kept their first two teams.

Merger with Carl Zeiss

After the 2019/20 season FF USV Jena, transferred all their teams to Carl Zeiss Jena, in order to combine forces and benefit of the larger club with its image. ^[4]

Current squad

As of 6 January 2025 ^[5]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   AUT Mariella El Sherif 2 DF   GER Bente Fischer 3 DF   GER Toma Ihlenburg 4 DF   GER Anika Metzner 5 DF   GER Jalysa Stechemesser 6 MF   GER Jenny Beyer 7 FW   GER Melina Reuter 8 DF   GER Felicia Sträßer 10 MF   GER Merza Julević 11 FW   GER Hannah Mesch 12 GK   GER Sofie Lehmann 14 MF   GER Anja Heuschkel 15 DF   GER Luise Wildner

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 DF   GER Lisa Gora 17 FW   GER Nicole Woldmann 18 FW   AUS Anna Margraf 19 MF   GER Hannah Lehmann 20 DF   GER Luca Birkholz 22 MF   GER Fiona Gaißer 23 FW   GHA Josephine Bonsu 24 GK   GER Laura Kiontke 25 MF   GER Noemi Gentile 27 DF   GER Gwen Mummert 28 DF   GER Emily Reske 31 DF   GER Nelly Juckel 49 GK   GER Jasmin Janning

Staff

• Head coach: Florian Kästner
• Assistant coach: Matthias Buszkowiak
• Goalkeeper coach: Luis Urbig
• Fitness coach: Mikkeline Braun

Former notable players

For details of current and former players, see Category:FF USV Jena players.

• Anna Blässe
• Carolin Schiewe
• Ivonne Hartmann
• Sabrina Schmutzler
• Carol Carioca
• Genoveva Añonman
• Adjoa Bayor
• Abby Erceg
• Fata Salkunič
• Lara Keller
• Hannah Keane

References

1. "Interview mit Heidi Vater vom FF USV Jena". Archived from the original on 23 August 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
2. "FF USV schließt sich FC Carl Zeiss Jena an". DFB.de (in German). German Football Association. 28 May 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
3. "Chronik – FC Carl Zeiss Jena – Frauen-Thüringenliga 19/20 – FuPa".
4. "USV Jena: Abstieg und Aufbruch | MDR.DE". www.mdr.de. Archived from the original on 24 July 2020.
5. "Kader / Trainer- & Funktionsteam" (in German). FC Carl Zeiss Jena. Retrieved 17 September 2024.

External links

• Official website
• Official website