Inka Grings

Former Germany women’s international Inka Grings has been appointed coach of fourth-tier men’s team SV Straelen. At 40 she becomes the first woman to coach a men’s team in the top four German football leagues.

She will share the job with Thomas Drotboom at the ambitious club which is struggling in 13th place in the western division of the regional league.

“I am happy that Inka has accepted. She has a lot of energy and can roll up her sleeves,” Hermann Tecklenburg, chairman of the club, said ahead of Grings’ first training session with the team on Monday night.

Tecklenburg is married to German women’s national team coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg and said he has known Grings for 20 years. He said he had already reached an agreement with Grings to become sports director from next season. That was before poor recent results led to the sacking of the old coach which prompted him to ask her if she could take over.

Grings won 96 Germany caps between 1996 and 2012, scoring 64 goals, and is the all-time leading Bundesliga scorer with 314 goals. She has also coached the women’s Bundesliga team of MSV Duisburg.