New Eintracht Frankfurt name written in cup history

The club formerly known as FFC Frankfurt has a rich DFB-Pokal Frauen pedigree but they’ll need to see off current cup queens Wolfsburg in the final if they’re to rediscover their glory days, writes Martin Whiteley.

With seven victories across 10 years, FFC Frankfurt were the team to beat in the DFB-Pokal Frauen in the early 2000s.  

Now under the Eintracht Frankfurt name, the club has made it back to this season’s cup final after coming from behind to record a 2-1 home win against Freiburg at the weekend. 

FFC Frankfurt was formed on 1 January 1999, after the women’s department left SG Praunheim. As the first round of that season’s cup competition had already taken place the previous August, the new name for the club was not used until their second-round match. That contest was staged in February when they welcomed TuS Niederkirchen. The change of circumstances provided no real hindrance to FFC as they advanced to the next round after a 3-0 success.    

On June 12, in the Olympic Stadium, Berlin, Nia Kunzer scored the only goal just before the interval as FFC defeated FCR Duisburg to claim their first DFB-Pokal Frauen success.  

The winning team saw Birgit Prinz — holder of both the record number of caps for Germany (214) and goals (128) — in their ranks, whilst current Germany women’s coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg lined up for the losers.

Another 1-0 victory for FFC over FCR Duisburg — thanks to a late own goal from Voss-Tecklenburg — at the end of May 2003, would be the final success of their winning streak.

For the next three years, the team based centrally in Germany had to be content with a place in the final as Turbine Potsdam lifted the trophy on each occasion the two sides met. 

That winning feeling returned for FFC in 2007, when they again defeated FCR, this time on penalties. A 5-1 victory over Saarbrucken allowed them to back that success up the following year too.

With the final now being played at the RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, FFC were finally able to get the better of Turbine Potsdam with a 2-0 win and lifted the trophy again in 2011.

The most recent success — of their still record-setting nine triumphs — came for FFC in 2014. Wolfsburg had claimed their first success in the competition the previous campaign, but FFC were able to eliminate them in the round of 16 and defeated SGS Essen 3-0 in the final.  

If another success is to be achieved for this team from Frankfurt, they will have to overcome the modern-day cup queens Wolfsburg next month. The holders ended the hopes of a domestic and European treble for Bayern Munich this term after a 2-0 win on home soil and will be looking to claim the trophy for the eighth time in the last nine seasons. 

The chances of Eintracht Frankfurt returning to dominate the DFB-Pokal Frauen competition like the previous Frankfurt team are extremely slim. With continued investment, though, there could still be a few more glory days to come going forward for the club with such a rich cup pedigree.

Follow Martin on Twitter at @673martin