"The right time"

ÖFB and team manager Fuhrmann go their separate ways

Irene Fuhrmann will no longer coach the ÖFB women.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Irene Fuhrmann and the Austrian Football Association are going their separate ways. After intensive analysis, the decision was made "that now is the right time for new impulses", the ÖFB announced in a press release on Friday. Fuhrmann was team manager of the women's national team for a total of 53 games. With 28 wins and six draws, the 22-time team player and 129-time Bundesliga player can look back on a positive record.

The move was not an easy one, said Fuhrmann. She had done her job "with one hundred percent passion and commitment right up to the last day", she explained, "but I always emphasized that in the end it wasn't about me personally, but about the further development of the women's national team, the driving force behind Austrian women's soccer as a whole. Having missed out on qualifying for the European Championships, it seems to me that the time is right to make way for new impetus at the top."

The words of ÖFB sports director Peter Schöttel, who recently announced a decision on Fuhrmann's future in the near future, sounded similar. "We can look back on great years and an inspiring EURO 2022 with the women's national team. I would like to thank Irene Fuhrmann for her exceptional commitment and wish her all the best for the future," he was quoted as saying.

Austria's first female team manager
Fuhrmann was appointed in summer 2020 as the successor to Dominik Thalhammer, whose assistant coach she had previously been. She thus became Austria's first female team manager. The highlight of her tenure was qualifying for the 2022 European Championship in England, where the national team made it to the quarter-finals. Fuhrmann's squad narrowly missed out on the historic first World Cup qualification in 2022 and the third consecutive European Championship in December 2024 in the play-off.

Peter Schöttel(Bild: GEPA)

"I am proud to look back on a consistently positive record with first victories against nations such as the Netherlands, Italy and Norway, reaching the World Cup play-off for the first time, winning League A of the Nations League twice and reaching the quarter-finals at Euro 2022," emphasized Fuhrmann. "The improvement from 22nd in the FIFA world rankings to 16th underpins a wonderful journey that is coming to an end here."

Succession to be decided in January
According to the press release, the ÖFB intends to present a successor in January. The search is "ongoing", it said. The next task awaits the ÖFB women on February 21, when the new Nations League kicks off with a home game against Scotland in Ried.

One candidate is the long-time head coach of SKN St. Pölten, Liese Brancao. The Brazilian-born coach gave up her post with the Wolves just a few days ago.