A long time ago, she left her small home town in order to conquer the huge footballing world and to lead her national team out onto the pitch as captain. FUSSBALL.DE presents “Where it all began for captains.” Today: Bettina Wiegmann, who joined TSV Feytal because it was the closest pitch to her.
Bettina Wiegmann cannot return to her roots. The honorary team captain of the German Football Association effectively still lives on topsoil. That’s where it all began for the 2003 World Champion, who still lives at home in Eiserfey, just around the corner from TSV Feytal.
The Germany international, who made 154 appearances, is connected to her club as more than just a loose contact. Meanwhile, there are family ties, even if they only go around two corners. “She is the sister-in-law of my daughter,” revealed Johannes Mießeler, who is the chairman of the footballing section of TSV Feytal. But that’s not the only reason as to why it’s easy for him to maintain ties with the most prominent female ambassador at the club. He lives next door to her.
But even so, that’s partly down to Feytal. “We are a small village with 450 inhabitants,” explained Johannes Mießeler. No one misses a trick there, so therefore it’s understandable that he knows everything about Bettina Wiegmann. “I know all about her ups and downs,” said the 65-year-old, who is now retired.
No girls, no problem
He has recently noticed how much the small Bettina Wiegmann has grown up. She made the easy decision to join the club aged six. “It was my home team. It was the closest pitch to me,” she said. But then there were no options in terms of what she could do. The club only had a clay pitch, as they do today. And there was no girls’ team. That hasn’t changed since the end of the 80s.
“There were only two girls, but that wasn’t a problem,” said the four-time European Champion. She had a certain style of recklessness and an undemanding nature. “I played for my will of the game,” she said. She never imagined that that would be where she would take the first steps in her career. Not even in retrospect. “We were coached by former players. They made us work hard,” said Bettina Wiegmann.
But quality was never a problem for her. Johannes Mießeler knows why Bettina Wiegmann joined the club. “She was no way inferior to the boys so therefore they enjoyed playing with her,” he explained. However, she could only play for TSV Feytal until she was eleven. Girls could only play for the boys’ team until they were twelve. Then she left.
“My wish would be an artificial pitch”
Now she is back whenever possible. She watches games. TSV Feytal now exists as part of SG Feytal/Weyer. There are two registered teams- the first and the second team, in the Kreisliga B and C. The youth teams operate under the name SG Mechernich/Feytal. They have eleven teams.
Johannes Mießeler would gladly see more talent in his club. That’s why he would like to make the offer more attractive. But that’s hard when you have to point out that the pitch has floodlights but they are for a red pitch rather than a green one. “My wish would be to have an artificial pitch,” said Johannes Mießeler. “But the town and the club don’t have the means to do so.”
Following in the footsteps of Auntie Tina
A long time ago, she left her small home town in order to conquer the huge footballing world and to lead her national team out onto the pitch as captain. FUSSBALL.DE presents “Where it all began for captains.” Today: Bettina Wiegmann, who joined TSV Feytal because it was the closest pitch to her.
Bettina Wiegmann cannot return to her roots. The honorary team captain of the German Football Association effectively still lives on topsoil. That’s where it all began for the 2003 World Champion, who still lives at home in Eiserfey, just around the corner from TSV Feytal.
The Germany international, who made 154 appearances, is connected to her club as more than just a loose contact. Meanwhile, there are family ties, even if they only go around two corners. “She is the sister-in-law of my daughter,” revealed Johannes Mießeler, who is the chairman of the footballing section of TSV Feytal. But that’s not the only reason as to why it’s easy for him to maintain ties with the most prominent female ambassador at the club. He lives next door to her.
But even so, that’s partly down to Feytal. “We are a small village with 450 inhabitants,” explained Johannes Mießeler. No one misses a trick there, so therefore it’s understandable that he knows everything about Bettina Wiegmann. “I know all about her ups and downs,” said the 65-year-old, who is now retired.
No girls, no problem
He has recently noticed how much the small Bettina Wiegmann has grown up. She made the easy decision to join the club aged six. “It was my home team. It was the closest pitch to me,” she said. But then there were no options in terms of what she could do. The club only had a clay pitch, as they do today. And there was no girls’ team. That hasn’t changed since the end of the 80s.
“There were only two girls, but that wasn’t a problem,” said the four-time European Champion. She had a certain style of recklessness and an undemanding nature. “I played for my will of the game,” she said. She never imagined that that would be where she would take the first steps in her career. Not even in retrospect. “We were coached by former players. They made us work hard,” said Bettina Wiegmann.
But quality was never a problem for her. Johannes Mießeler knows why Bettina Wiegmann joined the club. “She was no way inferior to the boys so therefore they enjoyed playing with her,” he explained. However, she could only play for TSV Feytal until she was eleven. Girls could only play for the boys’ team until they were twelve. Then she left.
“My wish would be an artificial pitch”
Now she is back whenever possible. She watches games. TSV Feytal now exists as part of SG Feytal/Weyer. There are two registered teams- the first and the second team, in the Kreisliga B and C. The youth teams operate under the name SG Mechernich/Feytal. They have eleven teams.
Johannes Mießeler would gladly see more talent in his club. That’s why he would like to make the offer more attractive. But that’s hard when you have to point out that the pitch has floodlights but they are for a red pitch rather than a green one. “My wish would be to have an artificial pitch,” said Johannes Mießeler. “But the town and the club don’t have the means to do so.”
Following in the footsteps of Auntie Tina
But that’s no excuse. The people of Feytal are finding a way. They renovated the home changing rooms recently by themselves. They are also trying to generate some money. Every two months, they club collects, for example, waste paper. The town then pays 42 Euros for every ton. Further “sources of revenue” are the sports meeting with Bambini tournament or the Hüttenabend in January- events that are attended by 140 members. But unfortunately, they still haven’t collected enough money for an artificial pitch.
TSV Feytal would gladly welcome support from Bettina Wiegmann. “We are trying to involve her,” said Johannes Mießeler. “But she doesn’t want that. She is a very modest person.” For the DFB, she is the manager of Germany Girls Under-15s. And it runs in the family with her nieces and nephews. “One of them, who is 14, plays for the youth team of SG Mechernich/Feytal,” explained the chairman. It’s still yet to be seen as to whether she will follow in her auntie’s footsteps. It would be nice if she could- for TSV Feytal.
