Our Bundesliga women's team are to start a new chapter when they return to training on Monday 14 July. Their preparations for the first season in Austria's top flight mark another important step in our work in women's football. After we competed last season with an U20 team (as a second team of FC Bergheim) in the Future League and an U16 team, we are now bidding to make our mark on the highest possible level in Austria.

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Our head coach Dusan Pavlovic, whose assistants include Isabella Schweighofer and goalkeeper coach Carolin Grössinger, will lead his charges for the first time on Monday at 18:00 in the Rif training centre. On the question of what the focus should be on in the first pre-season before top-flight football, the coach said:

Our aim is to establish ourselves as quickly as possible at this level - just as the U16 and U20 teams managed. The pre-season provides an essential basis in which it will be important to prepare as best as possibly physically, tactically and technically. We want to grow together further as a team. It's clear to us that it will be a very difficult challenge, and we have a lot to do on all levels.

Dusan Pavlovic

Squad continuity

Due to the very good development in last season's U20 league, there have been few changes needed to the squad. Players like Alessia Pamminger, Sara Grabovac, Julia Grünwald and Valentina Akrap, who were playing for the U16 not long ago, remain as key players. Continuity in the squad is a key focus, as Bernd Winkler, the head of women's football at the Red Bulls, explained:

Lots of players have made big steps forward, and we have faith that they will perform well in the Bundesliga too. We want to place our trust in them and only get one or two new players, if we can.

Bernd Winkler

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For this season, Theresa D’Angelo, Lea Krinzinger, Emily Schimm and Lara Ritter (all from Blau-Weiß Linz) and Katja Wienerroither (RB Leipzig) are new to the team.

Friendly matches

As part of their pre-season training, there will be several friendly matches against challenging opponents:

19 July 2025, 13:00 (Munich)
FC Red Bull Salzburg v Wacker Munich
26 July 2025, 13:00 Uhr (Ingolstadt)
FC Red Bull Salzburg v FC Ingolstadt
2 August 2025, 16:00 Uhr (Vienna)
FC Red Bull Salzburg v SK Rapid

When it comes to competitive matches, Pavlovic's side face an ÖFB Cup tie on 9 or 10 August (draw on 17 July) as well as their Women's Bundesliga opener on 16 August away at FC Blau-Weiß Linz/Kleinmünchen (kick-off at 13:30). Home matches will be played at the Red Bull Football Academy in Liefering.

Other teams

Below the Bundesliga women there are currently two other teams that are also in action at the Rif training centre.

The U20w coached by Lukas Hiermann start the Future League on 16 August at the Red Bull Football Academy. They will prepare against Young Violets Austria Vienna (26 July, Vienna), SK Rapid Women II (2 August, Vienna), against Radomlje Women from Slovenia (9 August, Salzburg) and an American women's team (13 August, Bergheim).

For the U16w coached by Lisa-Marie Zmek, there is a novelty. Due to a change in format in the U14 boys' Sparkassenliga (9v9 with small goals) they have left the league and will join ten others in an U16 girl's league, which will operate on a non-competitive basis initially in agreement with the ÖFB.

The U16w will play friend matches against Austria Wien U16w (26 July, Vienna), Radomlje U16w from Slovenia (9 August, Bergheim) and FC Bayern Munich U15w (16 August, Bayern Campus). They are to start the league on 6/7 September against SV Hartberg U16w (in Bergheim).

Our Bundesliga women's team are ready to go