Ann-Katrin Berger

Ann-Katrin Berger (born 9 October 1990) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Women's Super League club Chelsea and the Germany national team.

Ann-Katrin Berger
Berger with Germany in 2023
Personal information
Full name Ann-Katrin Berger[1]
Date of birth (1990-10-09) 9 October 1990
Place of birth Göppingen, Germany
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Chelsea
Number 30
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2011 VfL Sindelfingen 12 (0)
2011–2014 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam 19 (0)
2014–2016 Paris Saint-Germain 12 (0)
2016–2018 Birmingham City 33 (0)
2019– Chelsea 61 (0)
International career‡
2009 Germany U19 1 (0)
2020– Germany 6 (0)
Medal record
UEFA Women's Championship
Silver medal – second place2022 England
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:07, 22 October 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:23, 11 April 2023 (UTC)

Early life

At the age of four, Berger began playing football in the KSG Eislingen. As a teenager, she moved to FV Faurndau. She played as a striker, midfielder and defender and only switched to the goal at the age of 16, because she became "lazy to run," and "has grown" again.[2]

Club career

In 2007, she moved up to the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg. A year later, Berger moved to second division side, VfL Sindelfingen.[3] In the summer of 2011, Berger signed a three-year contract with 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam in the Frauen-Bundesliga, the top division in Germany.[3] She made her debut for the club on 21 August 2011 and shut out Hamburger SV 4–0.[4] She made five appearances for the club during the 2011/2012 season playing a total of 450 minutes. Potsdam finished first in the league with an 18–2–2 record.[5] She was the starting goalkeeper in three of Potsdam's 2011–12 UEFA Women's Champions League matches helping the squad earn shut-outs against Þór Akureyri and Glasgow City F.C.[4][6]

Berger signed with Paris Saint-Germain in June 2014, playing 22 matches in all competitions during her two-year spell with the club.[7] In June 2016, she joined Birmingham City.[8]

In November 2017, Berger was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.[9] She made a full recovery. During her battle with cancer, she had a desire to continue playing football. On 4 February 2018, she made her first appearance since being diagnosed with cancer in the Fourth Round of the 2017–18 FA Women's Cup in an away match against Reading. Birmingham won 1–0. With her strong determination she had a brilliant season, and as a result she won the PFA Team of the Year Award.[10]

Berger continued her strong return in 2018, helping Birmingham City to a fourth-place standing after midway point of the 2018–19 FA WSL season. Having run down her contract at Birmingham City and rejected a new offer,[11] she joined reigning champions Chelsea on 4 January 2019.[12] Chelsea manager Emma Hayes signed her as part of the team rebuild even though Chelsea had three other goalkeepers on their roster.[13]

In April 2021, Berger made title winning saves away against Manchester City in a 2–2 draw, as Chelsea fought to preserve their lead at the top of the table.[14] Chelsea and manager Emma Hayes later won their 4th WSL title, the most by any WSL team, by 2 points on the final day of the 2020–21 season with a 5–0 victory over Reading. Chelsea broke the records for most wins (18) and most points (57) in a season, and became just the third team to defend the League title after Liverpool and Arsenal. Berger registered the most clean sheets (12), winning the Golden Glove.[15] On 23 August 2022 Berger announced, that she was suffering from thyroid cancer again.[16] A little over a month later, on the 25 September, Berger made her comeback against Manchester City.[17] In March 2023, Berger made the decisive save on Lindsay Horan's shot in the penalty shootout with Lyon, to take Chelsea to the semi-finals in the Women's Champions league.[18]

International career

Berger received her first call-up to the Germany national team in November 2018.[12]

She was named in the squad for UEFA Women's Euro 2022, but did not play, as Germany finished as runners-up.[19] In July 2023, she was named in the squad for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.[20] She made no appearances and for the first time ever, Germany got knocked out after the group stage.

Personal life

Berger is openly lesbian, and in a relationship with her Chelsea teammate Jess Carter.[21]

Berger is an Ambassador and co-founder of the Judan Ali Football Academy known as JAFA based in London and founded in 2019.[22][23]

Career statistics

Club
As of matches played 22 October 2023[24]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
VfL Sindelfingen 2009–10 2. Frauen-Bundesliga 50————50
2010–11 70————70
Total 12 0— — — — 120
Turbine Potsdam 2011–12 Frauen-Bundesliga 5 0 2 0 — 3 0 — 10 0
2012–13 — — — — — 0 0
2013–14 14 0 1 0 — 7 0 — 22 0
Total 19 0 3 0 — 10 0 — 32 0
Paris Saint-Germain 2014–15 Division 1 Féminine 6 0 — — — — 6 0
2015–16 6 0 — — 3 0 — 9 0
Total 12 0 — — 3 0 — 15 0
Birmingham City 2016 FA WSL 6 0 — 3 0 — — 9 0
2017 5 0 3 0 — — — 8 0
2017–18 14 0 — 2 0 — — 16 0
2018–19 8 0 — 3 0 — — 11 0
Total 33 0 3 0 8 0 — — 44 0
Chelsea[25] 2018–19 FA WSL 1 0 — — 4 0 — 5 0
2019–20 13 0 2 0 2 0 — — 17 0
2020–21 17 0 3 0 4 0 8 0 1 0 33 0
2021–22 14 0 4 0 2 0 3 0 — 23 0
2022–23 15 0 2 0 2 0 7 0 — 26 0
2023–24 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 0
Total 61 0 11 0 10 0 22 0 1 0 105 0
Career total 137 0 17 0 18 0 35 0 1 0 208 0

International
As of 11 April 2023[26]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Germany 202010
202110
202220
202320
Total60

Honours

1. FFC Turbine Potsdam

Birmingham City

Chelsea

Germany

Individual

References
  1. "List of players under written contract registered between 01/06/2016 and 30/06/2016" (PDF). The Football Association. June 2016. p. 1. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  2. "Fußball: Die späte Chance von Ann-Kathrin Berger". December 2020.
  3. Mittnacht, Marianne (22 June 2011). "Mit 20 reif für die Champions League Torfrau Ann-Katrin Berger geht nach Potsdam". Neue Wurttembergische Zeitung. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  4. "Ann-Katrin Berger". Soccer Way. Archived from the original on 11 November 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  5. "2011/2012 Frauen Bundesliga". Soccer Way. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  6. Morgner, Sebastian (8 October 2013). "Turbine verteidigt Tabellenführung". Markische Allegemeine. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  7. "Player profile". Paris Saint-Germain. 17 June 2016. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  8. "PSG star signs for Birmingham". Birmingham City L.F.C. 17 June 2016. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  9. "Club statement: Ann-Katrin Berger". Birmingham City L.F.C. 27 November 2017. Archived from the original on 12 July 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2017 – via bcfc.com.
  10. McNulty, Phil (17 May 2018). "Ann-Katrin Berger: From cancer diagnosis to PFA Team of the Year – BBC Sport". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  11. "Ann-Katrin Berger to leave Blues Women". Birmingham City FC. 28 December 2018. Archived from the original on 17 October 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  12. "Ann-Katrin Berger signs for Chelsea FC Women". Chelsea FC. 4 January 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  13. Wrack, Suzzane (10 May 2021). "How Emma Hayes turned Chelsea from also-rans to all-conquerors". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021.
  14. Garry, Tom; McElwee, Molly (21 April 2021). "Chelsea within touching distance of Women's Super League title after thrilling Manchester City draw". The Telegraph. Manchester. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021.
  15. Marsh, Charlotte (9 May 2021). "Chelsea Women win 2020/21 Women's Super League title with Man City Women second, Bristol City Women relegated". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021.
  16. "Statement by Ann-Katrin Berger".
  17. "Ann-Katrin Berger – fünf Wochen nach Krebsdiagnose: Nationalspielerin wieder im DFB-Aufgebot". Der Spiegel. 27 September 2022.
  18. Smyth, Rob (30 March 2023). "Chelsea 1-2 Lyon (4-3 on pens, 2-2 agg): Women's Champions League quarter-final – as it happened". the Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  19. "Frauen-EM 2022: Deutschlands Kader bei der Europameisterschaft im Überblick". www.tz.de. 8 July 2022.
  20. "Voss-Tecklenburg beruft finalen Kader für die Weltmeisterschaft". DFB - Deutscher Fußball-Bund e.V.
  21. "Jess Carter on learning German". womenscompetitions.thefa.com. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  22. "Coach Ali wants to give local girls chance to play football". 8 August 2019. Archived from the original on 19 June 2021.
  23. "Interview with the Judan Ali Football Academy". Soccerphile. 6 June 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  24. "A. Beger Profile". soccerway.com. Soccerway. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  25. "Ann-Katrin Berger | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club". ChelseaFC. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  26. "Ann-Katrin Berger". dfb.de. 18 September 2021.
  27. Sanders, Emma (31 July 2022). "England beat Germany to win first major women's trophy". BBC. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  28. "Berger and Kerr on winning Golden Glove and Golden Boots awards". Chelsea FC. 11 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  29. "Chelsea Ladies dominate Team of Year". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  30. "PFA Player of the Year: Kevin de Bruyne and Beth England named 2020 winners". BBC Sport.
  31. "Chelsea players, including Fran Kirby and Sam Kerr, dominate PFA WSL Team of the Year". Sky Sports.
  32. "2021–22 PFA WSL Team Of The Year". The Professional Footballers' Association. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  33. "Fifa-Welttorhüterin: DFB-Keeperin Ann-Katrin Berger unter den besten drei". 9 February 2023.
  34. "Earps wins The Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper award". FIFA. 28 February 2023.
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