Doris Fitschen
{{Short description|German footballer (1968–2025)}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Doris Fitschen
| image = Janine Kunze und Liz Baffoe - Ernennung zu Sportbotschafterinnen-1156.jpg
| caption = Fitschen in 2012
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1968|10|25}}
| birth_place = Zeven, West Germany
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2025|3|15|1968|10|25}}
| death_place =
| height = 1.75 m
| position = Sweeper
| youthyears1 = 1978–1982
| youthclubs1 = FC Hesedorf
| youthyears2 = 1982–1988
| youthclubs2 = TuS Westerholz
| years1 = 1988–1992
| clubs1 = VfR Eintracht Wolfsburg
| caps1 =
| goals1 =
| years2 = 1992–1996
| clubs2 = TSV Siegen
| caps2 =
| goals2 =
| years3 = 1996–2001
| clubs3 = 1.FFC Frankfurt
| caps3 =
| goals3 =
| years4 = 2001
| clubs4 = Philadelphia Charge
| caps4 = 13
| goals4 = 3
| nationalyears1 = 1986–2001
| nationalteam1 = Germany
| nationalcaps1 = 144
| nationalgoals1 = 16
| medaltemplates =
{{Medal|Sport | Women's football }}
{{Medal|Country | {{GER}} }}
{{Medal|Competition | Olympic Games }}
{{Medal|Bronze | 2000 Sydney | Team }}
{{Medal|Competition | European Championship }}
{{Medal|W | 1989 Germany | }}
{{Medal|W | 1991 Denmark | }}
{{Medal|W | 1995 Germany | }}
{{Medal|W | 1997 Norway/Sweden | }}
{{Medal|W | 2001 Germany | }}
}}
Doris Fitschen (25 October 1968 – 15 March 2025) was a German footballer who played as a midfielder.
Together with Martina Voss and Silvia Neid, she is considered the most successful German women's footballer, having won seven national titles and six DFB trophies. Fitschen competed for Germany at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics.{{cite web |publisher=Sports Reference |title=Doris Fitschen Biography and Statistics |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/fi/doris-fitschen-1.html |access-date=17 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811201414/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/fi/doris-fitschen-1.html |archive-date=11 August 2011}}
Club career
Fitschen was born in Zeven. She signed for the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) ahead of the inaugural season in 2001. She was allocated to Philadelphia Charge and scored the team's first ever goal in a 2–0 win at San Diego Spirit on 22 April 2001. Despite missing the final part of the season with a career-ending wrist injury, Fitschen was named WUSA Defensive Player of the Year.{{cite news |title=Milbrett Tops List of WUSA Post-Season Honorees |url=http://www.ussoccer.com/News/Articles/2001/08/Milbrett-Tops-List-Of-WUSA-Post-Season-Honorees.aspx?print=true |publisher=United States Soccer Federation |date=23 August 2001 |access-date=28 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221022308/http://www.ussoccer.com/News/Articles/2001/08/Milbrett-Tops-List-Of-WUSA-Post-Season-Honorees.aspx?print=true |archive-date=21 December 2013}}
International career
Fitschen's senior debut for the West Germany national team came on 4 October 1986; in a 2–0 win over Denmark. She scored her first international goal in the same game after entering play as a substitute.
File:Milbrett34.jpg (16) of the United States in 1998]]
At the 1989 European Competition for Women's Football, Fitschen was an important part of the team who claimed West Germany's first major trophy. UEFA named her the tournament's Golden Player.{{cite web |publisher=UEFA |title=1989: Doris Fitschen |url=http://www.uefa.com/womenseuro/history/season=1989/goldenplayer/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100817133459/http://www.uefa.com/womenseuro/history/season=1989/goldenplayer/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 August 2010 |access-date=28 December 2013 |date=18 June 2013 |first=Andreas |last=Alf}}
Following her retirement Fitschen received a special achievement award from UEFA, for her outstanding contribution to women's football.{{cite web |publisher=German Football Association |title=UEFA award for Doris Fitschen |url=https://www.dfb.de/news/en/archiv/uefa-award-for-doris-fitschen/136.html |access-date=28 December 2013 |date=1 November 2001}}
Personal life and death
Fitschen lived together with her partner and had with her one child.[https://www.queer.de/detail.php?article_id=52963 Queer.de: Trauer um queere Ex-Nationalspielerin Doris Fitschen], 16 March 2025
On 16 March 2025, Fitschen died after a long and serious illness. She was 56.{{cite web |publisher=dfb.de|title=DFB trauert um Doris Fitschen|url=https://www.dfb.de/news/dfb-trauert-um-doris-fitschen|access-date=16 March 2025}}
Career statistics
:Scores and results list West Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fitschen goal.
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Doris Fitschen | ||||||
| scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date !scope="col"|Venue !scope="col"|Opponent !scope="col"|Score !scope="col"|Result !scope="col"|Competition | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="text-align:center"|1 | 7 October 1987 | Budapest, Hungary | {{fbw|HUN}} | style="text-align:center"|1–0 | style="text-align:center"|1–0 | 1989 European Competition for Women's Football qualifying |
| style="text-align:center"|2 | rowspan="2"|15 November 1987 | rowspan="2"|Burghausen, Germany | rowspan="2"|{{fbw|ITA}} | style="text-align:center"|1–0 | rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|3–0 | rowspan="2"|1989 European Competition for Women's Football qualifying |
| style="text-align:center"|3 | style="text-align:center"|3–0 | |||||
| style="text-align:center"|4 | 30 October 1988 | Passau, Germany | {{fbw|HUN}} | style="text-align:center"|4–0 | style="text-align:center"|4–0 | 1989 European Competition for Women's Football qualifying |
| style="text-align:center"|5 | 11 April 1996 | Unterhaching, Germany | {{fbw|SVK}} | style="text-align:center"|2–0 | style="text-align:center"|2–0 | UEFA Women's Euro 1997 qualifying |
| style="text-align:center"|6 | 23 September 1999 | Fürth, Germany | {{fbw|UKR}} | style="text-align:center"|3–0 | style="text-align:center"|3–0 | UEFA Women's Euro 2001 qualifying |
| style="text-align:center"|7 | 11 November 1999 | Isernia, Italy | {{fbw|ITA}} | style="text-align:center"|1–0 | style="text-align:center"|4–4 | UEFA Women's Euro 2001 qualifying |
Honours
TSV Siegen
1. FFC Frankfurt
- Bundesliga: 1998–99, 2000–01
- DFB-Pokal: 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01
- DFB-Hallenpokal: 1997, 1998, 1999
Germany
- UEFA Women's Championship: 1989, 1991, 1995, 1997, 2001
- Football at the Summer Olympics: Bronze medal 2000
Individual
- UEFA Women's Championship: Golden Player 1989
- FIFA Women's World Cup: All-Star Team 1999
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|2448287}}
- {{FIFA player|94}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20011205041750/http://www.wusa.com/players/fit593274.html Profile] at Women's United Soccer Association
{{UEFA Women's Championship winning captains}}
{{UEFA Women's Euro Golden Player}}
{{Navboxes
| bg= white
| fg= black
| title= Germany squads
| list1=
{{West Germany squad 1989 European Competition for Women's Football}}
{{Germany squad UEFA Women's Euro 1991}}
{{Germany Squad 1991 Women's World Cup}}
{{Germany squad UEFA Women's Euro 1993}}
{{Germany squad UEFA Women's Euro 1995}}
{{Germany women's football squad 1996 Summer Olympics}}
{{Germany squad UEFA Women's Euro 1997}}
{{Germany Squad 1999 Women's World Cup}}
{{Germany women's football squad 2000 Summer Olympics}}
{{Germany Squad 2001 UEFA Women's European Championship}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitschen, Doris}}
Category:People from Rotenburg (district)
Category:Footballers from Lower Saxony
Category:German women's footballers
Category:Germany women's international footballers
Category:Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Category:Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Germany
Category:Frauen-Bundesliga players
Category:FIFA Women's Century Club
Category:Olympic medalists in football
Category:1991 FIFA Women's World Cup players
Category:1999 FIFA Women's World Cup players
Category:Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Category:Eintracht Frankfurt (women) players
Category:Philadelphia Charge players
Category:Women's United Soccer Association players
Category:German expatriate women's footballers
Category:German expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Category:Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States
Category:Olympic footballers for Germany
Category:UEFA Women's Championship–winning players
Category:Women's association football defenders
Category:West German women's footballers
Category:German lesbian sportswomen
Category:20th-century German LGBTQ people
Category:21st-century German LGBTQ people
Category:German LGBTQ footballers
{{Germany-women-footy-bio-stub}}