VfL Bochum is playing a successful season in the Regionalliga West. Captain Mara Wilhelm, who has already contributed five goals, has played a big part in this.

Anyone who wants to report on the women of VfL Bochum cannot ignore Mara Wilhelm. At just 25 years of age, the captain is already a true VfL veteran. Since her transfer from SC Werne to the B-youth team in 2012, she has been playing on the right flank for the club from Castroper Straße. Actually – because Wilhelm is currently condemned to watch due to a torn ligament.

In the RS interview, she talks about the fight for promotion with VfL, the reason for meeting Youssoufa Moukoko and Philipp Hofmann and what the women’s regional league can learn from the men’s district league.

Mara Wilhelm, you are currently out due to a torn ligament, can you already foresee when you will be fit for action again?

Not really yet, no. Two of the outer ligaments in my right foot are torn, and the third is cracked. Fortunately, I have hardly any pain and don’t need an operation. That’s why I hope to be able to start running again soon so that I can return to the pitch as soon as possible. I’m sure there are still a few games left in this season.

Your last game before your injury break was in the Westphalia Cup derby against Borussia Dortmund. How did you perceive the game?

Cup games are always special anyway. We were of course delighted that it was a derby against such a big club as BVB – also because the same duel was to take place just one day earlier in the men’s DFB Cup round of 16. Unfortunately, our match had to be postponed for a few weeks due to the pitch conditions in Dortmund and we ultimately had to switch to an artificial pitch instead of playing in the small stadium in Brackel. We were a bit torn because we would have preferred a different setting. But in the end it was a nice experience – with the happier end for us. Even though it’s nice that BVB is now active in the women’s sector, because that boosts competition in the region, we still want to use our lead over Dortmund and Schalke.

Last year, for example, the club made it possible for us to play a DFB Cup match in the Ruhrstadion. That was an absolute goosebump atmosphere and I hope that this will not remain an isolated incident.

Mara Wilhelm on the increasing importance of women’s football at VfL Bochum

In the run-up to the games, VfL Bochum and Borussia Dortmund have been busy advertising. Among other things, you could see on Youtube how they competed in a quiz together with VfL colleague Philipp Hofmann against Youssoufa Moukoko and Lisa Klemann from Borussia Dortmund – and won there too. How did that come about?

That was really funny. A week before the cup games, I was asked by our press and public relations department if I would like to take part in a small advertising shoot. All I knew was that there was going to be a joint event with the BVB in the mining museum, nothing more was revealed. At the quiz, we were correspondingly clueless, but we had a lot of fun. The other three were totally relaxed. All in all, it was a nice afternoon, especially as captain of the women’s team. I have the feeling that we are slowly finding our place in the club.

What do you attribute that to?

In general, women’s football is getting more attention at the moment. It’s true that not so much of the general hype about us as a regional league team is filtering through in terms of spectator numbers or advertising enquiries. But last year, for example, the club made it possible for us to play a DFB Cup match in the Ruhr Stadium. That was an absolute goosebump atmosphere and I hope that this will not remain an isolated incident. At VfL, we will finally have a full-time director for women’s and girls’ football starting in the summer. We also have a lot of support for our promotion plans; there was no question that the club would apply for a licence for the second Bundesliga.

You mention it, the team wants to achieve promotion to the second Bundesliga. Unfortunately, there was a 1:3 defeat against Fortuna Cologne on Sunday. Does that dampen the euphoria a little?

The defeat in Cologne was annoying, of course, but we were lucky that all the other teams, especially Borussia Mönchengladbach as the leader, also dropped points. We are still only one point behind Gladbach in second place, so our situation remains good. On 2 April, we still play there ourselves, then we can go top with a win. The team is desperate to get into the second Bundesliga.

They are currently playing in the third-tier Regionalliga West. Each of the five DFB regional associations maintains its own regional league division, so the longest journeys are to Siegen or Gütersloh. The second Bundesliga, on the other hand, is a nationwide league. Surely that’s a huge leap, especially since the conditions in women’s football are far from professional?

Personally, I can’t judge that, but I’ve heard similar things from other players who play or have played in the second Bundesliga. We all have jobs, I’m in the middle of my training as a physiotherapist, for example. We already spend a lot of time playing football, and in addition to training on the pitch, we also do sessions in the gym or go out with the team. But that would certainly increase. Unfortunately, as a woman, you can’t even make a living from football in the second Bundesliga, and certainly not in the regional league.

You could probably compare the women’s regional league with the men’s district league A in terms of salary. My friend plays in the Bezirksliga, so I know that they pay considerably more than we do.

Mara Wilhelm on salaries in the women’s regional league

Quite bluntly asked: What kind of sums are we talking about in the women’s regional league?

As far as I know, most players at smaller clubs don’t get any salary at all, at most they get some travel money. But even at bigger clubs, it’s in the range of an expense allowance.

Oh wow. Some players in the lower men’s divisions wouldn’t kick the ball for that.

Yeah, that’s true. You could probably compare the women’s regional league to the men’s district league A in terms of salary. My friend plays in the district league, so I know that some of the money paid there is much higher than ours, up into the four-digit range. We can only dream of the money that flows into men’s football. We play for the fun of the sport and not for financial reasons, but something urgently needs to be done about that.

What moments do you remember most from the last few years?

I have to think about that for a moment, there are a few. One of the best moments was certainly the Westphalia Cup victory against SV Berghofen in 2017. Berghofen is a team against which we have always had a hard time, and on that day everything came together.

Then all you need now for your personal happiness is promotion to the second Bundesliga, isn’t it?

First and foremost, of course, I want to get fit again quickly and be back on the pitch as soon as possible. But yes, playing higher in the future is definitely a personal goal of mine, preferably with VfL. That’s why promotion would be important to me. Of course, it’s not out of the question that I could try it again at another club if I realised that a new environment would do me good. But at the moment I feel very comfortable at VfL.