The women’s section of VfL Bochum has strengthened between the posts following their promotion to Bundesliga 2. Leonie Doege joins from the Dutch double winners.

After promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga, VfL Bochum’s women’s section is continuing to build a strong squad for the coming season. A new goalkeeper, Leonie Doege, has now been announced.

The 25-year-old moves to Castroper Straße from Dutch champions FC Twente. She made five league appearances there last season, including the last three games in the decisive phase of the season. She also played in the cup semi-final and final, which was won 3:2 against PSV Eindhoven.

Doege knows how to win titles and play in finals, and not just from her time in the Netherlands. Born in Düsseldorf, she played for the German national team at youth level from U16 to U19. In 2016, she celebrated the European Championship with the U17s and played a key role in winning the title by saving two penalties in the final.

A year later, Doege made her Bundesliga debut for Bayer 04 Leverkusen, where she had trained as a youth player. However, she failed to make the breakthrough, first going to the USA for a year, then to HSV Langenfeld and then to Borussia Bocholt, with whom she had already gained experience in the second division.

Doege is looking forward to “trust and support”

“I’ve played against Bochum several times and have been able to see the development over the past few years,” explained Doege in a press release. “You can see that VfL is behind the women’s department and I’m looking forward to playing for a club that offers us players this trust and support.”

Annike Krahn, sporting director of the women’s and girls’ department at VfL, is looking forward to having a “top goalkeeper who has been able to gain international experience and prove her quality at a young age.”

In addition to Doege, Bochum currently have two other goalkeepers under contract: Kari Närdemann, who started the pre-season as their regular goalkeeper, and 19-year-old winter signing Svea Resing, who played in both promotion matches, among other things.