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Inka Grings
31 October 1978, Düsseldorf
Sturm
Club career
1995–2011 FCR 2001 Duisburg
2011–2013 FC Zürich
2013 Chicago Red Stars
2013–2014 1. FC Köln
Honours:
German Champion: 2000
; DFB Cup winner: 1998, 2009, 2010
UEFA Women’s Cup winner: 2000
Swiss Champion: 2012, 2013
Swiss Cup winner: 2012, 2013
National team:
96 appearances (64 goals)
European champion: 2005, 2009
The player, who has earned 96 caps for her country, is the most prolific goalscorer since the introduction of the Women’s Bundesliga in 1990. She finished as the top scorer in six different seasons. In total, she scored over 350 times in the top flight. Her 38 goals in the 1999/2000 season remain an unrivalled record to this day.
Grings was a complete striker. Strong in holding up the ball, skilful at dribbling, two-footed and a powerful header, she was therefore difficult for her opponents to read and could only very rarely be neutralised for the entire duration of a match.
Given her constant presence on the list of top goalscorers, her 96 international caps seem modest. However, serious injuries – particularly ahead of major tournaments – prevented her from making more appearances. Nevertheless, she also achieved a remarkable goalscoring rate for the national team. She has 64 goals to her name there. She made a particularly significant mark on the 2005 and 2009 European Championships – at which the German women’s team won the title – as the top scorer. Inka Grings was named ‘Footballer of the Year’ three times. Only Birgit Prinz has been awarded the honour more often.
Hall of Fame
The German Football Hall of Fame was established on the initiative of the German Football Museum. In November 2018 and January 2019, leading sports journalists voted to select the inaugural men’s and women’s teams. The jury members were asked to nominate their choice of players and managers from German men’s and women’s football. Players who were eligible to play for German national teams and whose playing careers had ended at least five years previously were eligible for nomination. The HALL OF FAME honours the greatest legends of German football in one central location for the first time. It forms part of the permanent exhibition at the German Football Museum in Dortmund. Opened on 1 April 2019, it has become a permanent place of pilgrimage for all football fans. The jury decides annually on further inductees from men’s and women’s football.
