Steffi Jones

22 December 1972, Frankfurt am Main
– Defender

Clubs as a player:
1986–1991 SG Praunheim
1991–1992 FSV Frankfurt
1992–1993 SG Praunheim
1993–1994 TuS Niederkirchen
1994–1997 SG Praunheim
1997–1998 FSV Frankfurt
1998–2000 SC 07 Bad Neuenahr
2000–2002 1. FFC Frankfurt
2002–2003 Washington Freedom
2003–2007 1. FFC Frankfurt

Honours:
German Champion: 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007
DFB Cup winner: 2001, 2002, 2003
UEFA Women’s Cup winner: 2002, 2006
US Champion: 2003

National team:
111 appearances (9 goals)
World Champion: 2003
European Champion: 1997, 2001, 2004
Olympic bronze medallist: 2000, 2004

16 years in the Bundesliga, 14 years as a national team player – Long before she stepped into the spotlight as head of the national organising committee for the 2011 World Cup in Germany and, in 2016, as national team manager, Steffi Jones was one of the most influential figures in women’s football. The defensive specialist secured a total of six German league titles and three DFB Cup victories at club level. During her 111 international appearances, she became World Cup champion in 2003 and won three European Championship titles as well as two Olympic bronze medals. At the 1997 European Championship in Sweden, she was voted the tournament’s best defender. Steffi Jones’ rise to success as a footballer was not without its challenges. In her younger years, the daughter of an African-American US soldier and a German mother often faced prejudice because of her appearance. Yet even at youth level, she earned respect and recognition as captain of boys’ teams and took on responsibility. This laid the foundations for her extraordinary career, in which she made her mark on the game as a great player with a strong tackling ability, a keen eye and fine technique.

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.