1. FC Union Berlin have announced their first new womens’ team signing for the upcoming 2023/24 season, with the addition of Midfielder Athanasia Moraitou. The 26-year-old currently plays for SV Meppen in the Bundesliga. 

Moraitou made her Bundesliga debut in 2013 at the age of 16 for VfL Sindelfingen. A year later, the German-Greek, who was born in Waiblingen near Stuttgart, also made her debut for the Greek senior national team. After Sindelfingen’s relegation from the Bundesliga in 2014, Moraitou remained with the club in the 2. Bundesliga, developing into a key player for the side. In the summer of 2017, she then moved to second-division team BV Cloppenburg, but after a year and a half as a regular starter for the Lower Saxons, she returned to Sindelfingen for six months at the beginning of 2019. 

Moraitou then spent one and a half years in the USA from summer 2019 until the beginning of 2021, playing for the University of South Alabama, finally returning to SV Meppen and the Bundesliga in January 2021. Although Meppen were unable to avoid relegation, Moraitou played a major role in the team's direct return to the Bundesliga in the 2021/22 season. So far, the midfielder has played 19 Bundesliga games for the Emslanders. 

The midfielder will bring a lot of vital experience to a young Union squad, with 33 Bundesliga appearances and 31 internationals for Greece, while, at 26, she will become the third oldest player in the 1. FC Union Berlin squad behind Lisa Görsdorf and Marie Becker (both 27).

The coach and player’s views on the transfer

"I'm looking forward to helping shape Union's future, as well as getting to know the club and the team,” said Moraitou on her move to Köpenick. “It will be a very exciting time and I will do everything I can to achieve our common goals."

Jennifer Zietz, head of the women's and girls' department at Union, said of the transfer, "We have clearly expressed our ambitions to move up to the 2. Liga next season to Athanasia, and we are very pleased that she has decided to join us. With her experience but also her personality, she will strengthen the team both on and off the pitch."