Inka Grings

As a child, Grings wanted to be a tennis player. However, after no tennis club had accepted her, she instead started playing football at TSV Eller 04 in 1984. She later played for Garather SV.

Club

Duisburg, 1995–2011

Grings signed with FCR 2001 Duisburg in 1995. She quickly became an important player for the club and in the following years one of the most successful goalscorers in Germany. In 1998, Grings won the German Cup, her first major title. She scored three goals in the final against FSV Frankfurt. The following year in the 1998–99 season she became the Bundesliga's top-scorer for the first time. Grings was named German Female Footballer of the Year in 1999 by the country's sports journalists.

Over the next decade, Grings became the Bundesliga all-time leading goalscorer, hitting the mark of 350 goals in January 2011. She won the Bundesliga title with Duisburg in the 1999–00 season; that year she also set the all-time record for goals in a Bundesliga season by scoring 38 goals. She won the German Cup on two more occasions in 2009 and 2010, and lifted the UEFA Women's Cup in the 2008–09 season. Grings was the Bundesliga top-scorer for three years in a row from 2008 to 2010 and was again voted Germany's Female Footballer of the Year in 2009 and 2010.

FC Zürich, 2011–13

She ended her contract at Duisburg one year early in an agreement with the club and announced transferring to an international club. On 1 September 2011 she joined Swiss side FC Zürich Frauen. In the first season she won the championship as well as the cup.

Chicago Red Stars, 2013

Grings during a match against Seattle Reign FC on 25 July 2013 in Tukwila, Washington.

In May 2013, Grings signed with the Chicago Red Stars for the inaugural season of the National Women's Soccer League in the United States alongside Sonja Fuss. On 4 August 2013, she scored a brace against Seattle Reign FC helping the Red Stars win 3–1. Grings was on the starting lineup in 14 of the 16 games in which she played for the Red Stars and scored three goals on the season. The Red Stars finished the 2013 season sixth in the standings with an 8–6–8 record.

She was waived by the Red Stars in September 2013.

International

Grings made her debut for the German national team in May 1996 against Finland. She appeared for Germany at the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, scoring three goals. However, Germany was eliminated in the quarter-final. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, she won the bronze medal with the German team, scoring once against Australia in the group stage. Grings' career, particularly at international level, has repeatedly been affected by injuries. She missed the 2001 European Championship on home soil and the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup due to injury. When she tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee shortly before the 2004 Summer Olympics, Grings initially announce to end her career. However, she changed her mind during physical therapy.

With four goals, Grings was the top-scorer at the 2005 European Championship, when Germany claimed its sixth European title. At the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup and the 2008 Summer Olympics, Grings was not part of the German squad, because of disagreements with head coach Silvia Neid. She returned for Germany at the 2009 European Championship, claiming her second European title. With five goals Grings again was the tournament's top-scorer. She has been called up for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Grings has scored 64 international goals and is ranked third behind Birgit Prinz (128) and Heidi Mohr (83) for Germany's all-time top goalscorers. During 93 appearances, she has averaged 0.69 goals per games, which makes her the team's second most prolific scorer.

Matches and goals scored at World Cup and Olympic tournaments

Inka Grings competed in two FIFA Women's World Cup: USA 1999, and Germany 2011; one Olympics: Sydney 2000; played in 13 matches and scored 6 goals. Along with her Germany team, Grings is a bronze medalist from Sydney 2000.

Goal	Match	Date	Location	Opponent	Lineup	Min	Score	Result	Competition
USA 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup
	1	1999-06-20	Los Angeles	Italy	Start			1–1 D	Group match
1	2	1999-06-24	Portland	Mexico	Start	10	1–0	6–0 W	Group match
2						57	4–0
3						90+2	6–0
	3	1999-06-27	Washington	Brazil	89. off 89' (on Meyer)			3–3 D	Group match
	4	1999-07-01	Washington	United States	{{{4}}}. off 92' (on Hoffmann)			2–3 L	Quarter-final
Sydney 2000 Olympic Women's Football Tournament
4	5	2000-09-13	Canberra	Australia	Start	35	1–0	3–0 W	Group match
	6	2000-09-16	Canberra	Brazil	Start			2–1 W	Group match
	7	2000-09-19	Melbourne	Sweden	{{{4}}}. off 45' (on Mueller)			1–0 W	Group match
	8	2000-09-24	Sydney	Norway	Start			0–1 L	Semifinal
	9	2000-09-28	Sydney	Brazil	{{{4}}}. off +94' (on Goette)			2–0 W	Bronze medal match
Germany 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup
	10	2011-06-26	Berlin	Canada	{{{4}}}. on 65' (off Mbabi)			2–1 W	Group match
	11	2011-06-30	Frankfurt	Nigeria	{{{4}}}. on 53' (off Prinz)			1–0 W	Group match
5	12	2011-07-05	Moenchengladbach	France	Start	32	2–0	4–2 W	Group match
6						68 pk	3–1
	13	2011-07-09	Wolfsburg	Japan	{{{4}}}. off 102' (on Popp)			0–1 aet L	Quarter-final

Grings is openly bisexual, she had a well publicized relationship with female team colleague Linda Bresonik, and also dated male Holger Fach, former head coach of VfL Wolfsburg.

Club

FCR 2001 Duisburg

• Bundesliga: Winner (1) 1999–00, Runner-up (7) 1996–97, 1998–99, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10
• German Cup: Winner (3) 1997–98, 2008–09, 2009–10, Runner-up (3) 1998–99, 2002–03, 2006–07
• UEFA Women's Cup: Winner (1) 2008–09

FC Zürich Frauen

• Nationalliga A Winner (2) 2012, 2013
• Swiss Women's Cup: Winner (2) 2012, 2013

International

• UEFA European Championship: Winner (2) 2005, 2009
• Summer Olympic Games: Bronze medal (1) 2000

Individual

• German Footballer of the Year: (3) 1999, 2009, 2010
• Top-scorer Bundesliga: (6) 1998–99, 1999–00, 2002–03, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10
• Top-scorer UEFA Women's Championship: (2) 2005, 2009
• Top-scorer UEFA Women's Champions League: (1) 2010–11