Bayer 04 sent out the invitations for the third, and now traditional, Club meeting in the Wilhelm-Dopatka-Halle at the beginning of November. Once the match date for the game against Bayern Munich had been confirmed, 30 November 2008 was set as the meeting date and the Bayer 04 Club staff started planning for the big event.

Club members met in the hall on Saturday morning to flesh out their ideas. A huge red carpet was rolled out to give the exclusive meeting an appropriate decor and groups of tables were laid out. The organisers were able to concentrate on putting up the final decorations after the game against Bayern with the final touches being added early on Sunday before the members could be let in at 10 in the morning.

The hall filled up quickly, accommodating over 1,400 members who came to this third Club meeting. The whole room was decked out in the club colours of red and black. Subtle lighting helped to create a pleasant atmosphere from the start. The right side of the hall had an ample range of catering provision and the members campaign stalls were on the left. Interested members were given tickets for the popular XXL Bay Arena tours and there was a vox pop facility available for members to put their points of view on record. The fans could also have their photo taken against the backdrop of the Club meeting right next to stage. The Fan shop team presented a wide range of items, with the new adidas Bayer 04 Club sweat top being the highlight on the weekend that there was a 30% discount on all merchandise. The newBayer 04 Info points were also explained. And two display cases gave the members a chance to look into the future: one contained a model of the existing bay Arena and the other after the work has been completed in 2009.

Official welcome

After the official welcome from Wolfgang Holzhäuser and Rudi Völler, Marc Jansen from the Bayer 04 Club announced the day’s order of events. Marc then went on to outline the club’s development and he even ventured an opinion for the future. Recent years have not only seen a continuous growth in membership but the Club has been able to attract fans from far and wide.The club now has members across the globe, including Africa and Australia for the first time. Leverkusen fans came to the meeting from across Germany and from Luxembourg and Belgium.

BayArena 2009/LTU-arena Düsseldorf

The next item on the agenda was a discussion led by stadium announcer Klaus Schenkmann on the redevelopment of the BayArena and the temporary move to Düsseldorf. At the end of the discussion Messrs. Völler, Sprink, Rehm and Dannenberg took questions from the floor.

Team close-up

Then the whole Bayer 04 first team squad entered the hall to a rousing reception. After the official part of the meeting welcoming new members to the Bayer 04 Club´the players talked to fans on an individual basis. Everybody had the opportunity to get an autograph, take a photo or just chat with the pros. At the same time, Klaus Schenkmann invited the first team coaches up to the top table to discuss football matters. The new Werkself coach took his time and gave a measured response to all the questions. There was general agreement that the season has gone well even after the defeat against Bayern Munich . After the discussion ended Bruno Labbadia was happy to sign autographs before stepping out onto the Bay Arena pitch as striker for the veterans team. Playing in the number nine shirt he hit the back of the net six times.