Schade – as planned – will step down having reached retirement age and, at the same time, become a member of the Shareholders Committee at Bayer 04. Also on 1 July, Rudi Völler (58) will take over the newly created position of executive director of sport. His successor as sporting director will be the current sporting manager Jonas Boldt (36).
"Under the leadership of Michael Schade, Bayer 04 have made very good progress over the past five years. The team has qualified for the Champions League four times and all organisational and financial targets have been completely fulfilled," said Werner Wenning, chair of the Bundesliga club supervisory committee. "Michael Schade moulded the organisation to meet future demands, continued to improve processes and structures, significantly drive internationalisation and digitalisation and continued to increase income from marketing activities. On behalf of the Shareholders Committee, I'd like to thank Michael Schade very much for all his work."
The new man in charge of the club management, Fernando Carro, is an internationally experienced top manager. "Mr Carro has continually demonstrated his extraordinary leadership and management qualities in a number of top positions at home and abroad. Together with the sporting expertise in our management group, which is further strengthened by these organisational changes, we are well placed to meet the challenges of the next few years," said Wenning.
Fernando Carro grew up in Barcelona and he went to the German School where he completed his A-levels in 1982. After training to be an industrial management assistant and attending the University of Karlsruhe to study Business and Engineering, he moved on to Bertelsmann AG in Gütersloh, where he was promoted to a number of management and board positions in the following years with increasing levels of responsibility. In 2015 he was appointed chairman of the board at the service company Arvato and and was called up to the group board at Bertelsmann Management SE.
The future CEO of Bayer 04 is married and has three children. In addition to his mother tongue Spanish, he also speaks fluent German and English. "I'm really looking forward to this exciting challenge where I can combine my passion for football with my professional experience as a manager. It's a dream come true for me," said Carro. "Bayer 04 are a great team with a lot of potential. Here at the club we will do all we can to be successful in the future and achieve our ambitious targets."
Whether it's sport or his private live: Captain Edmond Tapsoba tells us his top three personal favourites in twelve categories in edition #56 of the Werkself Magazine. The defender had to answer as quickly as he reacts on the pitch. 'On the Podium' with Edmond Tapsoba!
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“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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A floodlit derby, two further night games and a top-of-the-table clash on a Saturday afternoon: The German Football Association (DFB) has confirmed the exact dates for four further matchdays in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga. This means all fixtures for the Bayer 04 women’s team up to the end of the year, as well as the first two in 2027, are now confirmed.
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It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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Several Werkself players are set to represent their national teams during the final international break of 2026. Here’s an overview of who has been called up and the matches they will face in November. This article will be updated regularly.
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