Blackburn Rovers were the first English team to come to Leverkusen. The fee for the English second division club took up half of the income of at least 3,000 marks. The "Rovers" from the cloth mills of Blackburn were the six-time FA Cup winners and two-time champions of England. The fact those honours were mainly over 40 years before did not bother anybody in Leverkusen. Exactly as little as the fact that the announced international players were not actually internationals as we know today.
The English professionals arrived two days before the game in Leverkusen. They had a packed agenda on the matchday on Saturday 17 May 1952. At nine in the morning there was a tour of the works, lunch at noon, after that time spent at the municipal swimming baths up to five o'clock before 'five o'clock tea' to prepare for the match. By the time of the kick off at 6:30 in the evening there were 7,000 spectators around the pitch to witness the promised great event.
Leverkusen took the lead on 29 minutes with a shot from centre forward Fritz Tiede and they went 2-0 up at the start of the second half with a goal from Emil 'Bubi' Becks. However, the English team hit back to make it 2-1. The deserved equaliser came on 59 minutes and the game ended all square despite chances for both sides. That great day was rounded off with an evening meal for the two teams in the Krahne club pub in Wiesdorf. The only bad news was an injury to midfielder Richard Job who had to go off on 43 minutes.
Jürgen Röber was born on 25 December 1953 in Gernrode in former East Germany. He came to the west with his parents in 1956, living in Bertlich in the district of Recklinghausen and playing for SuS Bertlich up to U15 level. He then moved to FC Zons in the Lower Rhine region and spent his final youth years there. Werder Bremen became aware of the strong-running midfielder via Verbandsliga clubs Ford Niehl and TuS Lingen and brought him into the Bundesliga in 1974.
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In 1963 there was a matchday between Christmas and New Year. 3000 spectators came to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on 29 December. In blazing sunshine and wonderful winter weather, Bayer 04 play SpVgg Herten, a club from Recklinghausen, on a good playing surface. In a time before substitutes with injured players staying on the pitch like statues, the Werkself are fighting to stay up. .
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In this video you can watch impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 in the month of December. It is not always about the beauty of the goals but also about remembering special games and players.
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Matchday 17 in the 1983/84 season brings a derby at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. It is 9 December 1983, the last game before the winter break. Our stadium is, unimaginable today, not sold out but does have a decent crowd of 15,000. Around 2,000 spectators have crossed the Rhine from Cologne.
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On Saturday, 2 December 1978, Bundesliga 2 northern section leaders Bayer 04 hosted the team sitting third in the southern section, SpVgg Bayreuth, in the third round of the DFB-Pokal.
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