Miscellaneous: Spiel- und Sportverein Bayer Leverkusen

In the middle of the year, the word 'Bayer' and the Bayer Cross appeared in the letter heading of the club of footballers for the first time; it became the works club of IG Farben. On 18 November 1935, SpVgg Leverkusen 04 became SSV Bayer Leverkusen. At the annual general meeting in December 1935, "the new club matters will be discussed over the course of the evening," reported the Allgemeine Zeitung. It continued: "The first teams in football and handball will now wear black shorts and a maroon shirt with the white 'Bayer Cross' on a black background. The board have given their permission for the Bayer Cross to be worn on the sports clothing."

Unfortunately, it is not known when the football and handball players wore the Bayer Cross on their shirts for the first time. According to Walter Scharf, the journalist who wrote the 50th anniversary book on Bayer 04 entitled ‘50 Jahre Bayer 04 – Die Geschichte einer Sportvereinigung’, this could have been at the promotion matches against Solingen 95 in May 1936. Both matches were won after a great struggle and promotion to the Middle Rhine district league was sealed. Bayer 04 were in the second tier for the first time – and definitely with the cross on their shirts.