Happy Birthday Mitch. The Dutchman celebrates his 22nd birthday on this Monday 20 June. The defender is currently on holiday after appearing for the Netherlands U21 team that sealed qualification for the European Championships.
Bakker joined Bayer 04 from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2020. The left-back grew up just outside Amsterdam and he joined the renowned Ajax academy at the age of ten. He played for all the youth teams before signing for PSG for the 2019/20 season. He made 30 appearances, scored one goal and provided five assists for Bayer 04 last term.
A great honour: Piero Hincapie has been nominated for the Golden Boy Award 2022. The Werkself defender is one of 22 Bundesliga players selected as candidates for the award. The Werkself number 33 joins last season’s second and third-placed players Jude Bellingham and Jamal Musiala from the German league. Bayer 04 new signing Adam Hlozek is also on the list.
The Italian sports journal Tuttosport has published a list of Europe’s 100 best U21 players in the middle of June since 2003. This is reduced by 20 players a month until there are 20 in the middle of October. The final assessment is made by 40 journalists from different countries.
The Ecuadorian is currently leading on 57 per cent. Black and Red supporters can vote for Hincapie HERE.
Don’t forget: The Black and Reds, in partnership with JAKO, launched a recycling campaign on Friday 17 June. Old football shirts, regardless of type, can be dropped off at the Bayer 04 fan shop in Wiesdorf up to Friday 24 June. As a thank you, all participants will receive a 25% discount voucher for the JAKO online store. Under the heading ‘Recycled Polyester’, the focus is on sustainable recycling management in textile production.
JAKO will deliver the recycled clothing to a start-up business in Aachen, which produces new textile granulate using a new recycling process and thereby creates the basis for new sportswear.
Rudi Völler was on the Bild live stream programme ‘Lage der Liga’ on Sunday morning (19 June). In a one-hour broadcast, the 62-year-old talked about a possible move by Mario Götze to Eintracht Frankfurt as well as Bayern Munich and the transfer rumours surrounding Robert Lewandowski.
The broadcast is available in full HERE.
The German Football League (DFL) has announced the three candidates for Bundesliga ‘Rookie of the Month’ for February. Among the candidates is Werkself player Jarell Quansah. Fans of Bayer 04 can vote for their favourite on the Bundesliga app from now until Thursday, 5 March (23:59 CET).
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On a day that celebrated 50 years of official Bayer 04 fan clubs with festivities on the pitch during the match against FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday, New York-based Werkself Warriors were proudly represented on the field by co-founder Alex Kramm.
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The Werkself conceded a goal at home for the first time since the beginning of January 67 minutes into the game against FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday. Jarell Quansah levelled late on for the final score of 1-1 to secure a point and avoid a first home defeat in six games. Bayer 04 were very critical of their performance after the game. The Werkself review.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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