
The director Stefan Thomé sent out the invites and Michael Schade was one of the people who called in. "For Bayer 04 it's good to know we have a completely reliable partner at our side in the Fan Project," said the CEO and he went on to praise the first-class work of Thomé and his colleagues Daniela Frühling and Hannes Diller.
For 20 years, the Fan Project has looked after Werkself fans at home and away games, taken part in security meetings, provided advice with personal problems and conflicts related to football and organised preventive events on the subjects of violence, racism and bullying in schools. In addition, there are regular football and running sessions.
"The successful concept of the Fan Project is based on well thought out educational work," said Uwe Richrat, Mayor of the City of Leverkusen, and Marc Adomat, head of the Department for Schools and Sports, added: "The Fan Project, with its full-time and voluntary staff, regularly succeeds in ensuring that football at the BayArena is one of the best activities in the world."


Bayer 04 have comfortably reached the DFB Pokal second round thanks to a 4–0 victory away to Liga 3 side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. Patrik Schick put the Werkself ahead in the first 45 in the first competitive match under head coach Carles Martínez with debuts for new signings Miguel Gutiérrez, Afonso Moreira and Facundo Medina. After the break, Lucas Vázquez (47'), Nathan Tella (69') and Christian Kofane (79') also found the back of the net.
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Today brings the first match of the season for the Werkself. Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign today, Saturday 22 August, at 13:00 CEST with a first-round DFB Pokal tie away to third-tier side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. The 3,700 travelling fans can not only look forward to what will hopefully be a successful start to the season, but also now organise their journeys to Black and Reds games even more easily via the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Meanwhile, following two defeats at the start of the league season, SV Wehen are hoping to spring a surprise in the DFB Pokal tie. Today’s matchday news.
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Carolin Simon is the new captain of the Bayer 04 women’s team. The full-back, who joined from Bayern Munich in the summer, will take over the captain’s armband for the 2026/27 season. Simon returned to Leverkusen in the summer after ten years away. The 33-year-old succeeds goalkeeper Friederike Repohl, who retired at the end of last season.
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With the 2026/27 season set to kick off with a DFB Pokal tie away to SV Wehen Wiesbaden (Saturday, 22 August, 13:00 CEST), the squad numbers for two Werkself players have now been confirmed. New signing Afonso Moreira will wear the number 9, which he has already worn in pre-season friendlies. Lucas Vázquez is switching from number 21 to number 17 – the number he wore successfully at Real Madrid for many years.
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