On the International Day of People with Disabilities, the Werkself are again this year supporting the #PurpleLightUp campaign by lighting up the BayArena in purple today, Friday, 3 December, from 17.00 0 to 22.00 CET. Bayer 04 are thereby standing up for the rights and needs of people with disabilities. The campaign, organised in German-speaking countries by myAbility joined by Charta der Vielfalt e.V. , primarily aims for dialogue amongst the wider public and raising awareness of self-determination and equal participation for people with disabilities.
Over 70 organisations will take part in the day of action in Germany. The Black and Reds are not only involved today but also on 365 days a year in more inclusion, in particular in football. For example, wheelchair users on Werkself matchdays in the South stand have more than 40 places available plus a seat for their companions. Bayer 04 also provides free commentary for the visually impaired at every game as well as a sign language interpreter service for people with impaired hearing. The club also has specially trained inclusion staff.
Football in Germany is mourning the loss of the last living participant in the Miracle of Bern: Horst Eckel, who played in 1954 when Germany won the World Cup for the first time, today passed away at the age of 89. Rudi Völler is happy to remember the former Germany international and long-standing player with FC Kaiserslautern: "As a symbol for all of the 54 World Cup winners, Horst Eckel was a particularly down-to-earth man with great modesty. He had absolutely no airs and graces and was always very pleasant to talk to. Whenever we met, it was always wonderful to talk to Horst about old times. He is a big loss to German football."
Head coach Gerardo Seoane welcomed the Werkself squad on Friday morning for the last training session ahead of tomorrow's home game against SpVgg Greuther Fürth (kick-off: 15.30 CET/stadium opens: 13.30 CET). At the training session held at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium, the 43-year-old had almost his whole squad at his disposal. Definitely sidelined for the game against the newcomers are Julian Baumgartlinger and Mitchel Bakker as they were unable to take part in training due to injury. Tomorrow's match probably comes too early for Timothy Fosu-Mensah following his torn cruciate injury even though the Dutchman is, according to Seoane, "not far from being back at 100%.”
Moussa Diaby has had two reasons to celebrate this week: The Frenchman won the vote for November Goal of the Month presented by like2drive. In the Europa League group match against Celtic the 22-year-old scored with three minutes to play with a powerful volley from a Florian Wirtz assist to make it 3-2. The winger thereby put the Werkself in the Round of 16 with a game to play. Watch outstanding goal HERE.
The winger was also included in the FIFA Team of the Week today (Friday). What an impressive week for the France international – congratulations, Moussa.
Amateur football and their clubs continue to face a big challenge. The coronavirus pandemic has left its marks and still poses volunteers with numerous problems. In order to support one of the most important elements of German football, Bayer 04 and many other professional clubs are again taking part in the 'Danke ans Ehrenamt' campaign to thank the volunteers.
The Bayer 04 Volunteers Award will be presented at the Werkself home game against SpVgg Greuther Fürth, to be played on Saturday (4 December), the day before the International Day of Volunteering. The award is presented this year for the 15th time and again is aimed at bodies, clubs or associations who are particularly committed to volunteering.
The Bayer 04 Leverkusen Sportförderung gGmbH, initiator of the volunteering award, was set up in 2007 with the aim of promoting volunteering in football. With the help of the yearly volunteering award, 49 clubs in the Middle Rhine (FVM) and and Lower Rhine (FVN) Football Associations have been supported financially by over €200,000. The prize money was shared last year between the clubs Jugendsport Wenau 1957, SC Sparta Bardenberg and TuB Mussum 1955.
The board of the European Club Association (ECA) including Bayer 04 CEO Fernando Carro has a new addition: Oliver Kahn was elected yesterday (Thursday) as the successor to Michael Gerlinger, director of legal affairs at Bayer Munich. The 52-year-old was appointed as CEO at the German record champions in the summer.
Kahn is accompanied on the ECA board by Joachim Watzke (Borussia Dortmund) in addition to Carro, who joined the committee in July. They form a trio of Bundesliga representatives on the ECA with Paris St Germain club boss Nasser al-Khelaifi as the chair.
He was a player and head coach at Bayer 04 – and 50 years old on Friday: Heiko Herrlich. The Mannheim-born footballer played for the Werkself from 1989 to 1993 winning the DFB Cup in his final year at the club. He made 75 Bundesliga appearances (six goals, four assists) for the Black and Reds. He went on to play for Borussia Mönchengladbach and Borussia Dortmund and then became a coach. Herrlich coached his former club from Leverkusen from July 2017 to December 2018. His last coaching job was at FC Augsburg. Congratulations and many happy returns, Heiko.
From a former coach to a former goalkeeper: The Cologne-born shot-stopper Dirk Heinen became a professional footballer at Bayer 04 at the end of the 1980s and he stayed at the Werkself for more than ten years. Today's goalkeeping coach at the Irish first division club Waterford made 107 Bundesliga appearances for the Werkself. Happy birthday to you too, Dirk.
Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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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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With their wonderful goals, Martin Terrier and Florian Wirtz are up for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025. Voting for fans will run exclusively via the official Bundesliga app until Sunday, 4 January.
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The ‘year after’ the most successful year in the club's history brought many changes at Bayer 04. In an exclusive double interview with bayer04.de shortly before the Christmas break, Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes spoke about building a new team capable of winning trophies, the work of coach Kasper Hjulmand, the young new signings who have quickly developed into key players, and their personal plans for the Christmas holidays. Their outlook for the coming year also shows that the potential is far from exhausted and ambitions remain high.
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Last-minute ecstasy, huge disappointment and a historic performance on the European stage - 2025 was a real emotional roller coaster, especially for the U19s. A rousing run in the knockout phase secured the team a place in the final of the German championships, where they lost by the narrowest of margins. Despite the departure of several key players, the young Werkself team quickly regained their usual strength and qualified for the knockout rounds in the UEFA Youth League for the first time at the end of the year. In 2025, youngsters Jeremiah Mensah and Montrell Culbreath made their debuts in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. The other youth teams also contributed great performances and a number of trophies to the collective Black and Red success, while the successful Bayer 04 Future Kids project broke new ground. Read on for the 2025 review of the youth teams.
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