30 years ago: The first international in Leverkusen

More important than the results on the pitch from a Bayer 04 perspective is the stadium being able to show itself off to a wider audience and also everything going well from an organisational point of view. That is not necessarily a given. "The demands of the DFB for stadiums hosting internationals are high," said Stephan Rehm who works closely with the biggest individual sports association in the world as the head of events at Bayer 04.

"turned upside down"

The club obviously now benefits in staging internationals from the vast experience in relation to international fixtures at the BayArena. At the end of the day, said Rehm, the stadium also "gets turned upside down" in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. It is no different with international fixtures.

However, there have been organisational and logistical changes over the years. The Events & Operations department at the DFB is responsible for international matches – that includes youth and women's internationals. Although the main responsibility for the event lies there that does not mean that the stadium operators just hand over the keys the DFB and then sit on their hands.

The DFB organisation team usually arrives at the venue three days before the international match in question. The timetable of events specialists calls that 'Matchday minus 3'. Before that, there will have been site visits to look at individual aspects such as stadium technology, security, ticketing and catering with the DFB liaising with the relevant departments at the club. Rehm: "There, for example, discussions are held with the Bayer catering section about buffets or menu requests for the VIP area as the DFB has partners who want to introduce their own products." Of course, it's an advantage if the stadium operator and the DFB have the same drinks partners.

Talking about partners: The sponsors of the individual club are not allowed to be displayed in and around the stadium and the arena has to be "completely neutralised," said Rehm. That means: Their logos and advertising hoardings are removed or covered up with those the DFB. It is similar for the Werkself European matches. And because Bayer 04 and the DFB have the same service provider for that neutralisation there is also less effort required. The 'signage crew’ for that task is made of up to ten people.

less effort with neutralisation

Overall, the effort invested in an international has become different and rather less in recent years according to the head of events at the BayArena. On the one hand, the digitalisation of many advertising hoardings makes it easier to switch round. On the other hand, new materials make it much quicker to give the stadium a different appearance. "Where heavy pressed metal plates had to be used earlier, as in the Mixed Zone for example, textiles and material, foil and banners are used, which are not only easy to transport but also quicker to install and remove. The colleagues from TecArena have worked a lot on that in recent years and they have developed a perfect system for the BayArena," explained Rehm.

Although the DFB usually only uses Stadium with a capacity of at least 40,000 for Germany international matches, the eight games in Leverkusen demonstrate that the German Football Association knows the value of the high quality of the BayArena as a venue. Two matches – the 6-2 win against Austria in May 2002 and the 2-1 win against Saudi Arabia at the start of June in 2018 – were warm-up games for Germany ahead of World Cup competitions. The 2-2 draw against Japan at the end of May 2006 took place shortly before the World Cup in Germany.

"One of the success factors that makes it almost perfect here for international matches is definitely the mutual understanding between Bayer 04 and the DFB maintained over many years," said Rehm. "The DFB knows they can rely on our team here. At the end of the day, it's our stadium and we want the BayArena to make the best possible impression at a game like that." Last but not least, Leverkusen always has the "highest pitch quality" as is required in the contract between the German FA and the stadium operators.

2009 – a special challenge

Bayer 04 faced a special challenge in staging the international against South Africa in September 2009. The BayArena had just been through a rebuilding phase and only the home Bundesliga matches against TSG Hoffenheim and VfL Bochum had been played there up to that point. Now came a friendly between Germany and South Africa, the hosts for the 2010 World Cup. Rehm: "When the capacity rises from 22,500 spectators to 30,210 then there is quite a lot involved. Car parking is just one of many points different from before. At the time of the international we still had to organise things for ourselves and weren't properly on a roll."

Nevertheless, everything went right at this match, where Werkself legend Bernd Schneider made his official farewell as a Germany international. "Perhaps it was a little bit more juddery than usual," said Rehm with a smile. But a lot was learned and valuable feedback received from spectators who not only came from in and around Leverkusen but also from across Germany. And they – because they were not regular visitors to the BayArena – saw things like inadequate signage from Leverkusen station or to the car parks from the city. "This information was worth it's weight in gold to us because it showed where we needed to improve."

Two years later, at the Women's World Cup in Germany, Bayer 04 had made those improvements. Four World Cup games were played at the BayArena. Everything went like clockwork in terms of organisation. "But it was a brilliant experience primarily because the whole city was dressed up in yellow and orange and there was a great atmosphere not just in Leverkusen but also everywhere in Germany," said Rehm. To be part of that was something special."

Returning to Germany men's internationals. The only time there have been no Bayer 04 players in the squad was at the first match Germany in Leverkusen 30 years ago. Unless you count Rudi Völler, who was in the starting line-up, but he was then playing for Roma and only came to Leverkusen two and a half years later. He had another two matches in Leverkusen as team boss for Germany in 2001 and 2002.

It remains to be seen when black, red and gold instead of black and red flags will be waived again at the BayArena. "We are definitely ready," said Stephan Rehm.

All eight Germany internationals at the BayArena:

18.12.1991: Germany vs Luxembourg 4:0

(1992 Euro qualifier, goals: 1-0 Lothar Matthäus (15’ pen.), 2-0 Guido Buchwald (44’), 3-0 Karl-Heinz Riedle (50’), 4-0 Thomas Häßler (62’))

08.10.1995: Germany vs Moldova 6-1

(1996 Euro qualifier, goals: 1-0 Serghei Stroenco (16’ o.g.), 2-0 Thomas Helmer (18’), 3-0 Matthias Sammer (24’), 4-0 Andreas Möller (47’), 5-0 Möller (61’), 6-0 Sammer (72’), 6-1 Rebeja (82’))

04.06.1999: Germany vs Moldova 6-1

(2000 Euro qualifier, goals: 1-0 Oliver Bierhoff (2’), 2-0 Ulf Kirsten (27’), 3-0 Marco Bode (38’), 4-0 Bierhoff (56’), 5-0 Mehmet Scholl (71’), 5-1 Stratulat (76’), 6-1 Bierhoff (82’))

24.03.2001: Germany vs Albania 2-1

(2002 World Cup qualifier, goals: 1-0 Sebastian Deisler (50’), 1-1 Kola (65’), 2-1 Miroslav Klose (88’))

18.05.2002: Germany vs Austria 6-2

(Last match before 2002 World Cup, goals: 1-0 Miroslav Klose (15’), 2-0 Klose (29’), 3-0 Marco Bode (36’), 3-1 Aufhauser (37’), 3-2 Wallner (46’), 4-2 Klose (53’), 5-2 Bode (68’), 6-2 Daniel Bierofka (81’))

30.05.2006: Germany vs Japan 2-2

(Penultimate match before 2006 World Cup, goals: 0-1 Takahara (57’), 0-2 Takahara (65’), 1-2 Miroslav Klose (75’), 2-2 Bastian Schweinsteiger (80’))

05.09.2009: Germany vs South Africa 2-0

(Bernd Schneider’s last game, goals: 1-0 Mario Gomez (35’), 2-0 Mesut Özil (77’))

08.06.2018: Germany vs Saudi Arabia 2-1

(Last match before 2018 World Cup, goals: 1-0 Timo Werner (8’), 2-0 Omar Hawsawi (43’ o.g.), 2-1 Al-Jassim (85’, pen))