This year the AGM also covered new elections for the board of the football section following the end of the three-year period of office. Meinolf Sprink, director of fans and community affairs was in charge of the vote.
There were no changes as a result of the vote and the section board for the next three years is made up as follows: Linda Schöttler (Women), Dirk Dreher (Veterans team/Council of elders), Roman Klossek (Youth) and Jürgen Gelsdorf as chair of the football section. Only the former Bayer 04 captain and coach Friedhelm Renno, who passed away at the start of the year, is no longer on the section board.
Following the welcome address from Jürgen Gelsdorf, Bayer 04 members who have passed away over the last 12 months were remembered. That was followed by tributes to members of TSV Bayer 04 with 25 years and more membership. Honoured for 25 years of Bayer 04 membership: Jörg Bittner, Helmut Heinz, Peter Küker, Heinz Pier, Dr. Josef Schmitt and Egon Urbach.
Gerd Kentschke and Edward Mattuszewski can look back at 50 years of membership. Hans-Peter Schmidt has clocked up 60 years of membership. But that's not all: Willi Kühl and Heinz-Dieter Nelles have been loyal to the Werkself for 70 years.
The eleven long-serving members were presented with a Bayer 04 shirt with their name on as a thank you for their years of loyalty. In addition, all the long-serving members of the past four years will receive an invite to the Barmenia Lounge for the Bundesliga home game against RB Leipzig (Sunday 23 April, 17.30 CET).
Following the presentations, Fernando Carro, Bayer 04 CEO and sporting managing director Simon Rolfes reported on the situation with the first team. Thomas Eichin (head of the Performance Centre) also addressed the meeting on the Women's and Youth section, Dirk Dreher informed the meeting about the Veterans team.
There were no motions for the AGM.
Once again, well over 100 Werkself fans were delighted to receive an invitation from the club’s record appearance-maker, Rüdiger Vollborn, to the sold-out Schwadbud at the BayArena. This time, the supporters listened as the club historian provided fascinating, exclusive insights into the period from Bayer 04 being founded in 1904 to the club’s promotion to the Bundesliga in 1979. A journey through time is also planned for the upcoming ‘Rudi lädt ein’ event in early November – this time focusing on the years of the Nazi regime.
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Happy children’s faces at the SSV Lützenkirchen training ground: For the 25th time, the Birkenberg soccer school – organised by SportBund Leverkusen – offered participating youngsters an exciting holiday activity. Meeting a Bayer 04 player has now become a cherished tradition. This time, Ibrahim Maza visited the 150 children and spoke to them about his World Cup experiences, amongst other things. “It’s always lovely to see the children’s enthusiasm for football,” said the 20-year-old, after bringing a sparkle to many eyes with selfies and autographs.
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One day after the successful DFB Pokal first round tie at SV Wehen Wiesbaden (4–0), the mood was understandably really good: Over 400 Bayer 04 supporters gathered on Sunday, 23 August, for the annual fan club meet-up at the BayArena and got in the mood for the new season through direct and informal discussions with Bayer 04 management, head coach Carles Martínez and Werkself players.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 2-0 win at RB Leipzig on the 1st matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
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