He experienced his biggest sporting success with FC Köln winning the German league title in 1962 and 1964. He earned 15 international caps for Germany and played in the 1962 World Cup in Chile. Leo Wilden also made his mark on Leverkusen.
Wilden joined the Werkself in 1966 and was one of the key players in the team under coach Theo Kirchberg in his second season at Leverkusen when they comfortably won the Regional League West title and thereby qualified for the Bundesliga play-offs. The Bayer team just missed out on making it into Germany's top flight when they finished second behind Kickers Offenbach. "We sensed promotion and were hungry for it," said Leo Wilden back then after a season that inspired euphoria in football fans in Leverkusen.
The defender hung up his boots at the age of 33 but continued to work for Bayer 04. In 1971, Wilden was the deputy to the football chairman Dr. Jürgen Schwericke and he worked in that role under the Bayer Cross up to 1973.
A profile of Leo Wilden, that appeared in July of last year marking his 85th birthday, is HERE.
The Bundesliga has announced the nominees for the ‘Top Goal of the Month’ award for October. Fans of the Werkself can now vote for, amongst others, Robert Andrich’s stunning volley from the match against Mainz 05 or Moussa Diaby’s curling shot into the top corner from the same fixture. Voting, exclusively on the Bundesliga app, remains open until Sunday, 8 November (23:59 CET).
Show more
Bayer 04 host Borussia Mönchengladbach at the BayArena on matchday 12 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The schedule for the game remains to be confirmed. The latest information on ticket sales.
Show more
Bayer 04 host Eintracht Frankfurt at the BayArena on matchday 14 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The schedule for the game remains to be confirmed. The latest information on ticket sales.
Show more
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 0-1 loss at Bayern Munich in the round of 16 of the women's DFB-Pokal 2026/27
Show more
“As far as mentality and determination are concerned, we have nothing to reproach ourselves for,” Robert Andrich said up after the first home defeat for the Werkself this term. In terms of their play, too, the Black and Reds put in a respectable performance for long stretches of this intense and physical match, outperforming VfB Stuttgart in most areas. It was only in terms of efficiency in front of goal that the Swabians had the edge over the Werkself. Head coach Carles Martínez wants to learn from this so that, in future, they can “win this sort of match too”. The Werkself review.
Show more
