
In April 1979, Hoene – then director of crop protection at Bayer AG and responsible for Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand – was appointed as chairman of the football section at TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen as the successor to Hermann Büchel. A few weeks later, he celebrated promotion to the Bundesliga with Bayer 04. From 1983, Volrath Hoene worked as deputy head of department in the youth and amateur sections at Bayer 04. He was re-elected as head of the football section in 1988 and he experienced the biggest ever success for the Werkself on the European stage when Bayer 04 won the UEFA Cup on 18 May 1998. He also celebrated his silver wedding anniversary on the same day. After leaving the board of the football section ,Volrath Hoene worked for Bayer AG in Hong Kong before later returning to Berlin.


In mid-August, the Werkself will set off on a four-day trip to England to play their final two friendly matches of the 2026/27 pre-season against Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. The match in Nottingham against the Tricky Trees is on Wednesday 12 August at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST) at the City Ground. The game against the Magpies in Newcastle is on Saturday 15 August at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) at the atmospheric St James’ Park. Details on ticket sales for both matches.
Show more
Black and Red talent development at the highest level – even off the pitch: Apprentices Jule Suermann, Leandra Bellia and Julia Niederheide have successfully completed their two- or three-year apprenticeships at the club. Bayer 04 honoured the trio at the BayArena on Tuesday.
Show more
The Werkself return tomorrow, Tuesday 14 July (from 11:00 CEST at the BayArena; live stream on bayer04.de, the Bayer 04 app and YouTube), with new head coach Carles Martínez leading his first training session as part of the Bayer 04 set-up. His coaching team comprises a mix of new and long-standing colleagues.
Show more
The Germany U19 team were beaten 2-0 by record champions Spain in the final of the U19 European Championship in Wales. Bayer 04 players Montrell Culbreath and Francis Onyeka (on loan at SV 07 Elversberg) were in the starting line-up and played the full 90 minutes.
Show more