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After three years at Arminia Bielefeld and FC Saarbrücken, his path led him back to Kaiserslautern. In 1990, he won the DFB Pokal with Lauterer and moved to Bayer 04 at the end of the season. Franco played mainly as a sweeper for the next four years and captained the Werkself to DFB Pokal victory in 1993. He made a total of 140 appearances for Bayer 04 and scored ten goals along the way.
Another trophy came in 1997: He also won the DFB Pokal with VfB Stuttgart. His career then took him abroad, where Franco played for FC Basel in Switzerland and SK Sturm Graz in Austria, among others. He won the Austrian league title twice with Sturm Graz and took part in the UEFA Champions League with the club.
After the end of his playing career, Franco Foda remained closely connected to football. He began his coaching career at SK Sturm Graz as a youth coach, but took on the role of assistant coach of the first team just one year later and was appointed head coach on 1 June 2006. In this role, he led the club to the Austrian league title in 2010/11. Further coaching positions followed, including at FC Kaiserslautern, before he returned to Sturm Graz as head coach in September 2014.
From 30 October 2017, Franco Foda was in the Austria dugout. He was regarded as a coach with a clear approach who placed discipline, consistency and professionalism at the centre of his work. Under his leadership, Austria qualified for the Round of 16 of the Euros for the first time in 2021 - a significant sporting milestone.
In addition to sport, Franco Foda is also particularly committed to social causes. He volunteers in the city of Graz on several occasions and initiates charity campaigns for Graz foster families and their children, among other things. As a speaker on the Day of Volunteering, he emphasises the central importance of voluntary work for the functioning of society. He also supported initiatives around corona tests and was an ambassador for youth sport. In 2021, Franco took on a central role as a broad-based ambassador for exercise and sport, thus having an impact far beyond professional football.
After his time as Austria national coach from 2017 to 2022, he took on further international roles, including at FC Zurich. Since 2024, the father of two has been the Kosovo coach, continuing his successful coaching career at international level.
Dear Franco, I wish you all the best for your 60th birthday. Stay healthy and have a good one!
Thomas Hörster was born in Essen on 27 November 1956. As a child, he took part in high diving and judo, but was also passionate about football. After starting out at Blau-Weiß Holsterhausen-Essen, he moved on to ETB Schwarz-Weiß Essen. As a U19 player, he trained with the senior side for the first time. And at just under 18 years of age, Thommy – as he is known – made his debut in Bundesliga 2. Over two-and-a-half seasons, he made 71 appearances for Schwarz-Weiß Essen.
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Bernd Dreher was born in Leverkusen on 2 November 1966 and he began playing football at SV Schlebusch at the age of five. At the age of nine, he joined the youth academy at Bayer 04. There, the goalkeeper progressed through all the youth teams and, with the U19s in 1985, he reached the final of the German Championship, that Bayer 04 lost 4-2 to Eintracht Frankfurt.
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Robson Ponte was born on 6 November 1976 in São Paulo. He began his football career in Brazil with CA Juventus. He then played for América FC and Guarani FC. In 1999, he joined Bayer 04. Robson initially played for the Werkself until 2001. He then moved to VfL Wolfsburg on a two-year loan. There, he continued to develop and gained valuable experience in the Bundesliga. In 2003, he returned to Leverkusen, where he particularly showcased his dribbling skills and his ability in attacking midfield. In total, he made 79 appearances for Bayer 04 and scored six goals.
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In this video you can see impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 from the month of November. It's not always about the beauty of the goals, but also a reminder of special games and players.
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On Sunday, 4 November 1951, the first league derby between Bayer 04 and FC Köln took place. The FC Köln stadium in Müngersdorf was absolutely bursting at the seams for this clash. A veritable invasion of Bayer 04 fans from Leverkusen set off for Cologne by tram and bus. From midday onwards, in addition to the scheduled services, six extra tram services ran at the standard fare from Leverkusen Town Hall to the stadium in Cologne. At the same time, buses operated by Grein ran regularly from Wiesdorf market square to Cologne. In the end, over 5,000 Bayer 04 fans waved their black and red flags in the stands at the FC Köln stadium and got behind their team for ninety minutes.
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