In that year, when his ten years older brother Werner ended his football career at the age of 28 and started working for Bayer AG, Hemmi, as his teammates called him, stepped up to the first-team. He made 215 appearances between 1964 and 1972 and scored 16 goals. As a centre half, today comparable with a holding midfielder, he played a big part in the success of the 1960s. Out of the blue, Helmut Röhrig won the Regional League West title with Bayer 04 in 1968. The club was on the verge of making it to the Bundesliga but the Werkself lost out to Kickers Offenbach.
For the 1972/73 season, Hemmi moved on to VfR Heilbronn in the Regional League South. With that club he achieved promotion to Bundesliga 2 South. But Heilbronn were relegated after a season. Hemmi was the team captain and he only played 18 games in that season due to a knee injury that saw him spend half the season in the stands. After another year and missing out on going back up, he moved on to SV Neckargerach at the age of 31 before ending his career a couple years later at SpVgg Frankenbach.
Helmut, who still lives in Heilbronn, went on to coach after his playing career at SV Neckargerach, VfR Heilbronn, SpVgg Frankenbach, SG Bad Wimpfen and Union Böckingen.
Dear Hemmi, I wish you many happy returns on your 80th birthday! Have a good one and stay fit and healthy.
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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