Bayer 04 coach Dettmar Cramer took a few risks in the 1983/84 season when he went into the new campaign with a 20-year-old, yours truly, and the 18-year-old Andreas Nagel. Neither of us had played in the Bundesliga before. Over the next five years, Andreas mostly sat on the bench. He only made one appearance for the Werkself in the Bundesliga. On 12 October 1985, I had to be substituted after a collision with the Dortmund centre forward Horst Hrubesch on 80 minutes. After carrying on for a few minutes the impaired vision was too much. An eye specialist later diagnosed a bruised eyeball. Andi came on for the last ten minutes to help us secure a 1-1 draw. A week later he made his one and only appearance in goal for a full match in a DFB Pokal tie at SpVgg Plattling and he kept a clean sheet. We went through to the next round after 2-0 win.
Unfortunately, Andi's time at Leverkusen was associated with two nasty injuries. He suffered two broken hands within a short space of time: First in the summer of 1986 and then again immediately after recovering from the first fracture. He was on the bench once or twice in the Bundesliga in the UEFA Cup winning season of 1987/88. At the end of the season he signed for Hannover 96 but only played for the second team there. His last club was FC Gütersloh where he played 87 games in six years.
During his time in Leverkusen, he trained to be an industrial management assistant at the Bayer Works. After retiring he studied business administration and has worked for the DFL for many years, now as the director for sport and youth. He also volunteers on the board of the Robert Enke foundation.
Dear Andi, many happy returns on turning 60. Stay healthy and have a good one.
Wolfgang Vöge was born on 15 September 1955 in Ahlen, Westphalia and he was the fourth of seven children of a miner. His father, Erich Vöge, was a football referee as well. At an early age, Wolle, as he was called by his friends and teammates, developed a great passion for football and was an enthusiastic fan of BVB. His first success in football was achieved in the amateur game at his hometown club of SV Ahlen. He scored 26 goals in the first season and he came to the attention of scouts. That led to his move to Borussia Dortmund in 1975.
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Andreas Thom was born on 7 September 1965 in Rüdersdorf near Berlin in Brandenburg. Andreas displayed an exceptional talent on the ball even as a child. Early on, he joined the youth section at BFC Dynamo Berlin, one of the leading football clubs in the German Democratic Republic. There he received targeted, performance-oriented training as part of the GDR sports system. His talent, his vision and his technique led him to make his debut in the first team at BFC Dynamo at the age of 17.
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Jens Melzig was born in Cottbus on 28 September 1965. Melle, as he was called at Leverkusen, started his playing career at his hometown club Energie Cottbus. As a young player there he soon stood out thanks to his strength in challenges and his ability to read the game. He was in the Energie Cottbus first team in 1984 and he played for the club in the GDR league and the Oberliga. With 144 appearances and twelve goals he became one of the big players in defence. He made a major contribution to the club during this period – as a strong-tackling central defender who also displayed leadership qualities.
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Lucio, full name Lucimar Ferreira da Silva, was born on 8 May 1978 in Planaltina, a suburb of the Brazilian capital Brasília. He showed his passion for football even as a child. On the dusty streets of his neighbourhood he spent hours chasing the ball – often in bare feet like many Brazilian children. Despite the simple conditions he grew up in, his family always supported his dream of one day becoming a great football player. He made his first steps in club football at small local clubs before moving onto the youth set-up at the club Guará and later he singed for the big club Internacional Porto Alegre. Bayer 04 signed the internationally completely unknown defender from there in January 2000.
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In this video you can watch impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 in the month of September. It is not always about the beauty of the goals but also about remembering special games and players.
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