Not all Bayer 04 fans are likely aware that Peter played for the club for eight years. He is probably better known for his many years as assistant coach. That started in 1989 when he is brought to Leverkusen by his former teammate and then head coach Jürgen Gelsdorf. In that role over the next eight years up to 1997, he wins the DFB Cup in 1993 and he saves our club from relegation as head coach for the last five matches in the 1995/96 campaign.
After that season, Christoph Daum is appointed head coach at Leverkusen and he brings Roland Koch with him as his assistant. Peter Hermann takes a back seat but he is not satisfied in his role as second assistant coach. In 1997 he became head coach of the Bayer 04 Reserves. Four years later, Peter again takes charge of the first team. Together with Klaus Toppmöller, he leads the Werkself through probably the most successful season to date in 2001/02 when the club finished runners-up three times. He also worked well with Klaus Augenthaler and Michael Skibbe up to 2008. When Bruno Labbadia brought his assistant coach Eddy Sözer with him to the Rhineland, Peter decided to change clubs.
He was assistant coach at FC Nürnberg for a year but returned to Leverkusen in 2009/10. He started his very successful partnership over four years with Jupp Heynckes. The duo take Bayer 04 to the runners-up spot in 2010/11 and back into the Champions League for the first time in seven years. Heynckes accepts an approach from Bayern Munich and Peter Hermann joins him in the Bavarian capital. The duo win the treble in 2012/13 with FC Bayern becoming champions of Germany, DFB Cup winners and Champions League winners.
Last season, Peter Hermann again took charge of the Werkself together with Hannes Wolf for the last eight games of the season and succeeded in leading the club into the Europa League. Today he is assistant coach of the Germany U20 team and sporting adviser to his former club Alemannia Aachen. Dear Peter, I've always liked working with you and I wish you all the best on your 70th birthday.
Dieter Bast was born in Oberhausen on 28 August 1951. He began playing football in the youth team at DJK Arminia Klosterhardt, a local club in Oberhausen. Whilst training as a toolmaker, he moved to neighbouring club Sterkrade 06/07 to play for their U19s, where he caught the eye of Bundesliga sides Rot-Weiss Essen and Borussia Mönchengladbach. Bast opted for Rot-Weiss and played in the Bundesliga from 1970 onwards. In his very first year, he made 22 appearances as a right winger, scoring three goals. Nevertheless, Essen were unable to avoid relegation.
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José Vítor Roque Júnior was born on 31 August 1976 in Santa Rita do Sapucaí, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. As a youth, he played for São José EC, a club in the east of the state of São Paulo. His professional career began in 1995 with Palmeiras São Paulo. There, Roque Júnior quickly established himself as a key player in the team, making more than 200 appearances and enjoying significant success. With the club, he won the Copa do Brasil in 1998 and the Copa Libertadores in 1999, the South American equivalent of the European Champions League.
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In this video you can see impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 from the month of August. It's not always about the beauty of the goals, but also a reminder of special games and players.
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The Werkself play their first top-flight match in Bayer 04’s history away at Sportfreunde Katernberg. 7,000 spectators turn up at the Am Lindenbruch stadium in that district of Essen. The Katernbergers have transformed the once ‘barren’ pitch into a real gem. On this Sunday afternoon, 19 August 1951, the lush turf provides the perfect conditions for a good game of football.
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Following a thoroughly successful start with a 2–1 home win against VfL Wolfsburg, the Werkself are organising a team event. On Wednesdays, they head to the Nürburgring together and do a few laps at speed. Manager Klaus Toppmöller welcomes this initiative, as it promotes team spirit and integration. During weekly training sessions, the team works extensively on various defensive tactics, as the manager was dissatisfied with his players’ pressing in the final minutes of the match against the Wolves.
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