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In his first international he suffered a serious knee injury that kept him on the sidelines for months. Nevertheless, he stayed under the Bayer Cross, played for the reserve team and was employed at the Bayer Works. Based on his good performances in the following years he was recommended for the first team by the reserve coach Gerd Kentschke at the start of 1987. In his first training session with the first team he caught his studs in the grass and broke his foot.
The second attempt came six months later. First team central defender Alois Reinhardt was ruled out and Erich Seckler played his first Bundesliga match – at the age of 24. On 17 October 1987, he marked his opponent Stefan Kuntz out of the game in the home match against Bayer 05 Uerdingen. Erich made his European debut four days later in the UEFA Cup in Toulouse. There he faced the France international Dominique Rocheteau. He also completed that task brilliantly and became a regular starter for the Werkself.
Erich impressed with his battling qualities. His approach to the game spared neither himself nor his opponents. He always went in hard and sometimes took the opponent with the ball. When he won possession he mostly quickly laid the ball off to a teammate. Erich fought his way into the hearts of the Bayer 04 fans with his honest approach to football, winning the UEFA Cup with the Werkself in 1988 and he clocked up a total of 106 appearances for Bayer 04 with three goals scored.
After twelve years under the Bayer Cross he moved to the capital to play for Hertha Berlin. But he was forced to end his playing career at the age of 30 due to serious back problems. He returned to his hometown and worked as an almoner and as a landscape gardener. He is now the caretaker at a primary school in Düsseldorf.
Dear Erich, I wish you many happy returns on your 60th birthday. Stay healthy and have a good one.
Willi Korth was born in Essen on 12 April 1955. He was a youth player at TuS Essen 81. After coming to the attention of Schwarz Weiss Essen, he signed for them in the Bundesliga 2 North for the 1977/78 season. He made 24 appearances and scored one goal. The Black and Whites from Essen were relegated at the end of the season.
Show moreRudolf ‘Rudi’ Völler was born in Hanau on 13 April 1960. His father took the young Rudi as an eight-year-old to training at TSV 1860 Hanau. In the sedate Hessen town on the Main he came to the attention of Offenbach Kickers. But Rudi completed his secondary school and started training to become an office administrator.
Show moreJean Pierre de Keyser was born in Cologne on 13 April 1965 as the son of a Belgian NATO soldier stationed in Spich and a German mother. His childhood dream of becoming a vet was resolutely followed at school initially. But football threw a spanner in the works.
Show moreThe third last matchday in the 1954/55 season brings a big showdown at the Stadion Am Stadtpark – the Werkself entertain second-placed SV Sodingen. A win for Bayer 04 would take them above Sodingen and qualify for the finals of the German championship if the last two games of the season in the Oberliga West 1 are also won.
Show moreIn this video you can watch impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 in the month of April. It is not always about the beauty of the goals but also about remembering special games and players.
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