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"Gelle", as his teammates called him, moved on from MSV Duisburg to Arminia Bielefeld in the second Bundesliga North where he scored four goals in 120 games for the team from Westphalia. As former youth coach Willibert Kremer was appointed head coach at Leverkusen in 1976. Kremer remembered the youngster and brought him under the Bayer Cross. Jürgen Gelsdorf is a fixture in the Leverkusen team for next ten years and gains promotion to the Bundesliga with the team in 1979. He made a total of 320 Bundesliga and cup appearances for Bayer 04 scoring 30 goals. However, he demonstrated his qualities in defence. "Gelle" played as a central defender, as a sweeper, but always went into challenges without fear and he never minded doing the basics. Sleeves up, socks down, without shin pads of course, and off we go.
His worst days under the Bayer Cross came in 1980 in the 3-2 home win against Eintracht Frankfurt. In a challenge that was generally accepted at the time, he tackles the South Korean striker and future teammate Bum-kun Cha who unluckily lands on the knee of the Bayer 04 sweeper and he suffers a back injury. The hate campaign against Jürgen Gelsdorf assumes absurd proportions. Sensational headlines and articles fill the TV reports and hate mail comes through to the Bayer 04 headquarters and his home address. He received police protection both at the training ground and at his home. Jürgen Gelsdorf writes an open letter where he describes the situation from his viewpoint. At the end of the letter, he wishes Bum-kun Cha a speedy recovery and that happens with the Frankfurt player only missing four matches. The two players meet up at the cup game at Kickers Offenbach and Cha accepts the apology from Jürgen Gelsdorf.
In his final season in 1985/86, Gelle is a standby player as he does his coaching badges. However, he is needed in the Rückrunde to achieve a first qualification for the UEFA Cup. He makes another six appearances and then in 1986/87 takes charge of the Bayer 04 U19 team. In 1988, the new head coach Rinus Michels promotes brings him into the senior squad as assistant coach alongside Gerd Kentschke. Gelle replaces the hapless Dutchman in April 1989 and is at the helm as Bayer 04 as head coach for the next two years.
After that, he is the coach at several clubs in different leagues for 14 years. Regardless of whether that's at Bochum in the Bundesliga or with Fortuna Köln in the second division: Gelle has fun as a coach and carries on to 2005. Bayer 04 then bring him back as head of the academy. From October 2005, he leads the development of talents for the next ten years and that includes Gonzalo Castro, René Adler, Benjamin Henrichs and Kai Havertz, to name just a few.
Juergen Gelsdorf retired in 2015 but has continued as head of the football section at TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
Dear Gelle, I wish you all the best on your 70th birthday. Carry on as you are 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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