He moved on from the German Democratic Republic second division club BSG Bergmann-Borsig to Aston Villa in the Premier League and finished runner-up in 1992/93. The king of the dead ball at corners and free kicks joined Bayer 04 in 1997 and was our first goalscorer in the Champions League. He converted a penalty for the opening goal against Lierse SK in the first match in Europe's premier club competition. It was the only goal of the game where Paule was sent off on 77 minutes after a second yellow card.
He made 80 Bundesliga appearances and scored 24 goals in his three years under the Bayer Cross. He played for the national team with five international appearances under three different coaches: Berti Vogts, Erich Ribbeck and Rudi Völler. After his time at Bayer 04, Stefan Beinlich spends three years at both Hertha Berlin and Hamburg SV and then ends his playing career at Hansa Rostock at the age of 35.
The father of three daughters is now the CEO at the Rostock Athletics Club. Paule will be 50 on 13 January and I maintain he could still find the top corner at the BayArena with his eyes closed from 23 metres out. Many happy returns on your birthday, Paule. I'll raise a glass to you.
The video shows a few goals from his time at Bayer 04.
Hans Sarpei was born on 28 June 1976 in Tema, Ghana, and came to Germany with his parents at the age of three, where he grew up in Cologne. Even before he was born, his mother and father worked in Hamburg in the import-export sector. There they met an older man who introduced them to German culture and supported them. Out of gratitude, Hans was later given his first name, although this man died before he was born. Hans comes from a sporting family; his older brother Edward and his nephews Hans Nunoo Sarpei and Kingsley Sarpei were or are also professional footballers.
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On 3 June 1953, Hans-Josef (‘Sepp’) Kretschmann became the fifth coach in the history of Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Born in Allenstein, East Prussia, on 21 March 1902, the football coach first studied to become a teacher before later switching to football. He took over the Werkself from Franz Strehle, under whom the team twice managed to stay in the 1st Oberliga West. However, Strehle did not extend his contract in Leverkusen after these two very successful years.
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After promotion to Bundesliga North 2 in the summer of 1975, Bayer 04 are fighting relegation just eight months later. The club expects full commitment from everyone in this precarious situation. Promotion coach Manfred Rummel is to give up his main job as a teacher at the Mülheim special school and become a full-time coach at Bayer 04. The coach, who is very popular with the team, does not see himself in a position to fulfil the club's request. Despite a 2-0 home win against SpVgg Erkenschwick, Manfred Rummel is put on gardening leave by "mutual agreement".
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Bayer 04, already been promoted to the 1st Oberliga West, played friendly after friendly in the second half of May 1951. And that continued throughout the following month.
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Jacek Krzynowek was born on 15 May 1976 in Kamiensk, Poland, and grew up as a typical country boy. He spent his childhood less in structured training sessions and more on simple pitches, where he spent hours playing football with older boys. He realised early on that he had exceptional shooting power and enormous stamina. But for a long time, he didn't appreciate just how much talent he had. While others dream of a great career, professional football initially seems like a distant world to him that he only knows from television.
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