Birthday boys of the month: Dieter Bast and Helmut Winklhofer
Dieter Bast, at Bayer 04 from 1983 to 1986, is 70 this month. Helmut Winklhofer, who played for the Werkself from 1982 to 1985, celebrates his 60th birthday in August.
Dieter Bast was born in Oberhausen on 28 August 1951. He started his Bundesliga career at Rot-Weiss Essen as a striker. Over the years he dropped back and later ended his career as a sweeper. In 1977 he moved for the then record transfer fee of 800,000 Deutschmarks from relegated Essen to VfL Bochum. Only Paul Breitner was more expensive that year when he left Bayern Munich to join Real Madrid. Dieter Bast became the organiser of the defence at Bochum and was the embodiment of a skilful, attacking sweeper.
When Dettmar Cramer was able to bring him to Leverkusen in 1983, he became a fixture in the Bayer 04 defence in his first two years. In 1984 Bast was the captain of the Germany team that went to the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. In his third year at Leverkusen, he lost his place a sweeper to Thomas Hörster and, at the age of 35, he was transferred to Rot-Weiss Essen in the second division after 71 Bundesliga appearances and two goals for Bayer 04. Dieter Bast will be 70 at the end of the month. Many happy returns, dear roommate, I'll raise a glass of red wine to you.
Winklhofer: from Bayern to Leverkusen and back
Helmut Winklhofer was an important member of our Werkself for three years from 1982 to 1985. His move from Bayern Munich to Leverkusen was intended to give the youth World Cup winner of 1981 important match practice. Under coach Dettmar Cramer, he makes 90 appearances for Bayer 04 and scores five goals. He is an attack-minded right-back who stands out above all with his runs down the wing and his rapid acceleration.
He returns to FC Bayern in 1985 and achieves undesired fame in his first match: Winklhofer fails to find his keeper Jean-Marie Pfaff with a back pass from 35 yards out and the own goal is voted Goal of the Month on the ARD Sportschau. In the following five years, 'Winki' battled with a lot of injuries but still ends up champion of Germany four times with Bayern and twice wins the DFB Cup. Helmut will be 60 on 27 August. Many happy returns and all the best.
Related News
Bayer 04 - 01.10.2025
Birthday boy of the month: Zoltan Sebescen turns 50
Zoltan Sebescen was born on 1 October 1975 in Ehingen and he started playing football as a child. His talent stood out early on and he was accepted into the youth section at Stuttgarter Kickers in 1982. There he progressed through all the youth teams and continued to develop. His breakthrough in the men's game came in the mid-1990s, when he moved up to the Kickers first team squad. With his speed, dynamism and attacking drive, he soon made a name for himself beyond the region. He and his team were promoted from the Regional League South to Bundesliga 2 in 1996 and stayed in the league with Stuttgart for three years.
Show more
Bayer 04 - 01.10.2025
Legends: Jens ‘Jenne’ Nowotny
Jens Nowotny was born on 11 January 1974 in Malsch, Baden-Württemberg. As a youngster, he played for SV Spielberg and Germania Friedrichstal and later joined the youth section at Karlsruher SC. As a 15-year-old, he became an integral part of the DFB national youth set-up and played for all of the Germany junior teams. One highlight was an U15 international against England at Wembley.
Show more
Bayer 04 - 01.10.2025
Match of the month: 10 years ago - Two memorable games within four days
It is Tuesday, 20 October 2015 - a Champions League night at the BayArena. The visitors: AS Roma. What awaits the spectators is a memorable football match full of drama, speed and emotion. The Werkself get off to a flying start and literally overrun the slightly favoured Italians in the early stages. The scoreline was 2-0 after just twenty minutes - both goals were scored by Mexico international Chicharito. Bayer 04 put the visitors under constant pressure with their aggressive pressing and bold attacking play and even had a chance to make it 3-0. Then the AS Roma captain Daniele De Rossi brought his team back into the game with a brace making it 2-2 at half-time.
Show more
Bayer 04 - 01.10.2025
Goals of the month: From Vöge to Bellarabi
In the video you can see impressive and important goals in Bayer 04 history from the month of October. It's not always about the beauty of the goals, but also a reminder of special games and players.
Show more
Bayer 04 - 01.10.2025
From the archives: 65 years ago - Pokal upset in Schlebusch
On 23 October 1960, a highly anticipated local derby took place in the DFB Pokal, which the team had to qualify for via the regional association cup competitions at the time: SV Schlebusch hosted the Werkself from Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Around 2,000 spectators flocked to the "Am Bühl" stadium to watch the game kicking off at 3 pm.
Show more
