“I will never forget this day,” said the happy Verena Kümper (30). Verena and her partner Alexander (33) both said yes in face masks in the centre circle at the BayArena on Thursday. “It was great to be on the pitch. We put the coronavirus crisis out of our minds for that moment and just focused on each other.”
30 April is not only the date of the wedding of the Leverkusen couple but also the date of when they first met three years ago. The Kümpers got to know each other in Saarbrücken where they were working on their doctorates. At the end of April 2017 they came back from a walk in the Saarbrücken forest as a couple. Verena and Alexander have been living in the Leverkusen district of Opladen for the past year.
A lot has happened since then: The couple found out that Verena was pregnant just before Christmas in 2019. “We spoke to the registry office because we wanted to get married before the baby is born. And as soon as possible so that Verena can still get into her wedding dress,” explained Alexander with a smile. One of the first dates available was – fittingly – 30 April. The marriage venue: the BayArena. Plans were quickly put into action. Until the coronavirus pandemic put a spanner in the works.
The couple had to cancel their planned wedding ceremony in a restaurant on the Wupper and instead deal with the regulations for the wedding: Temperatures taken on the wedding day, face masks for the wedding vow, maintaining the social distance of 1.5 metres to the registrar. “On the wedding day itself we were able to concentrate on ourselves. The organisation of the event by BayArena+ ran smoothly; we were presented with a cake from the club,” said Verena Kümper.
The couple were linked to relatives from the ceremony, via a mobile phone on a tripod. That was followed by the obligatory wedding photos on the pitch – and the wedding couple were able to take off their face masks for the traditional kiss. All in all, Verena and Alexander Kümper were very happy with the wedding at a venue where Bundesliga football is played.
High spirits and previously untold stories: Around 100 Bayer 04 fans packed the Schwadbud fan pub in the east stand of the BayArena on Thursday evening to be there in person for the first instalment of the new series of events entitled “Rudi lädt ein” (Rudi invites you). They listened intently as long-serving Werkself players Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling chatted with record appearance-maker Rüdiger Vollborn and presenter and stadium announcer Tobias Ufer about their many years together at the club, shared amusing anecdotes and revealed dressing room secrets. Anyone who missed the premiere can already look forward to the second instalment – on 12 May, Rudi will be testing the expert knowledge of Bayer 04 fans during a quiz night.
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The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
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Sofie Zdebel is up for the Goal of the Month award for February on ARD-Sportschau. Fans have until 21 March (19:00 CET) to vote for the Germany U23 international's volley to make it 2-0 in the Bayer 04 Women's derby against FC Köln (2-1).
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen are further expanding their partner network: The feed manufacturer PerNaturam is an official sponsor of the Bayer 04 Womens team. The partnership opens up a wide range of opportunities for the company to position its brand in the Bundesliga environment.
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Do you dream of wearing the Bayer cross on your chest? To play in black and red like your role models Loreen Bender, Cornelia Kramer, Kristin Kögel and co. from the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga? Then take your chance now! Our female youth teams are once again on the lookout for new talent. That's why Bayer 04 are organising a talent day on 12 April 2026 for the first time this year with trials for female juniors.
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