Dirk Heinen, who won the DFB Cup with the Werkself in 1993 and the German league title with VfB Stuttgart in 2007, ended his playing career after the 2006/07 season and emigrated to Ireland with his family. During the 90-minute show, the current goalkeeping coach at Watford, talks about his life on the British Isles, the ‘Rhenisch mentality’ and lots of really extraordinary experiences from his football career - such as his appearance on the German version of You Bet! in 2006, a donner sauce in Turkey named after him and his unexpected but successful Bundesliga comeback at Arminia Bielefeld at the age of 37.
Heinen, who celebrated his 50th birthday at the beginning of December, also looks back at the 1995/96 season that almost ended in relegation with a ‘final’ against FC Kaiserslautern, talks about twists of fate, bad luck with injuries but also his special relationship with his long-term role model and later teammate and mentor Rüdiger Vollborn, who surprises our guest with a question as does his former Brazilian teammate Paulo Sergio.
This episode again provides exiting insights into the world of Bayer 04 (in German). Listen in!
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Bayer 04 are through to the second round of the DFB Pokal after a 4-0 win at Sonnenhof Großaspach on Friday night. The game was paused after only 18 minutes due to a storm over the ground. After a lengthy delay, play resumed and Patrik Schick opened the scoring. Arthur, Christian Kofane and Alejandro Grimaldo made things more comfortable in the second half, as the fourth-tier side had two players sent off.
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There were no goals across 115 minutes of football between Bayer 04 Women and PSV Eindhoven in Friday’s friendly. Roberto Pätzold’s team played two 45-minute periods before an extra 25 minutes two days prior to heading to Rieden for their training camp. Their Dutch opponents were preparing for their UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifier in 12 days.
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The first round of the DFB Pokal takes Bayer 04 to Sonnenhof Großaspach on Friday. The amateur club have just gained promotion to the fourth-tier Regionalliga Südwest and kicked off their campaign with two impressive wins. Here’s all you need to know as Erik ten Hag makes his competitive bow as Werkself boss at the WIRmachenDRUCK Arena (kick-off: 6pm CEST).
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After two months preparing for the new season, the Werkself play the first game of the 2025/26 campaign on Friday, 15 August (kick-off: 18:00 CEST) away to SG Sonnenhof Großaspach in the first round of the DFB Pokal. Ahead of the tie against the team newly promoted to the Regional League South West, head coach Erik ten Hag talked about his approach to the knockout game and his soft spot for cup competitions.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen has a new Premium Partner in its ranks in Düsseldorf company LumenHaus GmbH. The leading provider of networked home energy solutions has initially agreed a one-year partnership with the Bundesliga runners-up to the end of the 2025/26 season.
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