Driving a Formula One car, being on the plate of a steam engine, jumping into a fire engine or setting off into space in a rocket: A lot of lads dream of such things. But not Michael Schade.
The 65-year-old grew up at a sports ground in Solingen. As his father, Herbert, a successful athlete in the 1950s, went on to work for the council, the Schade family moved into service accommodation at the Schanerg sports ground that now nears the name of Schade senior. His son Michael admitted to playing in the two biggest 'sandboxes' in Solingen – the long and high jump pits – and he was fascinated by agricultural machinery used to look after the facilities. "There was no tartan track back then. The track was made of cinder. And the base was worked on with a roller. I was able to drive it when I was a child. That was the bees' knees for me, " recalled Michael Schade.
Those thoughts must have often crossed his mind when he looked out of the window at work. His office had a majestic view of the BayArena pitch. He was regularly able to observe how the head groundsman Georg Schmitz and his team manicured the 2017/18 Pitch of the Year. "I'd like to sit on a ride-on mower like that." As soon as Schade expressed his desire, his office manager pricked up her ears. She had a word with the groundsman who turned up at the CEO's office this week. "Now it's time to cut the grass," came the call from Georg Schmitz, which Michael Schade was happy to follow. He climbed onto a front mower and rode over the number one training pitch. "It felt great," said Schade who was not completely happy with the results. "I'd like to put it this way: The outcome was a rather creative pattern."
Two keepers, lots of questions: Werkself captain Lukas Hradecky and U19 goalkeeper Jesper Schlich visited the BarmeniaGothaer children’s press conference in partnership with the Bayer 04 Lions Club on Wednesday afternoon. The duo faced interesting and at times unusual questions from around 50 inquisitive young journalists in the press conference room at the BayArena.
Show moreA large number of sporting directors and officials from big clubs across Europe came to the BayArena on Tuesday for the second seminar in the UEFA Sporting Director Programme (SDP) in cooperation with the ECA.
Show moreFull-back Janou Levels will leave Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the end of the season. The 24-year-old has activated her release clause and she will join Bundesliga rivals VfL Wolfsburg. She has signed a three-year contract.
Show moreAfter returning from Hamburg and a day off on Easter Monday, the Werkself players were back on the training ground at the BayArena on Tuesday morning. Following the session, Amine Adli was very positive in a media interview about the remaining four matches including the forthcoming home game against FC Augsburg (Saturday, 26 April, 15:30 CEST): "We will give our all to end the season as well as we can!"
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