True to the club motto 'The other family', the general meeting of the TSV Bayer 04 football section was held at the media centre at the BayArena on Monday night. In a repeat of last year, there were no elections in 2019. Linda Schöttler (Women), Friedhelm Renno (Senior Committee), Dirk Dreher (Veterans team) and Roman Klossek (Youth) plus Jürgen Gelsdorf, chair of the football section, were only elected two years ago.
After a welcome from Jürgen Gelsdorf, the Bayer 04 members who passed away in the last 12 months were remembered. That was followed by honours for those members who have been with TSV Bayer 04 for 25 years or more. Honoured for 25 years of Bayer 04 membership: Berthold Verhees, Horst Stollenwerk, Vladimir Kadlec and Wolfgang Jedwabny. The following have completed 40 years of membership: Reiner Moschall, Clemens Peters plus Klaus Herbertz. The only one celebrating 50 years of membership on the night was Johann 'Hans' Zimmermann. All those honoured were presented with a Bayer 04 shirt with their name on the back.
The club management on the top table then presented a review of the year on the pitch. Linda Schöttler started by highlighting the main target of the Bayer 04 Women this season: to stay in the Allianz Women's Bundesliga. Dirk Dreher looked at the forthcoming events involving the Bayer 04 Veterans and announced to the members that the former Bayer 04 striker Stefan Kießling will be part of the team for the first time this year.
And Fernando Carro, chairman of the board of Bayer 04 Fußball GmbH, did not miss out on the chance to attend the general meeting for the first time and say a few words to the assembled members. Carro focused on the current situation for the Werkself in the Bundesliga and the ambition to be back on the European stage next season. The Spaniard by birth always strives to set himself ambitious targets – And Fernando Carro and the Bayer 04 members at the media centre were unanimous in one desire: "This club deserves titles!"
Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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Sustainability once again had many faces at Bayer 04 in 2025: In community activity, the club supported countless regional campaigns, including the Leverkusener Tafel, the Frauenennotruf Leverkusen e.V. and the homeless aid organisation "Kältegang". But the Black and Reds have also been involved in good causes around the world - including the Young Coaches training programmes in Uganda and Ecuador plus the Genuine World Cup in the USA, where the Inclusion Werkself competed. Bayer 04 was also fully committed to the environment and underwent external and independently certification in accordance with the European environmental management standard EMAS, for example, to analyse and optimise the club’s environmental efforts. Looking back at sustainability in 2025.
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Two Saturdays, one Friday and one Sunday: The dates for the Bayer 04 Women's team games on matchdays 16 to 19 have been finalised. Three of the four matches scheduled by the German Football Association (DFB) on Tuesday will be played at home at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium.
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Bayer 04 currently have a number of promising young talents on loan to various clubs in Europe with the aim of gaining match practice and furthering their individual development. Francis Onyeka and Farid Alfa-Ruprecht, for example, play for VfL Bochum 1848, while Artem Stepanov is a striker with 1. FC Nürnberg, coached by World Cup winner Miroslav Klose. Tim Oermann is a defender in the Austrian Bundesliga at top club SK Sturm Graz and Abdoulaye Faye is playing in France for FC Lorient, promoted to Ligue 1 this season. Bayer04.de reviews the first six months for the Leverkusen players out on loan.
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