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!"
Bayer 04 have comfortably reached the DFB Pokal second round thanks to a 4–0 victory away to Liga 3 side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. Patrik Schick put the Werkself ahead in the first 45 in the first competitive match under head coach Carles Martínez with debuts for new signings Miguel Gutiérrez, Afonso Moreira and Facundo Medina. After the break, Lucas Vázquez (47'), Nathan Tella (69') and Christian Kofane (79') also found the back of the net.
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Today brings the first match of the season for the Werkself. Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign today, Saturday 22 August, at 13:00 CEST with a first-round DFB Pokal tie away to third-tier side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. The 3,700 travelling fans can not only look forward to what will hopefully be a successful start to the season, but also now organise their journeys to Black and Reds games even more easily via the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Meanwhile, following two defeats at the start of the league season, SV Wehen are hoping to spring a surprise in the DFB Pokal tie. Today’s matchday news.
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Carolin Simon is the new captain of the Bayer 04 women’s team. The full-back, who joined from Bayern Munich in the summer, will take over the captain’s armband for the 2026/27 season. Simon returned to Leverkusen in the summer after ten years away. The 33-year-old succeeds goalkeeper Friederike Repohl, who retired at the end of last season.
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With the 2026/27 season set to kick off with a DFB Pokal tie away to SV Wehen Wiesbaden (Saturday, 22 August, 13:00 CEST), the squad numbers for two Werkself players have now been confirmed. New signing Afonso Moreira will wear the number 9, which he has already worn in pre-season friendlies. Lucas Vázquez is switching from number 21 to number 17 – the number he wore successfully at Real Madrid for many years.
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