"The corner ratio of yesterday's game - 10 to 2 in favour of Kalk - speaks volumes and only allows a proper assessment of this championship game in a very dubious championship. The Leverkusen team ratings: Goalkeeper: excellent, Defence: satisfactory, Halfbacks: weak, Forwards: the singer's, or rather the reporter's, courtesy covers the activity of the first five with a cloak of charity."
But the reporter, as he calls himself, has words of praise for the referee:
"The 23rd man on the pitch, the referee, officiated with refreshing clarity and incorruptibility. He knew his job and kept the game firmly in hand from start to finish. On more than one occasion, the spectre of a sending-off was raised among the players and the crowd, who at times provided lively assistance, also felt the referee's firm will. In the middle of the second half, two of the Leverkusen spectators felt inspired to engage in an interlude of boxing and wrestling. The referee showed understanding by interrupting the match. There was no positive information about the outcome of the fight."
The Black and Reds had a dismal day and "their inability to shoot, which had already been proven many times before, made itself felt again. The team was completely headless and the more the spectators tried to inject some momentum with well-meaning shouts and advice or less well-meaning criticism, the more insecure and indifferent the players seemed to become."
After trailing at the break, the Werkself surprisingly took the lead with two goals from their striker Josef Bönnen, who had probably forgotten his "inability to shoot" for a short time, but after the equaliser "Leverkusen's goalkeeper was given an unusually hard job, but saved the most difficult efforts. The home team owed the draw to him alone."
Conclusion: "Leverkusen gave their supporters a disappointment and the half success achieved can be called a lucky one."
Hans Sarpei was born on 28 June 1976 in Tema, Ghana, and came to Germany with his parents at the age of three, where he grew up in Cologne. Even before he was born, his mother and father worked in Hamburg in the import-export sector. There they met an older man who introduced them to German culture and supported them. Out of gratitude, Hans was later given his first name, although this man died before he was born. Hans comes from a sporting family; his older brother Edward and his nephews Hans Nunoo Sarpei and Kingsley Sarpei were or are also professional footballers.
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On 3 June 1953, Hans-Josef (‘Sepp’) Kretschmann became the fifth coach in the history of Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Born in Allenstein, East Prussia, on 21 March 1902, the football coach first studied to become a teacher before later switching to football. He took over the Werkself from Franz Strehle, under whom the team twice managed to stay in the 1st Oberliga West. However, Strehle did not extend his contract in Leverkusen after these two very successful years.
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After promotion to Bundesliga North 2 in the summer of 1975, Bayer 04 are fighting relegation just eight months later. The club expects full commitment from everyone in this precarious situation. Promotion coach Manfred Rummel is to give up his main job as a teacher at the Mülheim special school and become a full-time coach at Bayer 04. The coach, who is very popular with the team, does not see himself in a position to fulfil the club's request. Despite a 2-0 home win against SpVgg Erkenschwick, Manfred Rummel is put on gardening leave by "mutual agreement".
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Bayer 04, already been promoted to the 1st Oberliga West, played friendly after friendly in the second half of May 1951. And that continued throughout the following month.
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Jacek Krzynowek was born on 15 May 1976 in Kamiensk, Poland, and grew up as a typical country boy. He spent his childhood less in structured training sessions and more on simple pitches, where he spent hours playing football with older boys. He realised early on that he had exceptional shooting power and enormous stamina. But for a long time, he didn't appreciate just how much talent he had. While others dream of a great career, professional football initially seems like a distant world to him that he only knows from television.
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