That was on the site of today's Neuland park. The players of the two teams changed in the dressing rooms of the recreation centre and they then walked to the football pitch. Entrance costed 50 pfennigs for adults and 30 pfennigs for schoolchildren and anybody who didn't have anything else to do could watch the third team game at two o’clock. Warming up on the pitch was unthinkable for the first team of TuS 04 and their opponents the Rasensportverein Urbach, a small village near Cologne. A week after the match, the General-Anzeiger reported on the game:
"Last Sunday the above team was on the sportsground an der Dhünn for the championship match. At the stroke of four o'clock the two teams lined up for the referee. Leverkusen with a new line-up first played against the wind. The Black and Reds were encamped on the opposition goal. The goalkeeper and the defenders had to work hard but the ball was again and again brought out of the danger zone near the goal with great skill. Urbach gradually found their feet. But the forceful attacks broke down on the good Leverkusen defence with Bartsch today performing outstandingly. There was no score at half-time.
After half-time the Black and Reds took full control but still failed to score. Then – with 26 minutes to play – Bönnen received a good pass but was fouled. The ensuing penalty is converted. Urbach now try to equalise with all their might. The outside left again and again pulls the attack forward. With ten minutes to go Koll handles the ball in a melee. Penalty.
The spectators are highly excited. The heavy rain does not drive them away from the pitch. But the penalty is hit over the bar. "A new penalty!" says the referee as somebody has entered the penalty area too early. The excitement in the crowd grows even more. The shot comes but Nagelschmidt saves to huge applause. Shortly after that the referee ends the game. It was a battle where the better team won."
The players mentioned by the reporter Richard Bartsch, Josef Bönnen and goalkeeper Peter Nagelschmidt are the backbone of the Werkself after the First World War. Richard Bartsch was the captain of the football players at TuS 04 for many years, was a successful goalscorer and playmaker and more physical than his opponents. Due to his size he was considered to be a football giant in our region.
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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