The board see themselves vindicated, despite animosity from spectators and newspapers, by holding on to Kirchberg and having gone into the season with a lot of young and very inexperienced players in the squad. At the same time, in the home game against Lüner SV on 7 December 1969 there are still six players in the line-up from the Regional League West championship winning side of 1968 in the shape of Willy Haag, Günther Haarmann, Helmut Röhrig, Karl-Heinz Brücken, Fredi Hennecken and Friedhelm Strzelczyk.
Lüner SV come to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium in sixth place in the table. The team from Westphalia have not lost any of the last eight games and have bags of confidence. The Werkself, with the young keeper Dieter Ferner, who later played in the Bundesliga for FC Saarbrücken and in the USA with Chicago Sting the champions in 1981, take the lead in front of 3,500 spectators on three minutes with a headed goal scored by Hans Dieter Schäde from a cross by Friedhelm Strzelczyk. At the start of the season, the lively right winger was seen as "the one-eyed man, king in the land of the blind", as Strelli, as his teammates called him, only had one healthy eye. The other is a glass eye that he takes out when playing cards to have a "look" into the other players’ hands.
Whoever thought the fast goal would give the Bayer team a real boost was disappointed. The visitors were the better team and had three big chances. Shortly before half-time, centre-forward Karl-Heinz Brücken headed in a fine cross from Hans Dieter Schäde to take a 2-0 lead into the break. At the start of the second half, on 46 minutes, the Lüner sweeper Dieter Zorc, father of the long-standing Dortmund Bundesliga player and manager Michael Zorc, handled the ball in the penalty area. Fredi Hennecken fires the ball from the spot into the roof of the net – 3-0. Bayer 04 now dominate the ball and the opponents. And Lüner SV are downhearted 15 minutes later when Werner Thies converts another cross from Friedhelm Strzelczyk to make it 4-0. A bigger win is missed out on in the last 30 minutes because good chances for Hans Dieter Schäde and Fredi Hennecken go begging.
After that win and a mid-table position of eleventh, the Bayer 04 officials are very confident looking to the future. In the last two matches before Christmas, the Werkself lose 3-1 in Bielefeld but are able to secure their position a week later with a 1-0 home win against SSV Velbert. The spectre of relegation is slowly driven out of the Ulrich Haberland Stadium.
Christoph Daum was born on 24 October 1953 in Zwickau. As a child, he moved to West Germany with his mother and grew up in Duisburg. He developed a great enthusiasm for football at an early age, even though it soon became clear that his future lay less on the pitch than on the sidelines. Even at a young age, his passion for analysing, explaining and improving things became apparent.
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When the Bayer 04 players celebrated Christmas in 1960, they spent the winter in second place in the Oberliga West 2 on 20 points - but already five points behind leaders Schwarz-Weiß Essen. However, coach Erich Garske's team are struggling to get back on track in the new year. A goalless draw against Bonner FV at home at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium was followed by a 2-1 away defeat in Erkenschwick. The following home game also yielded just one point. As a result, the team's promotion ambitions dwindled to a minimum, as the gap to the coveted spot has now grown to a challenging ten points.
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In this video you can see impressive and important goals in Bayer 04 history from the month of February. It's not always about the beauty of the goals, but also a reminder of special games and players.
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It is 11 February 2006 and Schalke 04 and the Werkself kick off at 3.30 p.m. in a match that ends up being historic - at least from a Bayer 04 perspective.
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As league leaders, the Werkself welcomed the relegation-threatened team from Rhenania Würselen. On 4 February 1951, 5,000 spectators line the touchlines despite the Sunday carnival parades. And they see a home team that is superior on the pitch. Without Theo Kirchberg, who was ill, and Emil Becks, who was suspended, the hosts attacked the opposing goal from the start. Battling against a strong wind in the first half, Bayer 04 created chance after chance, but were repeatedly thwarted by the Würselen goalkeeper. With the score at 0-0 at half-time, Karl Heinz Spikofski tried his luck on 55 minutes and hammered the ball into the opposition net from 20 metres out. Rhenania can no longer counterattack. The siege of the Würselen penalty area continued right to the end, but the game ended in a narrow 1-0 win.
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