In the first half, Bayer 04 are playing into a low sun and very strong wind. Leverkusen are unable to make the most of dominating possession. The two sides going goalless at half-time.
After the restart, the hosts are camped in the opposition half. Dr Klaus Heydenreich, with an assist from Hans-Otto Peters, gives Bayer 04 the deserved lead at 1-0 on 50 minutes with the help of the wind. A minute later, with a counter-attack from Herten, goalkeeper Friedhelm Renno makes a save with a full-length dive. He collides with a Herten player and both fall to the ground. But the Bayer keeper does not get up again. He has broken his ankle. Renno is carried off on a stretcher and defender Werner Biskup pulls on the keeper’s shirt.
With eleven against ten, the visitors sense a chance and pepper the stand-in goalkeeper. But he not only surprises the spectators. Diving, catching and punching he keeps a clean sheet. And the ten Leverkusen players not only resist but also go on the front foot. Heydenreich increases the lead with two more goals on 65 and 80 minutes to make it 3-0 and clock up a hat-trick. The fourth goal on 85 minutes is scored by the young Hans-Joachim Wöhler who made the step up to the first team from the youth ranks in the summer. Werner Biskup did have to pick the ball out of the back of the net in the end. But that doesn't matter as all the Bayer 04 fans go home happy after the 4-1 win. New Year's Eve 1963 can come.
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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Carsten ‘Calle’ Ramelow was born in Berlin on 20 March 1974. He began his football career in the youth teams at Tasmania 73, Tennis Borussia, SC Siemensstadt and, last but not least, Hertha Berlin. It was here that he reached the DFB Pokal final in 1993 with the Hertha Bubis team, the amateur team at Hertha Berlin, against his future employer Bayer 04 Leverkusen. But even he was unable to prevent the Werkself's 1-0 victory thanks to a goal from Ulf Kirsten.
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The 1995/1996 season brought some innovations. For the first time, each player was given a squad number with his name printed on the back of the jersey. For the first time, coaches were allowed to make three substitutions and for the first time, three points are awarded for a win. And for the first time, I am no longer my team's number 1. I wear it on my back, but Dirk Heinen has taken over me in goal. So at first I sat on the bench a bit offended, but in the Rückrunde I realised I also had to make my contribution to the success of a team.
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In this video you can see impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 from the month of May. It's not always about the beauty of the goals, but also a reminder of special games and players.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen, promoted to the Oberliga West, welcome VfL 99 Köln for the last game of a successful season. This time, the crowd of just 2,000 spectators saw more of a friendly than a championship match. Little fight, little goalmouth action and few moves in midfield to warm the hearts of the spectators. It takes a corner to give Bayer 04 the lead. Peter Röger is on hand with his head and nods home on 43 minutes for the half-time lead. When Karl-Heinz Spikofski increased the lead to 2-0 a quarter of an hour after the restart, the result was settled. The team from Cologne were able to reduce the deficit to 2-1 in the final minute, but in the end the spectators went home looking forward to the first season for a Bayer 04 team in Oberliga West 1.
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