In a preview of this game, the former Bayer 04 player Franz Wichelhaus said he would drop the Leverkusen centre forward Fritz Tiede. The blond Fritz, as he was called under the Bayer Cross, was the strong in the air centre forward for the Werkself. Born in Cologne, he came to Leverkusen in 1951 and scored 44 goals for the Werkself in 57 Oberliga matches in his five years at the club. The lofty Fritz did have one handicap – he was longsighted. More than once he was in the opposition half with the ball and before he made a pass he ensured it was one of his teammates: "Walter, is that you?"
That Sunday was another Tiede day. Mönchengladbach were unable to frustrate the tall blond player even with a number of fouls. On 13 minutes, Emil 'Bubi' Becks crossed into the Gladbach penalty area where Fritz Tiede scored with a wonderful flying header. Just four minutes later, the former FC player Walter Nußbaum scored direct from a free kick from 30 metres out to make it 2-0.
That was the half-time score in front of a crowd of 5,000 spectators. In the second half there was end to end action but the match dropped off initially. The Werkself only really came back into the game when Fritz Tiede scored with a brilliant overhead kick on 67 minutes at 3-0. On 89 minutes, Leo Bering made the most of the many chances in the last 20 minutes with a great long-range strike.
The 4-0 victory did not bring the Werkself closer to rivals SV Sodingen but the way the team played provided hope for the remaining seven games.
Bayer 04 started the new season on 20 July 1950. To the applause from almost 2,000 spectators, the Werkself stepped onto the pitch at the Am Stadtpark stadium and the season target was clear to the supporters: finally achieve promotion to the Oberliga West. Under the direction of new coach Raymond Schwab, who brought one of his Essen players with him in the shape of Karl-Heinz Spikofski, the team did a couple of laps. Coach Schwab gave a speech in front of all the fans where he clearly imparted his request for calm in the stands and he said he hated nothing more than heckling or laughing when mistakes are made. He hoped the Bayer 04 supporters would follow his advice.
Show moreHorst Knauf was born in Cologne on 16 August 1960. As a teenager he played for PSV Köln before signing for the Bayer 04 Leverkusen U19s as a talented midfielder in 1976. He made the move up from the second team to the Bundesliga squad in 1980. Over the following three years he played 39 Bundesliga games and scored two goals. Above all in the difficult 1981/82 season for the Werkself with the play-off games against Kickers Offenbach, he played a big part in saving Bayer 04 with 21 appearances. But under the new coach Dettmar Cramer he rarely made a start and he decided to move on.
Show moreHolger Aden was born in Hamburg on 25 August 1965. He learned all about playing football and, above all, scoring goals at the two Hamburg clubs Niendorfer TSV and TSV DuWo 08 Hamburg. After progression from the youth teams, he played for other Hamburg clubs. One after the other he appeared for Concordia Hamburg, Altona 93 and SC Norderstedt. The centre-forward regularly found the back of the opposition net. He scored 22 goals for SC Norderstedt in the 1988/89 season.
Show moreMichael Ballack was born in Görlitz in the GDR on 26 September 1976. He displayed his talent for football at a young age. After his family moved to Karl-Marx-Stadt, now called Chemnitz, he started playing for BSG Motor ‘Fritz Heckert’ Karl-Marx-Stadt where he constantly continued to develop his ability on the pitch. From year seven he went to the children and youth sports college and there he received systematic support in sport that led, against the background of his increasing ability, to a move to FC Karl-Marx-Stadt. At the age of 16, he had to take a six-month break due to growing pains, but then there was no stopping Michael after that.
Show moreIn this video you can watch impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 in the month of August. It is not always about the beauty of the goals but also about remembering special games and players.
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