The visitors, including the Leverkusen-born Germany international Paul Janes, can rarely free themselves from the clutches of the Bayer attack. On 15 minutes Hans Frömmel opens the scoring with a long-range effort. That is followed by a constant bombardment on the Fortuna goal supported by cheers and the siren-like howling of children. Theo Kirchberg scores another goal before half-time but this is ruled out due to an offside decision. Centre forward Emil Becks hits the ball over the bar from three metres out just before half-time leaving the Werkself with a 1-0 lead at the break.
Bayer 04 carry on attacking after the restart. Manfred Höher hits the ball just over the target after a solo run. In addition to Höher, Anton Mauth often leads the action. Emil Becks begins to limp in the middle of the second half after taking a knock but, as was the case back then, cannot be substituted. So he just moves up and down the touchline. On 80 minutes, Anton Mauth breaks down the right flank puts a cross into the penalty area and Manfred Höher heads the ball into the back of the net. Everybody's up from their seats and minutes of celebration sound across the pitch as that goal decides the game. With the final whistle, the Werkself players throw up their arms and are happy to have beaten a famous opponent after a tough battle but with a clear and deserved victory.
The end of the season brings a fifth place finish but the Werkself gain promotion to the First Oberliga West the next season.
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.
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Horst 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.
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Holger 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.
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Michael 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.
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In 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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