The new season was not even a minute old when Karl Heinz Spikofski struck to put the Black and Reds ahead. But the hosts, who had been in the 1. Oberliga West for four years, were able to counter-attack straight from the kick-off. They equalised from a penalty. When, just two minutes later, Bayer 04 took the lead once again through their midfield playmaker Richard Job, it looked as though a very interesting afternoon was on the cards.
Nobody at the stadium expected this performance from the Werkself. The ball moved through the ranks of the Bayer 04 players as if on a string. Very often, it goes through six or seven players without the Katernbergers in their green shirts getting a touch. The Leverkusen side got off to a calm start right from the off, as if they’d been playing in the 1. Oberliga West for years.
The Werkself hit the crossbar twice more before Richard Job and centre-forward Emil Becks scored two further goals on 34 and 36 minutes – the score was 4–1 to the visitors, and the spectators in Katernberg could hardly believe their eyes. By the time the half-time whistle blew, the match seemed to be all but decided.
But in the second half, the home side showed Leverkusen just how hard the fight for victory and points is in the 1. Oberliga West. The Katernberg manager reshuffled his team, and after the early goal to make it 4-2 in the 49th minute, the stadium began to boil over. While the Black and Reds’ fitness began to wane as the match wore on, the Sportfreunde’s play became increasingly organised. In the Katernberg cauldron – popularly known as ‘Monte Katerno’ because the points were particularly hard to come by there – the Werkself completely lost their way. When they pulled one back on 73 minutes, an equaliser was really only a matter of time. However, left winger Paul Wiorek capitalised on one of the few counter-attacks on 88 minutes to seal the win.
So, following this 5–3 victory, all Bayer 04 fans are heading home feeling confident that they won’t be easy prey for their opponents in the 1. Oberliga West this season.
Harry Gniech was born on 14 October 1951 in Leverkusen-Schlebusch. At the age of six, he joined SV Bayer 04, initially in the athletics section. The boy actually wanted to play football, but was only allowed to switch to the football team when he turned nine. Harry quickly established himself as a playmaker in midfield. Despite his talent, the path from the youth team to the first-team squad was a long one back then. In the 1973–74 season, his former U19 coach, Friedhelm Renno – who was by then in charge of Bayer 04’s first team – selected him for his first match with the professional squad.
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Henrique Adriano Buss, known as Henrique, was born on 14 October 1986 in Marechal Cândido Rondon, a town in the Brazilian state of Paraná. At the age of 13, he joined Coritiba FC and made the step up to the first team in 2006. Henrique helped the team gain promotion to the Brazilian top flight and then moved on to Palmeiras FC. After just five matches for his new club, the 1.85-metre-tall centre-back was signed by Barcelona in 2008 for ten million euros and loaned to Bayer 04 for one year for a fee of €400,000.
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Constant Djakpa was born on 17 October 1986 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. He started playing football at the age of five. He took his first steps in professional football at Stella Club d’Adjamé, before moving on to Sogndal IL in Norway. His path eventually led him to Germany via the Romanian club Pandurii Târgu Jiu.
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In this video you can see impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 from the month of October. It's not always about the beauty of the goals, but also a reminder of special games and players.
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In the first week of October 1966, professional footballers decided to take an unusual step – they went on strike. They felt compelled to resort to this action, which was relatively uncommon until then, to give greater weight to their demands for fair pay. They reasoned that, with three draws, they were entitled to a bonus; at the very least, a points bonus of 75 Deutschmarks that was agreed before the start of the season.
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