The match starts quietly and fairly. Bayer 04 press for the lead but August Schiefer, Manfred Höher and Theo Kirchberg miss clear-cut opportunities. Eickel take the lead from a counter-attack and the Werkself fail to equalise from the penalty spot. The visitors take their lead into half-time.
The leveller comes quickly in the second half but Eickel counter-attack again to promptly retake the lead. Bayer 04 crank up the tempo. And, within a short space of time, the match is turned round and the Werkself are 4-2 up. Manfred Höher, Bubi Becks and August Schiefer are the goalscorers. The match now begins to take a turn for the worse.
First, the Eickel player Ratajczak kicks the Bayer 04 defender Jakob Kaiser, who refuses to be intimidated and kicks straight back – both are sent off. The visitors' keeper Golbach enters into discussions with spectators behind the goal and he verbally abuses them. When he tries to punch a spectator through the net, a fist fight ensues next to his goal on 76 minutes during which two visiting players and two spectators vent their rage. It develops into a real punch-up.
Children and teenagers run onto the pitch to get a closer look at events. The match is suspended and the visitors return to the dressing room with the exception of two players. The pitch is cleared after a few minutes and the referee asks the two teams to resume the game. However, the Eickel players refuse. They try to get the match abandoned so it can be replayed.
The association ruled in favour of Bayer 04 a couple of weeks later as the team were not at fault and a 4-2 win was awarded to the Werkself. The two spectators who were involved in the fight were disciplined by the club but were back at the next game. Stadium bans were unknown at that time.
Hans Sarpei was born on 28 June 1976 in Tema, Ghana, and came to Germany with his parents at the age of three, where he grew up in Cologne. Even before he was born, his mother and father worked in Hamburg in the import-export sector. There they met an older man who introduced them to German culture and supported them. Out of gratitude, Hans was later given his first name, although this man died before he was born. Hans comes from a sporting family; his older brother Edward and his nephews Hans Nunoo Sarpei and Kingsley Sarpei were or are also professional footballers.
Show more
On 3 June 1953, Hans-Josef (‘Sepp’) Kretschmann became the fifth coach in the history of Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Born in Allenstein, East Prussia, on 21 March 1902, the football coach first studied to become a teacher before later switching to football. He took over the Werkself from Franz Strehle, under whom the team twice managed to stay in the 1st Oberliga West. However, Strehle did not extend his contract in Leverkusen after these two very successful years.
Show more
After promotion to Bundesliga North 2 in the summer of 1975, Bayer 04 are fighting relegation just eight months later. The club expects full commitment from everyone in this precarious situation. Promotion coach Manfred Rummel is to give up his main job as a teacher at the Mülheim special school and become a full-time coach at Bayer 04. The coach, who is very popular with the team, does not see himself in a position to fulfil the club's request. Despite a 2-0 home win against SpVgg Erkenschwick, Manfred Rummel is put on gardening leave by "mutual agreement".
Show more
Bayer 04, already been promoted to the 1st Oberliga West, played friendly after friendly in the second half of May 1951. And that continued throughout the following month.
Show more
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.
Show more
