From the archives: Another abandoned match

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.