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Only 8,000 spectators come to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium for the game against VfB Bottrop on 5 May 1968. After a nervy start, defender Willi Haag scores the opener with a long-range effort to the relief of teammates and fans. When Friedhelm Strzelczyk doubles the lead after the half-hour mark it is all about the margin of the expected Bayer 04 victory. A goal from Karl-Heinz Brücken and a brace from Helmut Richert increases the lead to 5-0. As both rivals win their games at least a draw on the last matchday away to Schwarz-Weiß Essen is required as the goal average compared with Rot-Weiss Essen is clearly in favour of Bayer 04. Losing is not an option as the Bayer team would slip down to third place in the event of the other two teams winning.
The Werkself ran onto the pitch at the Uhlenkrug Stadium in pouring rain on 12 May 1968 accompanied by 4,000 Bayer 04 fans. Leverkusen take the lead on 21 minutes with a brilliant diagonal shot from Helmut Brücken. Up to half-time, Essen turn the game round and the Bayer 04 fans don't give their own team any chance. However, coach Theo Kirchberg brings on Klaus Görtz in place of Fredi Hennecken at the start of the second half. And "the tall one" controls proceedings on the pitch for the first 20 minutes after the restart. He takes hold of the game, plays long balls and shoots from all angles. The Essen keeper is unable to hold on to one of those shots from 20 yards out allowing Helmut Brücken to level just after half-time with his second goal. Eight minutes later, Klaus Görtz races away, plays a one-two with Friedhelm Strzelczyk and fires the ball into the back of the net. A complete turnaround at the Uhlenkrug in Essen. The Werkself play wonderful football and have more chances on goal. But the Black and Whites do not give up and are able to equalise on 70 minutes. Essen press for the winner in the last 20 minutes but Bayer 04 battle to hold on to the draw. The Bundesliga play-offs are achieved and as Rot-Weiss Essen win 5-1 in Hamborn, Bayer 04 Leverkusen are the champions of the Regional League West in 1968.
The Werkself are in Group 1 alongside Tennis Borussia Berlin, Kickers Offenbach, Arminia Hannover and TuS Neuendorf (today TuS Koblenz). The Black and Reds play the first away game at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin against Berlin runners-up Tennis Borussia. The 2,000 travelling Leverkusen fans witness a good start by the Werkself. After hitting the post twice, Fredi Hennecken nets the opening goal. But in a repeat of the week before the team are 2-1 down at half-time. The superior fitness on the heavy pitch brings a decisive advantage to the Bayer 04 team in the second half. A double whammy around 70 minutes with goals from Friedhelm Strzelczyk and Fredi Hennecken turns the game round for the team under coach Theo Kirchberg. Helmut Brücken seals the win just before full-time to secure the first two points.
Kickers Offenbach visit the Ulrich Haberland Stadium four days later. The ground is bursting at the seams with 20,000 spectators. Fans use the steel supports for the floodlights as seats or go home disappointed as there are no more tickets to be had. The team from Hessen are on top from the start with a very organised defence in the first half and an attacking game in the second. Offenbach deservedly take the lead on 67 minutes. As the referee is just about to blow for full-time, Friedhelm Strzelczyk takes a chance and fires an unstoppable shot from distance into the net to level the scores. The final whistle is met with huge celebrations by the Bayer 04 fans.
The fixture against Arminia Hannover follows a week later. The team from Lower Saxony failed to score in their first three games having lost them all 1-0. The Werkself dominate the first ten minutes but lose their way in the worst performance by Bayer 04 for months. After being a goal down at half-time, substitute Peter Rübenach at least rescues a the point with a strike on 84 minutes.
The Group 1 table after that matchday:
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.
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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.
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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".
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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.
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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.
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