Blackburn Rovers were the first English team to come to Leverkusen. The fee for the English second division club took up half of the income of at least 3,000 marks. The "Rovers" from the cloth mills of Blackburn were the six-time FA Cup winners and two-time champions of England. The fact those honours were mainly over 40 years before did not bother anybody in Leverkusen. Exactly as little as the fact that the announced international players were not actually internationals as we know today.
The English professionals arrived two days before the game in Leverkusen. They had a packed agenda on the matchday on Saturday 17 May 1952. At nine in the morning there was a tour of the works, lunch at noon, after that time spent at the municipal swimming baths up to five o'clock before 'five o'clock tea' to prepare for the match. By the time of the kick off at 6:30 in the evening there were 7,000 spectators around the pitch to witness the promised great event.
Leverkusen took the lead on 29 minutes with a shot from centre forward Fritz Tiede and they went 2-0 up at the start of the second half with a goal from Emil 'Bubi' Becks. However, the English team hit back to make it 2-1. The deserved equaliser came on 59 minutes and the game ended all square despite chances for both sides. That great day was rounded off with an evening meal for the two teams in the Krahne club pub in Wiesdorf. The only bad news was an injury to midfielder Richard Job who had to go off on 43 minutes.
Thomas Hörster was born in Essen on 27 November 1956. As a child, he took part in high diving and judo, but was also passionate about football. After starting out at Blau-Weiß Holsterhausen-Essen, he moved on to ETB Schwarz-Weiß Essen. As a U19 player, he trained with the senior side for the first time. And at just under 18 years of age, Thommy – as he is known – made his debut in Bundesliga 2. Over two-and-a-half seasons, he made 71 appearances for Schwarz-Weiß Essen.
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Bernd Dreher was born in Leverkusen on 2 November 1966 and he began playing football at SV Schlebusch at the age of five. At the age of nine, he joined the youth academy at Bayer 04. There, the goalkeeper progressed through all the youth teams and, with the U19s in 1985, he reached the final of the German Championship, that Bayer 04 lost 4-2 to Eintracht Frankfurt.
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Robson Ponte was born on 6 November 1976 in São Paulo. He began his football career in Brazil with CA Juventus. He then played for América FC and Guarani FC. In 1999, he joined Bayer 04. Robson initially played for the Werkself until 2001. He then moved to VfL Wolfsburg on a two-year loan. There, he continued to develop and gained valuable experience in the Bundesliga. In 2003, he returned to Leverkusen, where he particularly showcased his dribbling skills and his ability in attacking midfield. In total, he made 79 appearances for Bayer 04 and scored six goals.
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In this video you can see impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 from the month of November. It's not always about the beauty of the goals, but also a reminder of special games and players.
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On Sunday, 4 November 1951, the first league derby between Bayer 04 and FC Köln took place. The FC Köln stadium in Müngersdorf was absolutely bursting at the seams for this clash. A veritable invasion of Bayer 04 fans from Leverkusen set off for Cologne by tram and bus. From midday onwards, in addition to the scheduled services, six extra tram services ran at the standard fare from Leverkusen Town Hall to the stadium in Cologne. At the same time, buses operated by Grein ran regularly from Wiesdorf market square to Cologne. In the end, over 5,000 Bayer 04 fans waved their black and red flags in the stands at the FC Köln stadium and got behind their team for ninety minutes.
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