There was a big welcome with lots of embraces, anecdotes from former times and the highlight of the fantastic choreography of the Bayer 04 fans for the heroes of yesteryear: Bayer 04 experienced a night to remember before and during the home game against Borussia Dortmund. Never before have so many players from three past teams been brought together at the same time.
The club's record appearance maker and fan liaison officer Rüdiger Vollborn plus Dirk Dreher, the manager of the Bayer 04 Veterans, had worked really hard over the past few months on organising the reunion. But the result was certainly worth the effort: From 15.00 CET, 40 former Bayer 04 players gathered together in the South Stand at the BayArena: It was particularly pleasing to see that the team, which just missed out on promotion to the Bundesliga in 1968, was almost completely represented including the former goalkeeper Friedhelm Renno and striker Karl-Heinz Brücken, a key contributor to the success in the 1967/68 with 13 goals scored during the campaign: "Our secret was the great cohesion in the group. And when you see that nearly all of them, who are still alive, have come here fifty years later then that demonstrates the great team work in the group," enthused Brücken.
Teams of 1988 and 1993 also nearly at full strength
The UEFA Cup winners of 1988 and the DFB Cup winners of 1993 also gathered in the Barmenia Lounge. That included Tita, Herbert Waas, the captain Wolfgang Rolff, coach Erich Ribbeck and Klaus 'Boxer' Täuber, who came off the bench in the second leg of the final against Espanyol to provide the assist for the flying header from Falko Götz to make it 2-0: And the 88 team was also nearly complete including the former general manager Michael Meier and 'Mister UEFA Cup' Christian Schreier. Tita made the longest journey. The Brazilian, who netted the first goal in the second leg of the final, explained why he left Bayer 04 after just one season in the summer of 1988 for the move to Pescara in Italy: "Bayer 04 didn't know how good I was. They noticed too late how valuable I was to the club," declared the 60-year-old with a laugh.
And the DFB Cup winners from back in the day also enjoyed the reunion: From former coach Dragoslav Stepanovic through captain Franco Foda to cup hero Ulf Kirsten, the team that secured the only DFB Cup win in the club's history with a 1-0 win in 1993 (goalscorer Kirsten) was also almost there in full number. "It's always great to meet up with the old team-mates again. I really enjoyed playing for Leverkusen and I've got good memories," said former skipper Franco Foda, now the Austria coach, about his return to the Rhine.
Carro drops in
The 'Legend's Day' was rounded off with a visit from Fernando Carro: The Bayer 04 chairman took the opportunity to drop in to the Barmenia Lounge just before the game against Dortmund: "They are a very important part of the history of our club. We're happy so many have come along," said Carro to the former players and coaches.
Impressive choreography
The emotional highlight of the reunion of club legends came just before kick-off at the Bundesliga game against BVB: Watching from the edge of the pitch, the 'grandees' were able to admire the impressive choreography in the North Stand: The Werkself fans did a great job in reviving memories of the club successes in 1968, 1988 and 1993. Even a number of Dortmund fans reached for their phones to capture the impressive images for posterity…
Finale in the West Stand
And there was more to come: The half-time talk with Martin Kree and Knut Reinhardt, the dramatic course of the unsuccessful outing for Bayer 04 against BVB, plus the finale for everybody in the Premium Lounge later in the evening: It was a more than eventful day with the heroes of yesteryear. Three winning teams together at the BayArena- an historic day in Leverkusen that will surely not be repeated in this form any time soon...
Bayer 04 TV will bring a detailed report on the meeting of the 1968, 1988 and 1993 teams at the BayArena…
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