Lehnhoff started his playing career in 1984 at FC Köln before moving to Belgium in 1987 where he proved to be very successful as a winger for FC Royal Antwerp – winning the Belgian cup competition in 1992 and in the following year reaching the final of the European Cup Winners Cup. And he is still very much revered in Antwerp many years later: On the 125th anniversary of the oldest football club in Belgium, he was voted the best player in the club's history.
Hans-Peter signed for Bayer 04 in 1994. The 57-year-old can look back at a turbulent time in a Werkself shirt: After narrowly avoiding relegation in 1996, he was twice runner-up in the next two seasons. Since retiring from the game – he does still occasionally play for the Bayer 04 Veterans – he has worked as the team liaison manager, the first in German professional football. In this role, he takes care of organisational matters involving the Werkself such as coordinating events and booking hotels.
Happy birthday, Hans-Peter Lehnhoff.
There were celebrations among those in black and red at the RheinEnergieSTADION. On Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season, the Werkself beat 1. FC Köln 2-0 and registered their sixth successive win in the derby. Aleix Garcia put Bayer 04 in front after just seven minutes with a direct free kick. Leverkusen played with discipline and energy after that and didn't allow some fierce challenges to unsettle them. Patrik Schick made it 2-0 in the 86th minute, and Said El Mala's goal in stoppage time for Köln proved nothing more than consolation. Jonas Hofmann crowned the derby win with his 100th appearance for the club.
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Bayer 04 have won each of their last five competitive encounters with 1. FC Köln, and it's around seven years since their last defeat in the cathedral city. That said, the hosts are in strong form at home and will make it anything but easy for the Werkself at the RheinEnergieSTADION on Sunday afternoon (kick-off 15:30 CET). The Matchday News.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 2-0 win against Hamburger SV on Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga.
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1. FC Köln host Bayer 04 on Sunday 8 November (kick-off 15:30 CET) in the 75th Bundesliga derby between the Rhineland neighbours. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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