Happy 75th birthday, Wolfgang Holzhäuser

A forward thinker, awkward customer, visionary, militant revolutionary – those words were often used to describe him in the media. In an interview with SPOX, Wolfgang Holzhäuser said his public image had developed and consolidated like that over many years. And he is happy to admit: "I definitely cultivated that a bit later on." Today he still holds strong opinions and is keen to debate. Even though he has not worked in professional football for several years. Holzhäuser continues to follow the sport and, in particular, 'his' Werkself with great passion. He now lives in Majorca with his wife Annelie for several months of the year. But he is often a welcome guest at the BayArena. Holzhäuser was at the stadium last season for the title decider against Werder Bremen and the champions party against FC Augsburg. He also had his fingers crossed for the Black and Reds at the DFB Pokal final in Berlin. With all his love for Bayer 04, he still looks far beyond the Leverkusen cross. That is because of his professional roots.

an Architect of the german football league

Wolfgang Holzhäuser, born in Crumstadt near Darmstadt, helped shaped German professional football for over four decades. As a trained wholesale and export merchant as well as qualified master of business administration, the man from Hessen began his professional career in 1975 with the German Football Association (DFB) in Frankfurt. He worked there for over 20 years including as league secretary and head of professional football. One of his areas of responsibility was the development of the licensing process for the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2. Holzhäuser also played an important role in the foundation of the league association in December 2000, which later became the German Football League (DFL) 16 years later. At this time he was already working as commercial managing director at Bayer 04.

After 23 years at the DFB, the football official joined Leverkusen in 1998. Here he played a key role in turning the football section into a GmbH company. After Reiner Calmund left, Holzhäuser was in sole charge as managing director from 2004. The big redevelopment of the BayArena happened during his tenure from December 2007. The one time 'jewel of a ground' became a state-of-the-art sports venue that was opened in August 2009 with a game against TSG Hoffenheim. A milestone in the club's history.

successful sporting record

The sporting record during the Holzhäuser era was very positive: In his total of 15 years as managing director under the Cross, Bayer 04 qualified twelve times for European competitions including the UEFA Champions League seven times. Bayer Leverkusen were runners-up four times, reached the Champions League final once and the DFB Pokal final twice. His most painful moment was the nightmare of Unterhaching as Holzhäuser admits. "To this day I am still highly frustrated when I go past there. We were more or less champions in Unterhaching in 2000. Losing there was terrible." The fact Bayer 04 later trademarked the term Vizekusen under his leadership was not universally popular. Much more successful in contrast was the term Werkself, which also comes from the Holzhäuser time.

As the Bayer 04 managing director he was not only a man of numbers but also somebody who liked to go against the grain. He questioned the traditional, provided food for thought, inspired reform. That included in numerous committees he belonged to such as the DFL management committee and the DFB. Also in his regular column 'Auf ein espresso' in the BayArena magazine, the predecessor of the Werkself magazine.

often bucking the trend

FIFA, UEFA, DFB or DFL: Wolfgang Holzhäuser did not keep his opinions to himself. In 2015, he made the case for the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) – two years before videos were introduced to the Bundesliga. He was less successful with some proposals such as reducing the Bundesliga to 16 clubs or playing semi-finals and a final for the German championship title. Holzhäuser regrets that but is not really surprised: "Because we Germans are conservative and football is archconservative."

Well he can live with that as the progressive one. He was never into following the mainstream. And if something political did not happen then that was the way it was. There he sticks to paragraph 11 of the 'Hessen constitution': ‘Wenn der Käs gesse is, isser gesse.’(If the cheese has been eaten then it's been eaten). Nobody wanted to take the humorous Hessen out of him. It's not always easy to fight against the image of the grumpy accountant, admits Holzhäuser. "Anyone who knows me knows that I'm actually the opposite."

The wine enthusiast was always able to relax best with music. Back in the day with rock from Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Pink Floyd as well as Blood, Sweat and Tears. And because he tended towards the melancholy, he regularly needed a portion of Deep Purple to cheer up, favourite of all their live album Made in Japan. But Wolfgang Holzhäuser has primarily listened to jazz for many years. So it is very possible that today's celebrations will see Nils Landgren, one of his favourite jazz musicians, on the playlist.

Bayer 04 definitely wish you all the best on your 75th birthday, dear Wolfgang Holzhäuser.