They were the first Bayer 04 team to knock on the door of the Bundesliga. Under coach Theo Kirchberg, affectionately known as the Fox due to his tactical trickery, the team had an outstanding season in 1967/68 ending up champions of the Regional League West. That title took the club into the promotion play-offs for the Bundesliga founded five years previously. Bayer 04 battled with Tennis Borussia Berlin, TuS Neuendorf, Arminia Hannover and Kickers Offenbach for a place in Germany's top flight – but ended up losing narrowly to Offenbach: In the game in front of 28,000 spectators at the Bieberer Berg, Leverkusen took the lead through Peter Rübenach but ended up losing 2-1 in added time to finish second in the group behind the Kickers. Ten men from the title winning team will be at the stadium led by Helmut and Karl-Heinz Brücken, Günter Haarmann, Fredi Hennecken, Friedhelm Renno, Helmut Röhrig and Peter Rübenach.
The names of the 93 Cup winning side and the 88 UEFA Cup winners are probably more familiar to most Werkself fans. With the exception of Bum-kun Cha, nearly all of the heroes from the European season 30 years ago will be at the BayArena to again take in the deserved applause of the supporters: Coach Erich Ribbeck, Herbert Waas, 'Boxer' Klaus Täuber, Falko Götz, Wolfgang Rolff, Christian Schreier and, and, and... Without doubt, the longest journey was undertaken by Tita who arrived from Brazil on Thursday. The 1993 team will be led out by coach Dragoslav Stepanovic with another star-studded cast: Ulf Kirsten, Andy Thom, Ioan Lupescu, Franco Foda, Christian Wörns, Martin Kree, Markus Happe and Heiko Scholz.
All 50 will come together in the Armenia Lounge at the BayArena on Saturday afternoon where they will be welcomed by Fernando Carro, chairman of the board at Bayer 04. As part of the fan choreography, the members of all three teams will be honoured on the pitch shortly before the kick-off of the Bundesliga match and there will be a short interview with a player from each team at half-time on the pitch led by the stadium announcers Petra 'Pitti' Dahl and Tobias Ufer.
The Schwadbud talk show after the game against Dortmund will feature special guests: Franco Foda, today Austria coach, as captain of the DFB Cup winners and Wolfgang Rolff as skipper of the UEFA Cup heroes will give their assessments of the clash with BVB and, no doubt, recount many an anecdote from their time at Bayer 04.
Calling all Bayer 04 fans: The Werkself will play Pisa SC, newly promoted to Serie A, at the BayArena as part of the season opener. The clash with the club from Tuscany is on Tuesday, 5 August with the kick-off at 18:00 CET. Entrance to the stadium with a wide range of entertainment provided is possible from 15:00 CEST. Read on for information on ticket sales for the season opener.
Show moreBayer 04 Leverkusen have signed the 17-year-old forward Dustin Buck. The Germany youth international joins from the youth set-up at FC Augsburg. The technically gifted and fast attacker will strengthen the Werkself U19 squad.
Show moreA new look and new kit supplier for the 2025/26 campaign: Bayer 04 in tandem with sports equipment manufacturer New Balance present the official kit for the Leverkusen eSports players the coming season. New partner Sinology appears on the top right of the jersey. Menswear outfitters Lerros is still the main eSports sponsor and Niedax remains the sleeve partner. The jersey is available now from the Bayer 04 online shop and the Fanwelt.
Show moreThe Werkself will welcome Serie A newcomers Pisa SC to the BayArena for a friendly on Tuesday, 5 August (kick-off: 18:00 CEST / stadium opens: 15:00) as part of the season opener celebrations. Bayer 04 will offer fans a lively and varied supporting programme on the stadium concourse. Ahead of kick-off, both the men's and women's senior squads will be introduced on the pitch.
Show moreBosnia U19 international Kerim Alajbegovic is moving from Bayer 04 Leverkusen's youth set-up to Red Bull Salzburg. The talented attacking midfielder has signed a long-term contract with the Austrian club. At the same time, the works club secured a buy-back option for the 17-year-old, who was one of the mainstays of the Leverkusen U19s.
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