He's a jolly good fellow – Willibert Kremer is 80

When Willibert Kremer was presented as the new coach and successor to Radoslav Momirski at Bayer 04 on 5 April 1976 , the Werkself were mired in a relegation battle in the first season in Bundesliga Division Two North. The then 36-year-old was coach at MSV Duisburg in the top flight at that point and he brought pros Bernard Dietz, Ronnie Worm and Rudi Seliger through to the Germany squad. When MSV did not take any action in extending Kremer’s contract with the Zebras after three years, the coach resigned two months before the end of the season – in writing and with the words: “I don’t need to get on my knees to beg the board to keep me on.”

Weisweiler as tutor

That unusual step hit the headlines – and that says something about Willibert Kremer as a coach and person. Kremer, one of the quiet men in the country and completely devoid of any showmanship or exaggerated vanity, had the benefit of learning from the legendary Hennes Weisweiler at the Sports University in Cologne and he certainly picked up a lot from ‘Don Hennes’. One of his most important principles: Being loud and snappy does not bring authority unlike expertise and leadership.

However, Kremer was extremely disillusioned in his first training session at Leverkusen: “I’d just completed a relaxed warm-up session, as I was used to doing in the Bundesliga, and several of the players ended up being sick after half an hour due to overexertion.” In spite of all the upset stomachs, Bayer 04 avoided relegation under Kremer finishing fifteenth in the table.

‘Handyman’

The saviour then got stuck into the next challenge and became the ‘handyman’ at Bayer 04. Kremer dedicated himself to the U19s, who he coached at the same time as the pros (“They didn’t even have a full set of shirts back then. One of the youth players, who believed in himself, did not go to Leverkusen but instead to FC Köln or TuS Höhenhaus”), went scouting and also quizzed the groundsman when in doubt if he believed the newly-sewn grass was not growing properly. One of his most valuable new signings: Reiner Calmund joined from Frechen 20 as the new youth leader.

Success on the pitch at Bismarckstraße followed under Kremer: tenth place in 1977 and eighth a year later were the stepping stones to a sensational season in 1978/79 when Leverkusen irresistibly powered through into the top flight as underdogs. When promotion was confirmed on 13 May 1979 after a 3-3 draw against Uerdingen the players carried their coach on their shoulders to the dressing room. “It was the happiest day in my career as a coach,” said Kremer later in summing up the moment.

Bayer 04 finished twelfth in the first season in the Bundesliga but there were problems on the pitch in the following campaign – and attention turned increasingly to the coach. Kremer had just received an offer from FC Nürnberg to be the successor to ‘Zapf’ Gebhardt but Bayer 04 categorically refused to let him go. The words of the then club vice-president Dr. Jürgen Schwericke, also the top lawyer at the club: “If Nürnberg try to negotiate with our coach again they will have to deal my young colleagues.”

“It hurt me a lot”

There was a lot of anger when Willibert Kremer was sacked by Bayer 04 on 22 November 1981 and replaced as coach by his assistant Gerd Kentschke. Kremer gave an insight into his feelings at the time looking back later. “It hurt me a lot. They blocked me getting the lucrative job in Nürnberg but they sacked me nevertheless.” It was an unpleasant end to an extremely fruitful liaison. Kremer submitted a claim to be reappointed as coach but it was rejected by the employment tribunal in Solingen.

No hard feelings, Willibert Kremer made his peace with Bayer 04 long ago. He carried on working as a coach for another 14 years at 1860 Munich, Fortuna Düsseldorf, Eintracht Braunschweig, MSV Duisburg and Tennis Borussia Berlin before joining the scouting section at Bayer 04 in 1998. He shared his knowledge and expertise for 15 years in scouting and watching opponents. His experience was highly valued by the club right up to 30 June 2013 when Willibert Kremer finally hung up his boots.

Contact with Bayer 04 in general and with the 1979 promotion team in particular have never ceased. Anyone who witnessed Willibert Kremer in May of this year at the celebrations of ‘40 years Bundesliga under the Bayer Cross” with his former charges from back then could read the pure delight in his eyes at the moving reunion.

Happy Birthday, promotion coach, here’s to the next ten years!