On a heavy pitch, Jülich take the lead on 17 minutes but going behind fails to upset the Black and Reds at all. Matthias Brücken scores the equaliser five minutes later when he deflects a shot from Helmut Röhrig into the Jülich net. On 30 minutes, coach Manfred Rummel replaces the forward Gerd Kentschke with a defensive midfield player and the Werkself control the game from that point.
In the second half, the pitch carefully tended by groundsman Gustav Schmitz, becomes a mud bath. Two battling teams produced a top match and although the surface made it difficult to shine there were chances for both sides to take the lead. Bayer 04 keeper Hubert Makel had a good day and did not concede in the second half. As the game went on, Bayer 04 kept forcing Jülich back into their own penalty area with the visitors only able to mount rare counter-attacks. At the end there is luck on Leverkusen’s side. On 77 minutes, a cross from Manfred Eickerling finds the head of the tireless Hans-Werner Marx and he surprises the visitors keeper Roland Gühsgen with a header that loops into the far corner. Ten minutes later, substitute Manfred Schumann seals the win. After great work by Helmut Röhrig, the centre forward found the back of the net and the gap of three points to the top of the table again makes the season interesting for the Werkself.
A week later, Bayer 04 were away to fellow promotion rivals SC Brühl. Coach Manfred Rummel fielded the team that finished the game against SC Jülich with Gerd Kentschke and Manfred Schumann also back on the pitch. The team started where they finished off: they gave their all and also played some impressive football on a good surface. Matthias Brücken beats an opponent on 17 minutes and sets up Manfred Schumann to make it 1-0. Then the former Bayer 04 player Horst Wielandt gives away two penalties that sweeper Willi Rehbach converts. The half-time score is 3-0. Brühl pull a goal back at 3-1 in the second half of the game that ends in a richly deserved win for the Werkself.
However, there are rumours in Brühl suggesting the outcome of the game had been manipulated by Leverkusen's football boss Hermann Büchel. Giving a calling card to a Brühl player is not to bribe him but instead is about a job at Bayer AG and Hermann Büchel, who is also employed in purchasing at the works, responds to a question from a journalist: "Why shouldn't I help him?" The only time money was on the agenda on that day was the remaining transfer fee for the former Bayer 04 player Horst Wielandt. Football boss Dr. Jürgen Schwericke called such accusations absurd: "We’re not a tinpot club. I wasn’t in Brühl but I firmly reject those allegations."
The Werkself are due to play two more games before the end of the year but the games fall victim to the weather leaving it tight at the top of the table:
There are more exciting games in 1975. The target of promotion to Bundesliga 2 North requires the Werkself to overcome more rivals than was expected before the start of the season. January certainly packs a punch with five games to play.
Christoph Daum was born on 24 October 1953 in Zwickau. As a child, he moved to West Germany with his mother and grew up in Duisburg. He developed a great enthusiasm for football at an early age, even though it soon became clear that his future lay less on the pitch than on the sidelines. Even at a young age, his passion for analysing, explaining and improving things became apparent.
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When the Bayer 04 players celebrated Christmas in 1960, they spent the winter in second place in the Oberliga West 2 on 20 points - but already five points behind leaders Schwarz-Weiß Essen. However, coach Erich Garske's team are struggling to get back on track in the new year. A goalless draw against Bonner FV at home at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium was followed by a 2-1 away defeat in Erkenschwick. The following home game also yielded just one point. As a result, the team's promotion ambitions dwindled to a minimum, as the gap to the coveted spot has now grown to a challenging ten points.
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In this video you can see impressive and important goals in Bayer 04 history from the month of February. It's not always about the beauty of the goals, but also a reminder of special games and players.
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It is 11 February 2006 and Schalke 04 and the Werkself kick off at 3.30 p.m. in a match that ends up being historic - at least from a Bayer 04 perspective.
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As league leaders, the Werkself welcomed the relegation-threatened team from Rhenania Würselen. On 4 February 1951, 5,000 spectators line the touchlines despite the Sunday carnival parades. And they see a home team that is superior on the pitch. Without Theo Kirchberg, who was ill, and Emil Becks, who was suspended, the hosts attacked the opposing goal from the start. Battling against a strong wind in the first half, Bayer 04 created chance after chance, but were repeatedly thwarted by the Würselen goalkeeper. With the score at 0-0 at half-time, Karl Heinz Spikofski tried his luck on 55 minutes and hammered the ball into the opposition net from 20 metres out. Rhenania can no longer counterattack. The siege of the Würselen penalty area continued right to the end, but the game ended in a narrow 1-0 win.
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