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.
Jacek Krzynowek was born on 15 May 1976 in Kamiensk, Poland, and grew up as a typical country boy. He spent his childhood less in structured training sessions and more on simple pitches, where he spent hours playing football with older boys. He realised early on that he had exceptional shooting power and enormous stamina. But for a long time, he didn't appreciate just how much talent he had. While others dream of a great career, professional football initially seems like a distant world to him that he only knows from television.
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Carsten ‘Calle’ Ramelow was born in Berlin on 20 March 1974. He began his football career in the youth teams at Tasmania 73, Tennis Borussia, SC Siemensstadt and, last but not least, Hertha Berlin. It was here that he reached the DFB Pokal final in 1993 with the Hertha Bubis team, the amateur team at Hertha Berlin, against his future employer Bayer 04 Leverkusen. But even he was unable to prevent the Werkself's 1-0 victory thanks to a goal from Ulf Kirsten.
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The 1995/1996 season brought some innovations. For the first time, each player was given a squad number with his name printed on the back of the jersey. For the first time, coaches were allowed to make three substitutions and for the first time, three points are awarded for a win. And for the first time, I am no longer my team's number 1. I wear it on my back, but Dirk Heinen has taken over me in goal. So at first I sat on the bench a bit offended, but in the Rückrunde I realised I also had to make my contribution to the success of a team.
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In this video you can see impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 from the month of May. It's not always about the beauty of the goals, but also a reminder of special games and players.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen, promoted to the Oberliga West, welcome VfL 99 Köln for the last game of a successful season. This time, the crowd of just 2,000 spectators saw more of a friendly than a championship match. Little fight, little goalmouth action and few moves in midfield to warm the hearts of the spectators. It takes a corner to give Bayer 04 the lead. Peter Röger is on hand with his head and nods home on 43 minutes for the half-time lead. When Karl-Heinz Spikofski increased the lead to 2-0 a quarter of an hour after the restart, the result was settled. The team from Cologne were able to reduce the deficit to 2-1 in the final minute, but in the end the spectators went home looking forward to the first season for a Bayer 04 team in Oberliga West 1.
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