History: 50 years ago – Promotion season 1974/75 (June)

The match is being plugged with gusto a week ahead of the game. First, the Bayer 04 board announces the contract extension with coach Manfred Rummel to put an end to all speculation that another coach could come to the Bayer Cross in event of promotion. At the same time, football boss Hermann Brücken is having talks with potential signings – also in the event of staying in the Oberliga. The club supported by Bayer AG can no longer afford spectacular signings and the Bayer 04 board have to keep a tight hold on the purse strings.

For the important home game against Solingen, who will most probably bring thousands of supporters, the Werkself are hoping for support from lots of their own fans. 5,000 little black and red Bayer 04 flags are distributed and a leaflet is being printed with the motto "Be a real Bayer 04 fan again".

1 June 1975 is the day of the big battle at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. 15,000 spectators want to see this crucial promotion clash. The Werkself make a nervy start to the game with mistakes in midfield in the opening minutes. Solingen are well organised in defence and try to play on the counter-attack. That tactic appears to work on 21 minutes. The Solingen player-coach born in Opladen, Horst Stockhausen, opens the scoring for the visitors with a diagonal shot. But Bayer 04 respond four minutes later. Striker Matthias Brücken converts a clever long ball to make it 1-1. That gives Leverkusen a boost and they up the tempo to create one or two goalscoring opportunities. But the scoreline at half-time remains 1-1.

There is drama in the second half as both teams go all out for the win. Solingen player Gerd Knoth restores the lead for his team with a free kick curled over the wall. Bayer 04 equalise again seven minutes later with a wonderful flying header scored by Gerd Kentschke.

With ten minutes to play, the Solingen player Klaus Uphoff handles the ball in the penalty area and referee Reiner Waltert awards a penalty to Bayer 04. Sweeper Willi Rehbach steps up and converts the penalty. The Bayer 04 fans go wild with five minutes to play. "We're going up again, hallelujah" rings through the stadium. The return match for Union Solingen is on the following weekend in Hannover so the Werkself have two weeks to prepare for the important home game against Arminia Hannover.

After the Lower Saxons win 3-1 against Union Solingen the Werkself are top on four points ahead of the two rivals on two points. The Werkself only need one point in the home game against Arminia Hannover to go straight up to Bundesliga 2 North. Captain Hans-Werner Marx sums up the mood of the team ahead of the game: "We have worked for this 90 minutes throughout the season. Now we are just one point away from our desired target. None of us will be so daft to lack the right attitude when it comes to the crunch."

promotion at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium

It is 15 June 1975. The Ulrich Haberland Stadium is again pretty full with over 10,000 spectators. It is hectic and nervous in the stands and above all on the pitch. The Werkself strikers fail to score the opening goal three times. The two teams go in goalless at half-time.

Bayer 04 make the better start to the second half. A cross from Peter Surbach is turned into his own net by Hanover player Ulf Meisner on 54 minutes. But the opening goal does not bring the hoped-for calm, quite the opposite. Captain Hans-Werner Marx makes a serious mistake that leads to Arminia equalising.

Bayer 04 have the better players in the ensuing end-to-end encounter. An almost exhausted Gerd Kentschke – after the game he needed oxygen to get back on his feet – sets up the goal at 2-1 for Manfred Schumann on 66 minutes. And six minutes later, midfielder Wolfgang Fabian hits an unstoppable shot from the edge of the box into the net to make it 3-1 and the crowd goes wild.

But the Werkself appear to sit back on the lead too early. Arminia pull a goal back at 3-2 on 82 minutes but nothing else happens before the end of the game. The Bayer 04 fans celebrate the win in the final minutes and the spectators run onto the pitch after the final whistle. The target has been achieved: promotion to Bundesliga 2 North.

The last group match between Union Solingen and Bayer 04 comes a week later but the 3-1 defeat no longer interests the Leverkusen fans.

thank you to everybody!

The promotion to Bundesliga 2 North marks the beginning of a long journey in professional football. The promotion to the Bundesliga four years later, the UEFA Cup win in 1988, the DFB Pokal win in 1993, the great years under Christoph Daum, the 'Vizekusen' year in 2002, the DFB Pokal finals in 2009 and 2020 and, last but not least, the dream season in 2023/24 would not have been possible without promotion in 1975.

Thank you to everybody who paved the way with that promotion to the last beautiful, exciting, thrilling, emotional 50 years that we Bayer 04 fans have been able to experience.