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

Ahead of the last matchday on 11 May 1975, the Werkself are top of the table on 43 points followed by SC Brühl just one point behind. Both teams have away games against sides from mid-table. Bayer 04 are away to SG Eschweiler, SC Brühl are at FV Godesberg. A winner for the Werkself would make Bayer 04 champions, a draw for both teams the same, Brühl could only draw level with the Werkself if they picked up one more point than Bayer 04 and then there would be a play-off on a neutral pitch as the goal difference was relevant.

SC Brühl again pull out all the stops and appeal against the 2-1 defeat in Leverkusen a week before. The reason: Coach Fritz Pott was asked to leave the pitch before the end of the game by the police. The Brühl players were in a state of shock and concede the winner to make it 2-1 to the Werkself on 93 minutes. But there was little prospect of the appeal being successful. The appeals board reject the Brühl claim although Bayer 04 receive a fine of 200 Deutschmarks due to insufficient security.

A number of Bayer 04 supporters travel to the decider in Eschweiler to support their team. 1,500 spectators come to the Stadion Patternhof and witness the hosts take a shock lead against the Werkself on five minutes. The Werkself do settle down when Klaus Röhrig levels on 40 minutes. At the same time, SC Brühl are 2-1 up at half-time in Godesberg.

Bayer 04 dominate proceedings in the second half but are unable to break down the solid SG Eschweiler defence. The hosts recover towards the end of the game but the match ends in a fair 1-1 draw. And the worrying begins.

Of course, the Bayer 04 officials have a hotline to Godesberg and know that Brühl are leading 2-1 at half-time. The Leverkusen players go off into the dressing room after the final whistle with heads bowed and severely disappointed faces, and nobody is surprised to hear the latest information from Godesberg: Brühl have won 4-2.

"We are short of a goal and a point in the end," says coach Manfred Rummel who was rueing missed chances and not just in this game. "The decider against Brühl is on Wednesday at the Geißbockstadion at 18:00," says football boss Hermann Büchel in the dressing room. The players think there's at least another decider.

Then comes the completely unexpected turnaround. Officials from the Middle Rhine FA enter the Bayer 04 dressing room with flowers – as congratulations. Bayer 04 are champions of the Middle Rhine Verbandsliga as they were a year before. Players, coaches, directors and the numerous supporters embrace each other. The apocalyptic mood in the Bayer 04 dressing room has suddenly disappeared. "A reliable source tells us Brühl have drawn 2-2. You are champions. We offer our congratulations and best wishes for the promotion games," say the two Middle Rhine officials.

The Werkself players begin a new adventure with the start of the promotion play-offs to Bundesliga 2 North on 25 May 1975. The competition is made up of the Lower Rhine champions Union Solingen and Arminia Hannover the runners-up from the Oberliga North introduced in 1974. In this group of three teams, the top two go straight up to Bundesliga 2 North.

On the first matchday, Union Solingen beat Arminia Hannover 2-0 at home. A week later, on 25 May, Bayer 04 travel north to Hannover. Two days before the game, the squad led by coach Manfred Rummel go to a training camp at the Hotel Blumenparadies Elfenborn. In the evening they get their first taste of the Bundesliga 2 North by watching the game between Hannover 96 and Arminia Bielefeld. There will be another rigorous training session on Saturday morning at the TuS Langeholzhausen pitch.

The interest from Bayer 04 fans in supporting their team in Hannover is greater than expected. 75 tickets have been sold by Saturday night and two coaches with a total of 90 optimistic Bayer 04 fans on board set off at nine o'clock on Sunday morning.

The game in front of 5,000 spectators is less than first class. The Werkself are very good in defence and Gerd Kentschke leads the way brilliantly. Nevertheless, the hosts take the lead on 36 minutes thanks to an unfortunate own goal by Hans-Werner Marx. But Gerd Kentschke levels seven minutes later with a header. That is the score at half-time.

The Werkself are lucky after the restart when the Lower Saxons hit the post. With minds focussed on maintaining the valuable level scoreline, Bayer 04 lose their way slightly in the middle of the second half and Arminia Hannover get the upper hand. But Gerd Kentschke exploits a mistake in the Hannover defence. He fires in a cross for centre-forward Manfred Schumann to smash a header into the net on 65 minutes to make it 2-1. Arminia are exhausted at the end of the game and a win is more than deserved. The first home game of the promotion matches against Union Solingen follows a week later.