The joy at an early opener on four minutes scored by Klaus Röhrig, who has to go off injured on ten minutes, is followed by annoyance about an unnecessary equaliser on 18 minutes. A Werkself side with countless misplaced passes and mistakes fail to thrill their supporters. In a defensive battle, the SSV Troisdorf defenders, served up by the unimaginative attacking football from the Werkself, again and again hit the ball into the stands. After unbroken powerplay from Matthias Brücken, who provided the assist for the first goal, Matthias Hemmersbach is set up to put Leverkusen back in front on 82 minutes. The following seven minutes sees the outstanding Matthias Brücken score a hat-trick to increase the scoreline to an unexpected 5-1.
A week later, the Werkself head to the Sportpark Höhenberg. Bayer 04 are unable to impress in the first half at Viktoria Köln on a very good pitch. After going behind early on six minutes, the team of coach Manfred Rummel are unable to find a response for a long time. They continued to attack the Viktoria goal but have to wait to the 62nd minute for the equaliser. Matthias Brücken was again goalscorer. A quarter of an hour later he is brought down in the penalty area. As usual, the very reliable Willi Rehbach steps up to take the spot-kick but this time the Viktoria keeper Horst Holubek makes the save on 77 minutes. The match ends in a draw that obviously fails to satisfy the Bayer 04 management.
Matchday 10 brings the FC Köln second team to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. 1,600 spectators watch this game but they are bitterly disappointed. The Werkself put on an awfully helpless display and again and again are unable to convert chances on goal against the very defensive approach of the second team at FC Köln. Neither Matthias Brücken, Gerd Kentschke and Norbert Sobbe nor Peter Surbach or Dieter Axemacher are able to beat the Köln keeper Bodo Mattern. The visitors thrive on their efficiency. They score three goals from four chances and push Bayer 04 towards mid-table. The Werkself are fifth on twelve points, four behind leaders SC Brühl. For two weeks the Bayer 04 players and their coach Manfred Rummel have time to lick their wounds.
The Leverkusener Stadt-Anzeiger provides an early critique of the season: "Title and promotion hardly achievable” is the headline in the Anzeiger on 22.11.1974. The Bayer 04 officials including coach Manfred Rummel and football boss Hermann Büchel appear helpless. One thing is certainly clear to everybody: Only a significant improvement in performances can help the Werkself achieve the target of returning to professional football with promotion to the Bundesliga 2 Nord. And so the fans under the Cross eagerly look forward to the two matches in December against third-placed SC Jülich and leaders SC Brühl. Now only wins can help.
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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