Goalkeeper Fred Bockholt is the most prominent newcomer. The 32-year-old came from Bundesliga club Kickers Offenbach and he became the number one keeper the Werkself for the next two years.
Peter Klimke was signed from Bonner SC. The hard-running and battling 22-year-old defender was brought in to strengthen the defence.
Hans-Jürgen Scheinert is the youngest new signing at the age of 19. He came under the Bayer Cross from Olympia Bocholt.
Norbert Ziegler was brought in to play up front. The 21-year-old previously played for the Fortuna Düsseldorf second team.
And Bayer 04 also signed a champion of Germany: Defender Walter Posner only played two games for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the previous season but did get to hold the Schale. Like the four previously mentioned, he too became an important part of the Werkself over the next few years.
Peter Fleischheuer (24), a defender from SC Leichlingen, Willi Quasten (19), a midfielder from Rot-Weiß Oberhausen, Hermann Klebs (21), a striker from FSV Frankfurt, and Wilfried
With these signings, Bayer 04 followed the established direction of not signing expensive new players but instead relying on proven reserve players and players from Bundesliga 2. The only exception was goalkeeper Fred Bockholt, who together with Hubert Makel formed the goalkeeping duo for the Werkself over the next two years.
Football boss Hermann Büchel and coach Manfred Rummel are happy with the squad for the new season. Hermann Büchel dictates the following sentence for the journalists:
"No player who comes to us exceeds the financial limits we have set ourselves. There is no need for additional money as we have covered all expenditure from our reserves."
And coach Manfred Rummel says:
"We have strengthened our squad so much that our immediate future looks secure. Above all our attack will gain in penetration and we have two players for each important position."
The two directors Dr. Jürgen Schwericke and Dr. Udo Schulten come to welcome the players to the first training session. They also go into the new season in confident mood and hope for a solid mid-table position. But above all they want a good relationship between the team and the fans. People realised things are significantly better together back then too.
On the first day of training on 14 July 1975 there was only a practice match. And none of those present could have guessed that these new signings would be the first foundation for a rosy future under the Bayer Cross.
Zoltan Sebescen was born on 1 October 1975 in Ehingen and he started playing football as a child. His talent stood out early on and he was accepted into the youth section at Stuttgarter Kickers in 1982. There he progressed through all the youth teams and continued to develop. His breakthrough in the men's game came in the mid-1990s, when he moved up to the Kickers first team squad. With his speed, dynamism and attacking drive, he soon made a name for himself beyond the region. He and his team were promoted from the Regional League South to Bundesliga 2 in 1996 and stayed in the league with Stuttgart for three years.
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Jens Nowotny was born on 11 January 1974 in Malsch, Baden-Württemberg. As a youngster, he played for SV Spielberg and Germania Friedrichstal and later joined the youth section at Karlsruher SC. As a 15-year-old, he became an integral part of the DFB national youth set-up and played for all of the Germany junior teams. One highlight was an U15 international against England at Wembley.
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It is Tuesday, 20 October 2015 - a Champions League night at the BayArena. The visitors: AS Roma. What awaits the spectators is a memorable football match full of drama, speed and emotion. The Werkself get off to a flying start and literally overrun the slightly favoured Italians in the early stages. The scoreline was 2-0 after just twenty minutes - both goals were scored by Mexico international Chicharito. Bayer 04 put the visitors under constant pressure with their aggressive pressing and bold attacking play and even had a chance to make it 3-0. Then the AS Roma captain Daniele De Rossi brought his team back into the game with a brace making it 2-2 at half-time.
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In the video you can see impressive and important goals in Bayer 04 history from the month of October. It's not always about the beauty of the goals, but also a reminder of special games and players.
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On 23 October 1960, a highly anticipated local derby took place in the DFB Pokal, which the team had to qualify for via the regional association cup competitions at the time: SV Schlebusch hosted the Werkself from Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Around 2,000 spectators flocked to the "Am Bühl" stadium to watch the game kicking off at 3 pm.
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