History: 75 years ago - The 1950/51 season (June)
Bayer 04, already been promoted to the 1st Oberliga West, played friendly after friendly in the second half of May 1951. And that continued throughout the following month.
On Saturday, 2 June 1951, the unofficial final match between the two champions of the 2nd Oberliga West will take place. The Stadion Am Stadtpark hosted Meidericher SV, winners of the other group and, like Bayer 04, also promoted. Franz Strehle will be on the touchline for the first time, having led training for the Werkself for the first time two days previously. Under the new coach, the team played out a draw against Duisburg in front of 1,000 spectators. Just one day later, they travelled to Mönchengladbach for their next friendly. In the weeks that followed, the Bayer 04 board demanded a lot from the players, as money had to be raised to cover the costs of the previous season.
southern germany tour
One week later, the Werkself suffered a 3-1 defeat against Bremer SV in front of 3,000 spectators. This result is described by all journalists as very unfortunate. In mid-June, the Werkself travelled through southern Germany for a week. They play three games in four days against Stuttgarter Kickers, Ravensburg and Tailfingen. After returning to Leverkusen, the players have a day off before playing on Saturday and Sunday. The most successful season of a Bayer 04 team to date ends with a friendly against FC Köln on 30 June. The heroes are presented individually in a big newspaper article. I don't want to withhold this full-page tribute from you here.
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