It is Sunday, 3 September 1950. The Bayer 04 team quickly lose the plot in the game. There is none of the typical Werkself passing game, no low long balls and no great crosses from the wings. Rapid Köln play their way and operate with long punts hit high and far into the opposition half. The home team under coach Raymond Schwab adjust to that level but fail to produce a threat on goal. So it is no wonder that Rapid Köln are 2-0 up on the half-hour mark.
The Werkself then apply pressure at the start of the second half. After good work by Karl Heinz Spikofski, Emil ‘Bubi’ Becks pulls a goal back and now the hosts are playing like their fans hoped for. The Cologne team defend with all hands on deck. 21 outfield players are in the Rapid half but the Bayer 04 strikers are again and again frustrated by the visitors' keeper. The game ends in a disappointing 2-1 defeat.
seven goals in Wuppertal
Bayer 04 have to play at the Stadion am Zoo in Wuppertal a week later. The opponents are TSG Vohwinkel, who share the stadium with SSV Wuppertal and in 1954 they merge to become Wuppertaler SV. Nevertheless, 1,000 Bayer 04 fans follow their team to Wuppertal on this Sunday morning and they witness a great performance by the team. There is an early kick-off at 11 o'clock due to the Wuppertal festival and the associated procession but the Werkself are wide-awake from the start.
Outside right Theo Kirchberg and outside left Paul Wiorek secure a 2-0 lead with strikes on 16 and 17 minutes but Vohwinkel pull a goal back on 35 minutes. But Theo Kirchberg restores the two-goal lead at 3-1 just before half-time. Richard Job makes it 4-1 two minutes after the restart and everything seems to be going right for Bayer 04. But then the match developed into a tough battle with the referee not really in charge right to the end. TSG scored two goals but the visitors were 4-3 up at full-time. The Bayer 04 fans travel back to Leverkusen happy with the two points.
Emil Becks nets brace
After two wins on the road, it was finally time for the first home win of the season. SSG Bergisch Gladbach 09 are the visitors to the Stadion Am Stadtpark on 17 September. And this time aggression is king again. A sending off and three injuries, with no substitutes allowed back then, that meant players could either leave the pitch or be less active on it, spoke volumes. The Werkself were again the better team from the start. With solid cover, Bayer 04 launch attack after attack and deservedly take the lead on 20 minutes with a goal from Hans Flohr. It is the same story after half-time. A dominant Bayer 04 team go 4-0 up thanks to a brace from Emil Becks and one from Karl Heinz Spikofski and in the end beat the neighbours from Bergisch Gladbach 4-1.
unceremonious clash in Würselen
On the last weekend in September, the Werkself travel to Würselen to get a result at Rhenania. Bayer 04 had little luck on the drenched pitch. Battling against the wind and the opposition the Leverkusen players found it difficult to get going and end up a man down on 20 minutes. Bayer 04 left-back Paul Wiorek is given his marching orders for a revenge foul. The game gets even rougher after that. When captain Hans Frömmel is lying on the ground and gets kicked by a Rhenania player, the referee has not seen anything and there is a mass confrontation, which the referee ends a few minutes later by blowing for half-time to prevent trouble amongst the spectators.
The Werkself go behind shortly after the restart with an unjustified penalty but they continue to battle with ten players. On 81 minutes, Hans Flohr saves the day with a deserved leveller at 1-1. Bayer 04 are now third in the table with seven points from five games. The start to the season can be seen as a success.
