Laying the pitch, which involved planting ready-made turf from the Netherlands, saved nine months – time that would better have been spent installing a better drainage system as that failed in a friendly in November 1958. The pitch was in such a poor state that they had to return to the Stadtpark at the end of the 1958/59 season. But nobody predicted that in August 1958.
The stands fill up with spectators from four o'clock and they are entertained by a brass band from the Bayer AG factories. To make it easier to find seats, the individual blocks are painted in the colour of the match tickets and not ordered by letters and numbers. At ten to five, Dr Fritz Jacobi, the chairman of Bayer 04, gives a speech and then receives a key from the architect and construction manager Viktor Calles in a symbolic handover.
The main event of the inauguration is the friendly between Bayer 04 and Oberliga side Fortuna Düsseldorf. In front of 11,000 spectators, Fortuna win 3-0 with the Bayer team missing lots of chances. The first goalscorer at the new Ulrich Haberland Stadium is a certain Jupp Derwall who went on to be the Germany coach and manager at Galatasaray where he won the Turkish league in 1987. At the end of the day the newspapers were positive and highlighted the special atmosphere at the new Bayer ground.
Bernd Schneider, born in Jena on 17 November 1973, spent his early years in the German Democratic Republic. He took his first steps in football at the two Jena clubs BSG Aufbau and FC Carl Zeiss, the biggest club in his hometown. He played in the second division for six years in the 90s. Bernd Schneider stood out as an accomplished dribbler with his experience from street football always evident. His nickname Schnix comes from the Thuringian dialect: ‘Schnixeln’ is a synonym for dribbling, being able to control the ball. After Jena were relegated in 1998, Schnix went in the opposite direction. Newly promoted Eintracht Frankfurt brought into the Bundesliga. He spent a year there.
Show more18 June 1950 saw a friendly match for FC Köln, formed from the merger of two clubs in February 1948, against the Werkself at the Stadion Am Stadtpark. The two teams had already faced each other in May 1949 as winners of the Rhine district leagues in the final for promotion to the Oberliga West. The new club from Cologne came out on top in the two games and were promoted.
Show moreIn a messed-up season in 1984/85 everybody is happy that the battle against relegation is over before the final matchday. The visitors are UEFA Cup contenders SV Waldhof Mannheim in front of a sparse 6,000 spectators at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The Waldhof lads under their coach Klaus Schlappner are the surprise packet of the season. In their second campaign in the Bundesliga, the team from Mannheim are fifth on 35 points (with two points for a win back then) ahead of the game in Leverkusen and in a UEFA Cup qualifying spot. Two points behind them are Bayer 05 Uerdingen and Hamburg SV.
Show moreTranquillo Barnetta was born in St. Gallen in Switzerland on 22 May 1985. Quillo, as he was called in the football world, has Italian roots. His great-grandfather emigrated from Italy to the east of Switzerland. Quillo was interested in football early on and he played for the St. Gallen club FC Rotmonten from the age of six. He joined his favourite club FC St. Gallen at the age of 11. There he became a youth international. He won the European Championships with his teammates in the Switzerland U17 team in 2002. The youngsters from Switzerland beat France 4-2 on penalties in the final to become U17 European champions.
Show moreSince the establishment of the Bundesliga on 28 July 1962 for the 1963/64 season, there have been five Regional Leagues: North, Berlin, West, South-west and South. The champions of those five leagues qualified directly for promotion play-offs that were played in two groups of four teams. That included the two second-placed teams in the West and South-west Regional Leagues. The two runners-up from the North and the South played a qualifier for the eighth place in the promotion games.
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