In his time as the Bayer 04 chairman there were a lot infrastructure changes implemented together with Dr. Ulrich Haberland, chairman of the board at Bayer AG. In addition to the construction of the Ulrich Haberland Stadium and the adjoining training pitches as well as the sports facility in Manfort named after him. The Manfort Stadium was built in 1927 but the new sports hall was opened in 1957.
Dr. Fritz Jacobi said farewell to the club members with following words: “During my 17 years, I have grown very attached to the sports club that has given me their support for so long. In spite of some worries and work, the joy of the rich sporting life at the club is so great that I will always be happy to remember these times and I will always feel connected to the club.”
At this general meeting, Dr. Fritz Jacobi is appointed honorary president for life by the SV Bayer board. Unfortunately, that only lasted seven years as the first honorary president at SV Bayer 04 Leverkusen passed away on 2 July 1974.
His successor was elected unanimously in February 1967. The Bayer director Dr. Wilhelm Meyerheim took over the reins and was in charge of the five sections at SV Bayer 04 Leverkusen: football, handball, athletics, boxing and fistball.
Harry Gniech was born on 14 October 1951 in Leverkusen-Schlebusch. At the age of six, he joined SV Bayer 04, initially in the athletics section. The boy actually wanted to play football, but was only allowed to switch to the football team when he turned nine. Harry quickly established himself as a playmaker in midfield. Despite his talent, the path from the youth team to the first-team squad was a long one back then. In the 1973–74 season, his former U19 coach, Friedhelm Renno – who was by then in charge of Bayer 04’s first team – selected him for his first match with the professional squad.
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Henrique Adriano Buss, known as Henrique, was born on 14 October 1986 in Marechal Cândido Rondon, a town in the Brazilian state of Paraná. At the age of 13, he joined Coritiba FC and made the step up to the first team in 2006. Henrique helped the team gain promotion to the Brazilian top flight and then moved on to Palmeiras FC. After just five matches for his new club, the 1.85-metre-tall centre-back was signed by Barcelona in 2008 for ten million euros and loaned to Bayer 04 for one year for a fee of €400,000.
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Constant Djakpa was born on 17 October 1986 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. He started playing football at the age of five. He took his first steps in professional football at Stella Club d’Adjamé, before moving on to Sogndal IL in Norway. His path eventually led him to Germany via the Romanian club Pandurii Târgu Jiu.
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In this video you can see impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 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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In the first week of October 1966, professional footballers decided to take an unusual step – they went on strike. They felt compelled to resort to this action, which was relatively uncommon until then, to give greater weight to their demands for fair pay. They reasoned that, with three draws, they were entitled to a bonus; at the very least, a points bonus of 75 Deutschmarks that was agreed before the start of the season.
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