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Wuppertal in sixth wanted to make up ground to the top of the table and obviously trip up the Werkself. WSV shone for an hour with fight, pace and ingenuity and deservedly opened the scoring on 56 minutes. The game turned round when Peter Szech scored two goals out of nothing on 64 and 65 minutes putting the ball in the back of the Wuppertal net after two wonderful counter-attacks by Bayer 04. The Werkself now played like league leaders and substitute Matthias Brücken rounded off the scoring with his obligatory substitute goal on 89 minutes. The 3-1 victory gave Leverkusen an eleventh win in succession over two seasons. The Werkself had one every game since Harry Gniech was in the starting line-up. And Matthias Brücken succeeded in scoring a goal every two minutes over that period.
The euphoria around the Bayer Cross demanded special measures. Bayer 04 set up four ticket offices in Leverkusen: Sporthaus Röhrich in Wiesdorf, Reisebüro Herweg in Opladen, the Bayer 04 clubhouse at the stadium and the club offices. And that paid off when 12,000 Bayer 04 fans made their way to Bismarckstraße on 8 September for a Friday night home game against FC St. Pauli.
With another unchanged starting eleven, Bayer 04 pressed at pace and created chance after chance but two goals only came just before half-time. The team captain Dieter Herzog with a penalty and Hans-Jürgen Scheinert with a brilliant header from a corner brought a deserved 2-0 scoreline at half-time. The seventh win of the season was secured when centre-forward Peter Szech made it 3-0 on the hour mark. Speaking at the post-match press conference, the St. Pauli coach Sepp Piontek complained about the over aggressive approach from the Werkself: "This team needs a gun licence!" were his words. Bayer 04 coach Willibert Kremer was very surprised by the statement, and he was already thinking about the next away game against newly promoted Viktoria Köln at the Sportpark Höhenberg, as he reacted to the verbal attack from the Hamburg coach "This game will definitely be tougher than the one against the harmless Hamburgers."
It is Sunday 17 September when the Kremer team travel to the neighbouring city to crush FC Viktoria Köln. Bayer 04 played like a promoted club for 75 minutes and they were praised in the highest terms by the opposition coach Fritz Pott: "I think the Bayer team in this form could scarcely be beaten by any other team." Led by the energetic Norbert Ziegler, the Werkself up their game and take the lead on 38 minutes through home-grown player Harry Gniech. After half-time, three goals come in rapid succession with a brace from Klaus Bruckmann and one from Thomas Hörster. Viktoria Köln score a consolation through former Bayer 04 player Peter Langer but the Werkself seal the win. The Bayer 04 fans are already looking forward to the next home game.
There is the second round of the DFB-Pokal before that. Away to the Oberliga side OSV Hannover, Willibert Kremer changes his line-up for the first time in the season bringing in Willi Korth in defence in place of Peter Klimke. But that does not affect the performance levels. A convincing 3-0 victory is calmly secured with goals from Klaus Bruckmann, Harry Gniech and Dieter Herzog. Through to round three.
Friday night again, 19.30. Party mood at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The opponents are DSC Wanne-Eickel. Once again, 12,000 supporters come to cheer on their team. Kremer is forced to change his usual formation as World Cup winner Dieter Herzog has fractured his shoulder and is sidelined for at least four weeks. Super sub Matthias Brücken starts in his place and does what he does best on six minutes: score goals. Cutting in from the left wing he beats his opponent and curls the ball into the top right corner. In a rather tough encounter, due to the Westphalians never giving up marking, Jürgen Gelsdorf doubles the lead before half-time with a penalty. When Thomas Hörster makes it 3-0 on 50 minutes the result is certain. A goal from the opponents on 75 minutes is countered by Matthias Brücken scoring his second on 80. The Werkself are top of the table at the end of September with a maximum 18 points putting them four ahead of second-placed Bayer 05 Uerdingen. That earns a special report from Kicker as it reports:
"Bayer Leverkusen are the sensational team of professional football." And furthermore: "It is exemplary for other clubs how Bayer have been built up organically year by year and continually strengthened. None of the players brought in over the last three years remains in the reserves." Coach Willibert Kremer is seen as the father of this upturn as "he suggests the people he wants to football boss Hermann Büchel and he gets them too. It can be said without any exaggeration that Bayer brought in players over the last three years to the maximum effect."
Bayer 04 fans read that with joy and hope for a golden October.
Tranquillo 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.
Show moreIn this video you can watch impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 in the month of May. It is not always about the beauty of the goals but also about remembering special games and players.
Show moreThere were high summer temperatures in Leverkusen on 25 May 1985. Matchday 32 brings FC Köln to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium with only 13,000 spectators at the derby. That is primarily due to the Werkself with Bayer 04 rarely impressing in that season and they are eleventh in the table before the game just three points ahead of sixteenth, the play-off spot. But with the two points for a win rule back then – two points were awarded for a win – and with the significantly better goal difference, the Werkself need every point to get out of trouble.
Show moreIt was all or nothing on the final matchday in the Verbandsliga in the 1974/75 season. Only now would it be decided who were champions and thereby participate in the promotion games to the Bundesliga 2 North. The earlier rivals Viktoria Köln, SC Jülich 10 and Bonner SC have fallen by the wayside.
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