The former Berlin Bundesliga team Tennis Borussia visit the Ulrich Haberland Stadium for the first home game of the season on Wednesday 9 August. Around 8,000 spectators enjoy a football first at the ground on Bismarckstraße. Bayer 04 are on fire and end up with a clear 5-2 victory. Coach Willibert Kremer fielded the same starting line-up for the third time in succession. In addition to the two midfielders Klaus Bruckmann, who nets a brace, and Thomas Hörster, substitute Matthias Brücken scores two goals again with the first just one minute after he comes on. And both Bayer teams, our Werkself as well as Uerdingen, are top of Bundesliga 2 North with four points and eight goals for and three against.
Arminia Hannover are helpless three days later. This time it just took a good first half for everything to go right. Brilliant moves coupled with excellent and successful finishing put Bayer 04 top of the table on matchday three, a position not relinquished for the rest of the season. When coach Willibert Kramer draws a critical conclusion at the post-match press conference, he heard something at that moment that he did not like at all: A fan club stage a huge show of support at the exit to the stand and the unmissable chants from the first half of "Bayer will be champions, Bayer will be champions" are not music to his ears. He prefers to put the brakes on euphoria and highlight a rather weaker second half performance.
In the night of Tuesday 15 August, the Ulrich Haberland Stadium receives an unwelcome visit. Supporters of another football club leave behind their own calling card: They break open a gate, then with incredible force one of the two aluminium doors, smash the windows of a new ticket office and smear '1 FCK ' on a wall. Whether the destructive fans came from the Pfalz or a club from the other side of the Rhine is something I leave to each and everyone to decide
In spite of all that, the Bayer team focus on the next away game. The newly promoted side from Kiel are considered to be underdogs but coach Willibert Kremer says he will be satisfied with one point in the build-up to the game. Kiel's coach Kuno Böge says he will put a marker on Matthias Brücken when he comes on. But that does not help much as the substitute only needs seven minutes after his introduction to score the winner at 2-1 with five minutes to play. Norbert Ziegler levelled the opener from the Storks earlier in the game.
On 25 August, a Friday night, VfL Osnabrück are the visitors to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. Where less than 1,000 supporters were a year earlier, there are now 8,000 enthusiastic fans at the stadium. An almost unchanged team had succeeded in attracting back supporters within a very short space of time. The fans provide passionate support for a Bayer 04 team that give the side from Lower Saxony no chance at any point in the game with the same line-up as in the most recent matches: Bockholt – Posner, Gelsdorf, Klimke, Scheinert, Hörster, Bruckmann, Ziegler, Gniech, Szech, Herzog
After an impressive 3-0 win with two goals from centre forward Peter Szech and a penalty from team captain Dieter Herzog, the Werkself are on their own at the top of the table in Bundesliga 2 North with a maximum ten points. And again coach Willibert Kramer warns: "Enthusiasm yes but no euphoria. We want to keep our feet on the ground." But that feeling of being top of the table is obviously felt by every Bayer 04 fan in August 1978.
Thomas Hörster was born in Essen on 27 November 1956. As a child, he took part in high diving and judo, but was also passionate about football. After starting out at Blau-Weiß Holsterhausen-Essen, he moved on to ETB Schwarz-Weiß Essen. As a U19 player, he trained with the senior side for the first time. And at just under 18 years of age, Thommy – as he is known – made his debut in Bundesliga 2. Over two-and-a-half seasons, he made 71 appearances for Schwarz-Weiß Essen.
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Bernd Dreher was born in Leverkusen on 2 November 1966 and he began playing football at SV Schlebusch at the age of five. At the age of nine, he joined the youth academy at Bayer 04. There, the goalkeeper progressed through all the youth teams and, with the U19s in 1985, he reached the final of the German Championship, that Bayer 04 lost 4-2 to Eintracht Frankfurt.
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Robson Ponte was born on 6 November 1976 in São Paulo. He began his football career in Brazil with CA Juventus. He then played for América FC and Guarani FC. In 1999, he joined Bayer 04. Robson initially played for the Werkself until 2001. He then moved to VfL Wolfsburg on a two-year loan. There, he continued to develop and gained valuable experience in the Bundesliga. In 2003, he returned to Leverkusen, where he particularly showcased his dribbling skills and his ability in attacking midfield. In total, he made 79 appearances for Bayer 04 and scored six goals.
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In this video you can see impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 from the month of November. It's not always about the beauty of the goals, but also a reminder of special games and players.
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On Sunday, 4 November 1951, the first league derby between Bayer 04 and FC Köln took place. The FC Köln stadium in Müngersdorf was absolutely bursting at the seams for this clash. A veritable invasion of Bayer 04 fans from Leverkusen set off for Cologne by tram and bus. From midday onwards, in addition to the scheduled services, six extra tram services ran at the standard fare from Leverkusen Town Hall to the stadium in Cologne. At the same time, buses operated by Grein ran regularly from Wiesdorf market square to Cologne. In the end, over 5,000 Bayer 04 fans waved their black and red flags in the stands at the FC Köln stadium and got behind their team for ninety minutes.
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