As a youth player at KSC, Jens tore the cruciate ligament in his left knee for the first time in 1991. In May 1992, the now 18-year-old played his first Bundesliga match for KSC in a 1-0 away win at Hamburg SV. Over four seasons, he made a total of 103 Bundesliga appearances and scored seven goals for Karlsruhe.
In 1996, Jens joined Bayer 04 Leverkusen as a U21 international. Coach Christoph Daum immediately made the then 22-year-old sweeper captain. With his calm on the ball, his strength in challenges, his speed and his strategic understanding of the game, Jenne, as he is called by his team-mates, developed into the driving force behind a team that caused a sensation in Germany in the following years. With Jens Nowotny as captain, Bayer 04 finished runners-up in the Bundesliga four times and also made it to the DFB Pokal final and the Champions League final in 2002. Unfortunately, Jenne was unable to play in either of these big games because he suffered his second torn cruciate in the semi-final second leg against Manchester United on 30 April 2002. He also missed the 2002 World Cup, where he would have been a first choice in the Germany defence. When he finally returned to the pitch in January 2003 in the home game against Energie Cottbus in the difficult 2002/2003 season, with Bayer 04 involved in a relegation battle, it happened again: The cruciate ligament, which had just healed, tore again without any contact with an opponent and Jenne then faced the next tough six months.
In October 2003, he made it back into the Bayer 04 line-up and remained an integral part of the Werkself for the next year and a half. But on 19 February 2005 - what bad luck! - the next torn ligament. In the second half of the 2005/2006 season, Jenne returned to the starting eleven for the match against VfL Wolfsburg on 8 February 2006. He also jumped on the World Cup bandwagon and played the full 90 minutes as a centre-back in the match for third place (3-1 against Portugal). Jenne played a total of 233 Bundesliga games for Bayer 04, scoring four times. He made his Germany debut against Ukraine in 1997. He played a total of 48 internationals (one goal) and took part in the 2000 and 2004 Euros as well as the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
After the World Cup in Germany, Nowotny moved on to Dinamo Zagreb. However, his hopes of a new start in football did not take off, as persistent knee problems limited him to just ten appearances. But he did become a champion of Croatia with this team. He ended his playing career at the beginning of 2007 due to persistent knee problems.
Jens Nowotny has always remained loyal to football. He had a farewell match at the Wildparkstadion, works as a consultant at Fortuna Köln, is involved in business and runs a restaurant in Mönchengladbach with a friend, where he is only involved in the background. From 2021, he took on various coaching roles in the youth sector of the DFB - including as assistant coach of the Germany U17s, who won the World Cup title in 2023. He also volunteers for community projects and foundations. In the summer of 2024, Bayer 04 Leverkusen honoured him with the title of honorary captain for his many years of leadership.
Today, the father of three lives with his wife in Biesfeld and, in addition to his DFB activities, he coaches the local district league club Union Blau-Weiß Biesfeld alongside another coach.
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.
Show more
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.
Show more
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.
Show more
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.
Show more
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.
Show more
