St. Nicholas Day 1996, a Friday: Bayer 04 are the league leaders when they travel to the previously unbeaten at home newcomers and fifth-placed VfL Bochum. A week after the terrific home win in the derby, the Werkself are solid in defence and put VfL, coached by the future Bayer 04 boss Klaus Toppmöller, under heavy pressure with their pressing. After a deserved opener from Ulf Kirsten on 18 minutes, Bochum are awarded a disputed penalty that Thomas Stickroth converted to equalise. The game threatens to turn round with Bochum having two really good goalscoring opportunities before half-time.
Bayer 04 regain the upper hand after the restart, retake the lead and have the game under control after a red card is shown to the Bochum player Kracht. With 89 minutes played, a wonderful strike from a free-kick by Dariusz Wosz levels the scores at 2-2 and stops Bayer 04 being top of the table at the end of the first half of the season. The Werkself drop two points that, as we know today, will be sorely missed at the end of the campaign.
HERE are TV highlights of the clash in Bochum.
Klaus Toppmöller is the Bayer 04 coach five years later and he has taken his team to the top of the table. On 8 December, four days after a brilliant 3-0 home win against Deportivo La Coruna in the Champions League, FC Nürnberg under coach Klaus Augenthaler visit the Ulrich Haberland Stadium.
As so often in that season, the Werkself had to go behind, and even twice this time, before waking up. The match ended in a hard-fought 4-2 home win with top spot maintained. Despite two away defeats in Berlin and Wolfsburg, Bayer 04 are top of the league at the halfway stage and then at Christmas because Borussia Dortmund can only manage to draw twice. Here too: Today we know what a point in these two games would have brought.
Wolfgang Vöge was born on 15 September 1955 in Ahlen, Westphalia and he was the fourth of seven children of a miner. His father, Erich Vöge, was a football referee as well. At an early age, Wolle, as he was called by his friends and teammates, developed a great passion for football and was an enthusiastic fan of BVB. His first success in football was achieved in the amateur game at his hometown club of SV Ahlen. He scored 26 goals in the first season and he came to the attention of scouts. That led to his move to Borussia Dortmund in 1975.
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Andreas Thom was born on 7 September 1965 in Rüdersdorf near Berlin in Brandenburg. Andreas displayed an exceptional talent on the ball even as a child. Early on, he joined the youth section at BFC Dynamo Berlin, one of the leading football clubs in the German Democratic Republic. There he received targeted, performance-oriented training as part of the GDR sports system. His talent, his vision and his technique led him to make his debut in the first team at BFC Dynamo at the age of 17.
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Jens Melzig was born in Cottbus on 28 September 1965. Melle, as he was called at Leverkusen, started his playing career at his hometown club Energie Cottbus. As a young player there he soon stood out thanks to his strength in challenges and his ability to read the game. He was in the Energie Cottbus first team in 1984 and he played for the club in the GDR league and the Oberliga. With 144 appearances and twelve goals he became one of the big players in defence. He made a major contribution to the club during this period – as a strong-tackling central defender who also displayed leadership qualities.
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Lucio, full name Lucimar Ferreira da Silva, was born on 8 May 1978 in Planaltina, a suburb of the Brazilian capital Brasília. He showed his passion for football even as a child. On the dusty streets of his neighbourhood he spent hours chasing the ball – often in bare feet like many Brazilian children. Despite the simple conditions he grew up in, his family always supported his dream of one day becoming a great football player. He made his first steps in club football at small local clubs before moving onto the youth set-up at the club Guará and later he singed for the big club Internacional Porto Alegre. Bayer 04 signed the internationally completely unknown defender from there in January 2000.
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In this video you can watch impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 in the month of September. It is not always about the beauty of the goals but also about remembering special games and players.
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