The brothers Karl and Richard van Frank played several games for the first team in the 1930/31 season – Karl as a defender, Richard as a left winger. The Sportvereinigung Leverkusen 04, as Bayer 04 was called back then, were promoted to the top district league at the end of that season, dominated it in the following years and were promoted to the Lower Rhine district league in 1936 as Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The names of the two brothers again and again appear in the Werkself team lists as Frank I (Karl) and Frank II (Richard). Their father Samuel van Frank owns the two cinemas in Leverkusen, ‘Tonbild’ and ‘Nationaltheater. When he has to hand over the 'Tonbild' at the end of 1933 the new owner interestingly is the brother of the National Socialist MP Josef Wipperfürth.
In the summer of 1935, Samuel van Frank wants to show one of the first Nazi propaganda films ‘Der junge und der alte König’ (The Young and the Old King) in his ‘Nationaltheater’ but the local NSDAP party bosses incite a storm of indignation that culminates in further repressive measures. And his sons Karl and Richard again and again are missing from the Werkself line-ups. The last match reports in October and November 1936 often report a "bad" left winger who should be replaced but Richard is never mentioned by name again. It could be that Richard van Frank did not play again but the journalistic criticism would fit with the times back then.
The family van Frank give up on 26 November 1936. They move to Holland and are hidden by a Dutch family and thereby avoid deportation to a concentration camp. After the end of the war, the brothers follow the traditional career of their father and open two cinemas in Haarlem (Richard) and Beverwijk (Karl).
Dieter Bast was born in Oberhausen on 28 August 1951. He began playing football in the youth team at DJK Arminia Klosterhardt, a local club in Oberhausen. Whilst training as a toolmaker, he moved to neighbouring club Sterkrade 06/07 to play for their U19s, where he caught the eye of Bundesliga sides Rot-Weiss Essen and Borussia Mönchengladbach. Bast opted for Rot-Weiss and played in the Bundesliga from 1970 onwards. In his very first year, he made 22 appearances as a right winger, scoring three goals. Nevertheless, Essen were unable to avoid relegation.
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José Vítor Roque Júnior was born on 31 August 1976 in Santa Rita do Sapucaí, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. As a youth, he played for São José EC, a club in the east of the state of São Paulo. His professional career began in 1995 with Palmeiras São Paulo. There, Roque Júnior quickly established himself as a key player in the team, making more than 200 appearances and enjoying significant success. With the club, he won the Copa do Brasil in 1998 and the Copa Libertadores in 1999, the South American equivalent of the European Champions League.
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In this video you can see impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 from the month of August. It's not always about the beauty of the goals, but also a reminder of special games and players.
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The Werkself play their first top-flight match in Bayer 04’s history away at Sportfreunde Katernberg. 7,000 spectators turn up at the Am Lindenbruch stadium in that district of Essen. The Katernbergers have transformed the once ‘barren’ pitch into a real gem. On this Sunday afternoon, 19 August 1951, the lush turf provides the perfect conditions for a good game of football.
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Following a thoroughly successful start with a 2–1 home win against VfL Wolfsburg, the Werkself are organising a team event. On Wednesdays, they head to the Nürburgring together and do a few laps at speed. Manager Klaus Toppmöller welcomes this initiative, as it promotes team spirit and integration. During weekly training sessions, the team works extensively on various defensive tactics, as the manager was dissatisfied with his players’ pressing in the final minutes of the match against the Wolves.
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