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).
Peter Zanter was born on 11 November 1965 in Wermelskirchen in the Rhineland. His passion for football was evident from an early age: As a child, he played enthusiastically for the youth teams at SV Dabringhausen and SV Wermelskirchen. His ability and discipline did not go undetected for long - and he joined the youth section at Bayer 04 at a young age.
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Boris Zivkovic was born on 15 November 1975 in the Bosnian town of Zivinice, which is now part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He played for FK Sarajevo at a young age. However, his youth was characterised by the turmoil of the wars in the former Yugoslavia. At the age of just 17, he was also called up and took part in the fighting - a fate shared by many young men of his generation.
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For once, this is going to be about me. About my path into football, my years as a goalkeeper at Bayer 04 and my ‘career after my career’ at this great club. So, come with me on a little journey through time...
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It is 1 November 1985, a Friday evening, floodlights on. The leaders Werder Bremen with their coach Otto Rehhagel come to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. 15,000 spectators want to watch this top match, as the Werkself, with their new coach Erich Ribbeck, are in fourth place in the table, just five points behind the leaders.
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In the video you can see impressive and important goals in Bayer 04 history 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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