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).
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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