I thank you for twelve years of commitment, battle and passion for my club. Now you are ending your career together with your brother Sven – as is fitting for twins. With you I always knew what I'd get on the pitch. I loved watching you play!
For your future, I wish good health for you and your family, a role that fulfils you and one or two visits to the BayArena. Whenever we two 'football pensioners' meet again, you can tell me whether the legend is right. All the best, Lars!
The video clip shows you one or two highlights from Lars' twelve years at Bayer 04.
21 May is also the 25th anniversary of another end of a career. 2 days after the relegation thriller against FC Kaiserslautern, Rudi Völler played his personal farewell game at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. In front of a full house, 'Rudi's friends' played against Germany, the future you champions of Europe, and lost narrowly (1-2).
In the morning, Rudi asked me to come to the game as the second goalkeeper amongst his invited friends had to cry off at the last moment. Rudi played alongside his friends in the first half and with the national team in the second half and that was against me because I was allowed to play in the second half. I knew Rudi would be substituted on 70 minutes and that would obviously be after a goal if possible.
After I pulled off two terrific saves within a few minutes to keep out a shot and a header from Rudi, time was getting tight. The ball came into the penalty area around 75 minutes, I saw Rudi unmarked in front of me and he headed straight at my legs. I didn't manage to hold onto the ball and it ended up in the back of the net. So Rudi was able to do his well-deserved lap of honour.
Tranquillo Barnetta was born in St. Gallen in Switzerland on 22 May 1985. Quillo, as he was called in the football world, has Italian roots. His great-grandfather emigrated from Italy to the east of Switzerland. Quillo was interested in football early on and he played for the St. Gallen club FC Rotmonten from the age of six. He joined his favourite club FC St. Gallen at the age of 11. There he became a youth international. He won the European Championships with his teammates in the Switzerland U17 team in 2002. The youngsters from Switzerland beat France 4-2 on penalties in the final to become U17 European champions.
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Since the establishment of the Bundesliga on 28 July 1962 for the 1963/64 season, there have been five Regional Leagues: North, Berlin, West, South-west and South. The champions of those five leagues qualified directly for promotion play-offs that were played in two groups of four teams. That included the two second-placed teams in the West and South-west Regional Leagues. The two runners-up from the North and the South played a qualifier for the eighth place in the promotion games.
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In this video you can watch impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 in the month of May. It is not always about the beauty of the goals but also about remembering special games and players.
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There were high summer temperatures in Leverkusen on 25 May 1985. Matchday 32 brings FC Köln to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium with only 13,000 spectators at the derby. That is primarily due to the Werkself with Bayer 04 rarely impressing in that season and they are eleventh in the table before the game just three points ahead of sixteenth, the play-off spot. But with the two points for a win rule back then – two points were awarded for a win – and with the significantly better goal difference, the Werkself need every point to get out of trouble.
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It was all or nothing on the final matchday in the Verbandsliga in the 1974/75 season. Only now would it be decided who were champions and thereby participate in the promotion games to the Bundesliga 2 North. The earlier rivals Viktoria Köln, SC Jülich 10 and Bonner SC have fallen by the wayside.
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