In the middle of the year, the word 'Bayer' and the Bayer Cross appeared in the letter heading of the club of footballers for the first time; it became the works club of IG Farben. On 18 November 1935, SpVgg Leverkusen 04 became SSV Bayer Leverkusen. At the annual general meeting in December 1935, "the new club matters will be discussed over the course of the evening," reported the Allgemeine Zeitung. It continued: "The first teams in football and handball will now wear black shorts and a maroon shirt with the white 'Bayer Cross' on a black background. The board have given their permission for the Bayer Cross to be worn on the sports clothing."
Unfortunately, it is not known when the football and handball players wore the Bayer Cross on their shirts for the first time. According to Walter Scharf, the journalist who wrote the 50th anniversary book on Bayer 04 entitled ‘50 Jahre Bayer 04 – Die Geschichte einer Sportvereinigung’, this could have been at the promotion matches against Solingen 95 in May 1936. Both matches were won after a great struggle and promotion to the Middle Rhine district league was sealed. Bayer 04 were in the second tier for the first time – and definitely with the cross on their shirts.
In this video you can watch impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 in the month of October. It is not always about the beauty of the goals but also about remembering special games and players.
Show moreThe Werkself secured victory against Bayern Munich for the first time on 1 November 1986. On matchday 12, Bayer 04 beat the Bundesliga league leaders 3-0 at the Olympic Stadium in Munich and go top of the table.
Show moreTorben Hoffman was born in Kiel on 27 October 1974. In his youth he played for TuS Schwarz-Weiß Elmschershagen. The qualified policeman joined Holstein Kiel in 1993. Two years later he moved on to VfB Lübeck in Bundesliga two. After relegation with Lübeck in 1997 he came to attention of SC Freiburg and they signed the defender. The team relegated from the Bundesliga went straight back up with Torben who moved under the Bayer Cross in 1999 after another year in the Bundesliga. However, he was unable to establish himself at Leverkusen making only sporadic appearances and he was rarely in the starting XI. He played in a total of 30 games for the Werkself.
Show moreThomas ‘Thommy’ Reichenberger was born in Bad Kreuznach on 14 October 1974. The son of a former Bundesliga player – his father Max made 38 Bundesliga appearances for 1860 Munich – played for Eintracht Bad Kreuznach as a youth player before moving up to the first team.
Show moreManfred ‘Manni’ Pomp was born in Aachen on 25 October 1964. His first football club was the Aachen police sports club (PSV) but he signed for Alemannia Aachen after a year.
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