In a time where there were no mobile phones, I had my first cordless phone, my hair was permed, the players wore sexy short shorts and there were positions known as libero as we prepared for the new season. There were two points for a win in the Bundesliga and there was a maximum of two substitutes per game. I can't exactly remember the goalkeeper rules back then but I definitely wasn't allowed to pick up a back pass.
To explain 1988, we have to go back a year to the 1986 – 87 season. In that season Bayer were league leaders for the first time on matchday three and remained so for another two games, we beat the great FC Bayern Munich 3-0 on matchday 12 at their ground, went back to the top of the table and finally ended the first half of the season with an impressive third place just two points behind Bayern and league leaders HSV. Things don't go so well in the second half of the season. We lost more and more ground and dropped to sixth place. That was not good enough to qualify for the UEFA Cup. We were reliant on HSV beating second division Stuttgart Kickers in the cup final. Thankfully they did that on 88 minutes with a free kick from Manni Kaltz and then an own goal for the final scoreline of 3-1. So we again qualified for the UEFA Cup as in the year before
We had three new players for the 1987/88 season: Ralf Falkenmayer, Klaus Täuber and Andrzej Buncol. Knut Reinhardt and Jean-Pierre de Keyser from the second team were awarded professional contracts and Bernd Dreher moved up to the first team squad as an amateur.
In the season preview from Kicker we were predicted to finish in the top five. I quote: "The Bayer players will have to manage that: They finished sixth twice in succession. The fans would definitely not be happy with a hat-trick. Standing still is often the same dropping back. Expectations have definitely risen. Transfer spending in the sum of over three million for the players Täuber, Falkenmayer and Buncol has played its part in that." Three million Deutschmarks, not euros. I admit: The Bundesliga season was poor. Very poor. Somehow we never really get going. But the UEFA Cup matches were all the better for that. And that's what it was all about in the following months. Our first UEFA Cup match was on 15 September 1987 so will look at the two matches against Austria Vienna next month.
The first Bundesliga matches were in August. A 1-0 win in the opener at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium against Waldhof Mannheim was followed by two draws. Then comes the Mönchengladbach week where we lost 2-1 twice at the Bökelberg in the league and in the cup. In the week between the two Gladbach games there was also a 3-1 home defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt and the atmosphere under the Bayer Cross was really bad in August 1987.
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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