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1.01.2022Bayer 04

Miscellaneous: The buckled one

Anybody from Leverkusen going along Bismarckstraße on New Year's Day in 1966 could hardly believe their eyes. The floodlight pylon in the north-east section of the Ulrich Haberland Stadium was buckled with the top third hanging down. A storm had blown through Leverkusen overnight and the three-year-old pylon was unable to withstand it.
crop_19630810_Ulrich_Haberland_Stadion_Einweihung_Flutlichtanlage.jpg

The floodlights, sponsored by Bayer AG to mark the company's centenary, were unveiled on 10 August 1963. The most modern and brightest system in Europe at the time passed its performance test behind closed doors on 17 December 1963 for a friendly against a Middle Rhine team and was only used again on Maundy Thursday in 1964 for a friendly against Wacker Innsbruck. The Werkself won that game 2-0.

After the event on New Year, the other three floodlight pylons were used as 'VIP seats' whenever the stadium was full. The fourth floodlight pylon was only replaced in 1970.

first competitive match under floodlights

Our team played their first league match under floodlights on a Friday night. Bayer 04 beat Alemannia Aachen 2-1 at home in the Regional League West on 17 October 1970. However, the brightness of the lights became a problem over the years. Bayer 04 had to dim the floodlights to stop dazzling drivers on the A1 autobahn. That meant the Werkself players had to strain their eyes in night games to maintain a clear vision of proceedings.

Only with the rebuilding of the "Gem of the Bundesliga" and the completion of the first half of the construction of the new East Stand in October 1986 did the Ulrich Haberland Stadium have two new floodlight pylons in the north-east and south-east of the ground so that the drivers on the A1 were no longer dazzled. That meant our team played night matches at the time with light from two new and two old floodlight pylons. All four floodlight pylons were upgraded in October 1988.

one-off hush-hush operation

Lighting at the stadium was no longer a problem with one exception: After an away game in the Champions League qualifier at Dinamo Tbilisi in 1997, coach Christoph Daum organised a training session at the stadium on their return at four in the morning – with all the lights on. Residents around the stadium experienced significant disruption during the night. Since then, there has never been another similar hush-hush operation.

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