Unfortunately, the training facilities are not so good. The pitch is very uneven and there's not much sign of grass. Training is usually held three times a day in the summer pre-season. Everybody is working hard for the next challenge in the UEFA Cup against Barcelona. We have a tournament and draw 1-1 with HSV but then lose 2-1 against the then Spanish second division side CD Teneriffa. The training camp ends with a 3-0 victory against CF Puerta de la Cruz, another club on the island. But training has priority.
The best anecdote from the training camp is provided by an incident after the match against HSV: We were staying in the same hotel as a former second division referee. In the evening before the game against HSV there was a bet with Reiner 'Calli' Calmund. It was a matter of the sprinting abilities of the two gentlemen, to be more exact about who would finish first across the length of the pitch. The former referee was really fit and Calli still somewhat slimmer than for his marriage but he was considered to be fat. Calli, given a 20 metre start for this race, lifted up his belly with both hands and at the sound of the starting pistol he sets off over the pitch with treble steps like Ben Johnson. The spectators are crying with laughter. His fellow competitor comes nearer and nearer, Calli's trousers start slipping and almost bring him into a stumble. But, in the end, he gets to the target with a slight lead. The bet was for a bottle of champagne that Calli shares with his guests in the evening with great pleasure and a wide grin.
We played in Nuremberg on 20 February 1988. We lost 2-1 in a very decent match where we did not take our chances. The first home fixture of the New Year against Borussia Mönchengladbach was supposed to be the dress rehearsal for the game against Barcelona but unfortunately the match was postponed. So we only had one match in preparation for our first big dual against one of the world famous clubs. That happened in Cologne at the Müngersdorfer Stadium. But that was in March.
Hans Sarpei was born on 28 June 1976 in Tema, Ghana, and came to Germany with his parents at the age of three, where he grew up in Cologne. Even before he was born, his mother and father worked in Hamburg in the import-export sector. There they met an older man who introduced them to German culture and supported them. Out of gratitude, Hans was later given his first name, although this man died before he was born. Hans comes from a sporting family; his older brother Edward and his nephews Hans Nunoo Sarpei and Kingsley Sarpei were or are also professional footballers.
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On 3 June 1953, Hans-Josef (‘Sepp’) Kretschmann became the fifth coach in the history of Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Born in Allenstein, East Prussia, on 21 March 1902, the football coach first studied to become a teacher before later switching to football. He took over the Werkself from Franz Strehle, under whom the team twice managed to stay in the 1st Oberliga West. However, Strehle did not extend his contract in Leverkusen after these two very successful years.
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After promotion to Bundesliga North 2 in the summer of 1975, Bayer 04 are fighting relegation just eight months later. The club expects full commitment from everyone in this precarious situation. Promotion coach Manfred Rummel is to give up his main job as a teacher at the Mülheim special school and become a full-time coach at Bayer 04. The coach, who is very popular with the team, does not see himself in a position to fulfil the club's request. Despite a 2-0 home win against SpVgg Erkenschwick, Manfred Rummel is put on gardening leave by "mutual agreement".
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Bayer 04, already been promoted to the 1st Oberliga West, played friendly after friendly in the second half of May 1951. And that continued throughout the following month.
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Jacek Krzynowek was born on 15 May 1976 in Kamiensk, Poland, and grew up as a typical country boy. He spent his childhood less in structured training sessions and more on simple pitches, where he spent hours playing football with older boys. He realised early on that he had exceptional shooting power and enormous stamina. But for a long time, he didn't appreciate just how much talent he had. While others dream of a great career, professional football initially seems like a distant world to him that he only knows from television.
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