Historic milestone: The Werkself not only play the final game of the 2022/23 season today but it also Bundesliga match 1,500 for Bayer 04. To mark this event, the Werkself will run out in a special edition of the current home shirt that is available to buy now. Exclusive sale to members started yesterday Friday 26 May. Further information on the special edition shirt can be found HERE.
The last time the Werkself lost in Bochum was in a 2-0 defeat in March 2008 and the following seven away games at VfL have resulted in three wins and four draws.
In addition, Bochum have not won on the final matchday in the last four Bundesliga seasons (one draw, three defeats) – of the current Bundesliga clubs only Hertha Berlin have a longer negative run on the final matchday (nine). The Werkself have won ten of their last twelve games on the final day of the season (two defeats).
Joy and frustration were 24 hours apart for VfL Bochum last weekend. The late equaliser from Keven Schlotterbeck away to Hertha Berlin on Saturday afternoon ensured huge euphoria amongst the 12,000 travelling Bochum fans. The goal in the fourth minute of added time saw VfL retain fifteenth place enabling them to maintain the lead over Schalke who levelled late in the game in a 2-2 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt. Seventeenth-placed VfB Stuttgart needed to drop points in their Sunday match away to Mainz 05 for the situation on the final matchday to be more comfortable. For updates on the outcome of the clash with the Swabians and how it looks for the personnel at VfL Bochum check out lowdown on our next opponents.
The German Football Association (DFB) has appointed Tobias Welz as the referee for the match against VfL Bochum. The 45-year-old has previously been in charge of 17 games involving the Werkself (five wins, four draws, eight defeats). His assistants are Robert Kempter and Jonas Weickenmeier with Benjamin Brand in action as the VAR official.
As usual, Werkself Radio is available for anybody unable to be at today's game. The audio broadcast begins 30 minutes before kick-off with commentary provided by Niko Hartmann. In addition, the live text update service will keep you up-to-date to ensure you don't miss any of the key match action. Both Werkself Radio and the live text update service are available at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app – just log on.
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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To all Bayer 04 fans: The Fanwelt will be closed all day next Monday 30 June. This is due to preparations for the change of kit supplier from Castore to New Balance on Tuesday 1 July.
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The Norway U23 international Julie Jorde has completed the move from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Brøndby IF. The twelve-time champions of Denmark have signed the midfielder on permanent terms after her loan move from the Bundesliga to Denmark in the winter.
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It is almost two years since Bayer 04 new signing Abdoulaye Faye first stepped foot into the BayArena as a player for the Swedish club BK Häcken in the opening match in the 2023/24 Europa League campaign. A day before his nineteenth birthday, the central defender did not play in the 4-0 win for the Werkself but it was "an incredible night" for him on 21 September 2023 as he explained in his first interview on bayer04.de. "I watched the players and saw the fans. I liked it." It was also the first European night early on in his career. He only joined the then champions of Sweden in the cold north of Europe from his home in Senegal a few weeks before that special moment. Bayer04.de profiles our new defender.
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Welcome, Abdoulaye Faye. The 20-year-old Senegalese central defender joins Leverkusen from top-flight Swedish club BK Häcken. In his first interview he talks about his move to Bayer 04 and his targets with the Werkself.
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