The playing surface at the home ground of the Werkself has been named Pitch of the Year for the 2021/22 season by the DFL (German Football League). The award has been made since 2013/14 in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 for the outstanding quality of pitches. The winners are determined by marks from the team captains and referees on the condition of the pitch over the whole season as well as a range of measurements taken by an expert committee and testing by the stadium ground staff.
Bayer 04 receive the award for a second time. The first time for the Werkself was in the 2017/18 season. It's a title not only won by the pitch at the BayArena. The Ulrich Haberland Stadium and the Kurtekotten Performance Centre have twice been voted Pitch of the Year as home grounds for the Bayer 04 Women's team. Since the 2019/20 season, the German Football Association (DFB) has also made an award for the highest quality pitch in the Women's Bundesliga over the course of a whole season. Both the first award and the one for the 2020/21 season went to Leverkusen.
31 in total – that is the number of goals the Bayer 04 Women's team scored last season in the FLYERALARM Women's Bundesliga. From long-range shots into the top corner, through converted penalties and tap-ins from close range – they are all there. Milena Nikolic proved to be the most prolific scorer for the Black and Reds with a total of seven goals. A compilation of all the goals are available to watch again and enjoy HERE on the club's platforms.
The sports tribunal of the German Football Association (DFB) has imposed a fine in the sum of €6,250 on Bayer 04 in a single judge hearing following an indictment by the DFB control committee due to unsporting behaviour by their supporters. Immediately before kick-off in the Bundesliga match at Greuther Fürth (4-1), Leverkusen supporters let off at least five flares. That meant the kick-off was delayed by one and a half minutes.
Borussia Dortmund (€16,450) and Erzgebirge Aue (€9,200) were also fined due to flares being let off by their supporters.
The editors of the sports journal Kicker have published the rankings for the two remaining groups of positions for the first half of 2022. In the category of ‘Offensive wing players’, Werkself player Moussa Diaby finished second behind Eintracht Frankfurt’s Filip Kostic. The 22-year-old Frenchman stood out mainly with his impressive return of eight goals and seven assists in 17 matches in the Bundesliga Rückrunde and he was named in the ‘International class’.
Teammate Paulinho also made it into the rankings of the best attacking players on the wings and finished in seventh place. Ten starts, "good solutions in space", the ability to pick out teammates plus a match-winning brace against VfL Wolfsburg (2-0) put the Werkself number seven in the so-called ‘National class’
Amongst the strikers, Patrik Schick was third in the ‘International class’ behind Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski and Red Bull Leipzig's Christopher Nkunku. The reasoning: "Patrik Schick was not completely able to build on to his performances in the Hinrunde. That was primarily due to his injury on matchday 23 that meant he missed four games." Patrik scored eight goals in 13 Rückrunde games compared with 16 goals in 14 games in the Hinrunde.
At the summit of the Mexican league MX on Wednesday 8 June, an interview with Fernando Carro, Bayer 04 CEO, was broadcast in the context of the #Bayer04MexicoTour. The Werkself spent six days in the country in the middle of May as part of the celebrations for the centenary of Bayer AG in Mexico with a friendly against the top-flight side Deportivo Toluca plus a range of PR events. The aim of the tour was to promote and extend the strong and long-standing relationship with the country of Mexico, with its people and Bayer AG. The whole interview (in Spanish) is available HERE.
The former Werkself player Rudolf Wojtowicz today celebrates his 66th birthday – many happy returns. The defender joined Leverkusen for the 1982/83 season from the then top Polish club Szombierki Bytom. The former Poland international played 80 games for the Black and Reds in four seasons. Wojtowicz now works for VfL Wolfsburg as a scout.
Ten years after retiring as a player, Kristina Sundov is returning to the Bayer 04 Women’s team as assistant coach. The 39-year-old former Croatia international takes over from Remzi Kahraman, who has taken up a new challenge abroad. She has been given a contract to 30 June 2028.
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The training pitches at the BayArena are already buzzing with activity again, even before training officially begins next week. On Monday morning, a small group from the Werkself first-team squad completed a session lasting around an hour. Both new and familiar faces were present.
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One ticket, two matches – and a varied programme of events, including appearances by players from the professional teams: Bayer 04 has come up with something very special for the 2026 season launch on Saturday, 8 August. From morning right through to the evening, Werkself fans can use just one ticket to not only enjoy top-class football from the Bayer 04 teams live, but also to experience unforgettable moments with the whole family through a variety of hands-on activities around the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The day will also end on a real high note: after both matches, Bayer 04 supporters will have the opportunity to interact directly with the players during joint activities and get to know them from a different angle.
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Issa Traoré is moving from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Slovakian top-flight side AS Trencin. The club has loaned the centre-back out for one year to this year’s ninth-placed team in the Slovakian league.
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