He started at Bayer 04 in 1976 as the youth managing director and shortly after that became the manager and director of the whole club of SV Bayer 04 that covered the sports of football, boxing, fist ball, handball and athletics. And in 1979, the year of promotion to the Bundesliga, he took over the post of head and managing director of the football department at the request of the then president Dr. Jürgen Schwericke. On this Saturday, Heintz Heitmann celebrates his 80th birthday.
Heintz Heitmann was the general manager of Bayer 04 the first five years in the Bundesliga. He was pretty much responsible for everything at the club: finance and budgeting, contract and transfer negotiations, licensing procedures, stadium administration, perimeter advertising, training camps and much more. The budget for the season in the first two years in the Bundesliga was 6.5 million Deutschmarks. "That covered all costs including the salaries of the players, coaches and staff, travel costs as well as looking after visitors and the press."
Our team spirit held together over the decades and they all remained Bayer lads," said Heitmann. He was in charge of the Veterans until 2006 – before handing over to Michael Kentschke. Bayer 04 send birthday greetings and wish the former general manager all the best and, above all, good health.
Today's top match at Leipzig will be refereed by FIFA official Harm Osmers from Hannover. His assistants are Robert Kempter from Stockach and Thomas Gorniak from Bremen. The fourth official is Lasse Kozlowski from Berlin. Günter Perl from Pullach is the VAR official. To date, Osmers has refereed 11 Werkself games, all in the Bundesliga – producing five wins, four draws, two defeats, 23 yellow cards and two red cards for Bayer 04. This season he was in charge of the home games against RB Leipzig (1-1) and Borussia Mönchengladbach (4-3).
He is an honorary captain and possibly the most technically gifted player ever to run out for the Werkself: Bernd 'Schnix' Schneider. The midfielder from Jena worked his magic on the right side of the Leverkusen midfield from 1999 to 2009 in 366 appearances. Now he has been asked by the Bild Zeitung about how the top game on matchday 19 will turn out. The answer from the now 47-year-old: "2-2 – both teams are strong in attack so there will be lots of goals. Because the last three meetings have ended in draws, the points will also be shared this time."
Centre-back Melissa Friedrich is set to remain at Bayer 04 for another year. The longest-serving player in the squad, who joined the club in 2016, has extended her contract to 2027.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have signed Portugal U21 international Afonso Moreira. The 21-year-old winger joins the club from French top-flight side Olympique Lyon on a contract to 30 June 2031. In France last year, the left-winger made 37 appearances in Ligue 1, the Coupe de France and the UEFA Europa League, scoring a total of eight goals and providing eleven assists.
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A warm welcome to Leverkusen, Afonso Moreira! Bayer 04 have signed the 21-year-old Portuguese player from the top-flight French club Lyon. The left-winger has signed a contract at Leverkusen to 30 June 2031. Bayer04.de takes a closer look at the new signing.
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A new signing for the U19s: Bayer 04 have signed winger Clinton Wilson from Schalke 04. The 18-year-old previously played for Leverkusen youth teams from January to June 2024.
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