Emrehan Gedikli moved under the Bayer Cross when he was just seven years old. The centre-forward went through the ranks at Kurtekotten. His form has progressed so well in recent years that Bayer 04 awarded him his first professional contract at the end of April. The Germany U18 international made his first appearances for the Werkself before signing his contract: Gedikli made three appearances in the Europa League group stage in November and December of last year. That was followed by his debut in the Bundesliga in the final Werkself match of the season at Dortmund (1-3).
The 18-year-old unselfishly thanked the Bender twins after his appearance in the top-flight with the first league match for Gedikli being the last league match in the twins' impressive playing careers: "It's an honour for me to make my Bundesliga debut in such an important game for our club. Thank you Lars and thank you Sven for everything you've given to Bayer 04."
In addition to Gedikli, another player made his Bundesliga debut after being brought through the ranks at Kurtekotten: Niklas Lomb came on in the second half of the 2-2 draw with FSV Mainz 05 in place of the injured number one Lukas Hradecky. The Cologne-born keeper joined the Werkself at the age of 14 in 2008. Lomb made his first-team debut as an 18-year-old in the Europa League but then had to wait 8 years for his first appearance in the Bundesliga. That happened on 13 February: At the age of 27, 6 months and 16 days Lombo secured his place in Bundesliga history. His predecessors as homegrown Bundesliga debutants at Bayer 04: Florian Wirtz, Kai Havertz, Marlon Frey and Benjamin Henrichs.
Reiner Calmund's mission is complete. Around 18 months ago, the long-standing Bayer 04 general manager started the project of 'Calli under 100'. Since then the 72-year-old has lost an in impressive 83 kilos – and after his second operation a few days ago he weighed just 92.1 kilos. Hats off for that achievement, 'Calli'.
As an expression of recognition for the achievements to date as well as another tempting reason to train, the Bayer 04 managing directors Fernando Carro and Rudi Völler presented their predecessor, who worked in various functions at the Werkself from 1976 to 2004, with shirts and training kit. Calmund still feels closely connected to his former employer – and he appeared in good mood in his new Werkself kit after his operation at the University Clinic in Bonn.
Bayer 04 and the 17 other Bundesliga clubs enjoyed a previously unseen level of interest from the fans in front of TV screens. The pay-TV channel Sky established records in their Bundesliga coverage in the 2020/21 season.
An average of 4.7 million viewers watched the matches each weekend. The best figures were on Saturday with around two million viewers per afternoon, which is equivalent to an increase of four per cent. Another 1.3 million viewers watched the top match of the week on Saturday nights with Bayer 04 involved in four of those games last term.
In conclusion, let's take a look into the past and honour a man of the first season in the Bundesliga for Bayer 04. Peter Szech would have been 68 years old on Wednesday. The centre-forward gained promotion to the top-flight with the Werkself in his first season under the Bayer Cross in 1978/79 and he played the full 90 minutes in the first Bundesliga match in the club's history on 11 August 1979. In the following four years he went on to make 91 league appearances for Bayer 04 and scored 22 goals along the way.
Unforgotten to this day is his brace in the 2-1 win in the second leg of the play-off in the 1981/82 season against Kickers Offenbach, which prevented Bayer 04 being relegated from the Bundesliga. Szech ended his successful playing career in 1984. He passed away in 2014 at the age of 60.
With their wonderful goals, Martin Terrier and Florian Wirtz are up for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025. Voting for fans will run exclusively via the official Bundesliga app until Sunday, 4 January.
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The ‘year after’ the most successful year in the club's history brought many changes at Bayer 04. In an exclusive double interview with bayer04.de shortly before the Christmas break, Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes spoke about building a new team capable of winning trophies, the work of coach Kasper Hjulmand, the young new signings who have quickly developed into key players, and their personal plans for the Christmas holidays. Their outlook for the coming year also shows that the potential is far from exhausted and ambitions remain high.
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Last-minute ecstasy, huge disappointment and a historic performance on the European stage - 2025 was a real emotional roller coaster, especially for the U19s. A rousing run in the knockout phase secured the team a place in the final of the German championships, where they lost by the narrowest of margins. Despite the departure of several key players, the young Werkself team quickly regained their usual strength and qualified for the knockout rounds in the UEFA Youth League for the first time at the end of the year. In 2025, youngsters Jeremiah Mensah and Montrell Culbreath made their debuts in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. The other youth teams also contributed great performances and a number of trophies to the collective Black and Red success, while the successful Bayer 04 Future Kids project broke new ground. Read on for the 2025 review of the youth teams.
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Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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A memorable 12 months: 2025 was a year marked by success, intense competition and groundbreaking innovations for the #B04eSports team. After ending the 2024/25 season as runners-up, the Leverkusen-based console pros got down to business in a new, completely restructured season model, in which showdowns rather than divisions were the decisive factor on the road to the final round of the German Club Championship. Bayer 04 quickly earned a place in the history books of the most prestigious competition in German eSports and secured some valuable advantages for the coming year. Bayer04.de takes a look back at 12 months full of passion and the determination to take the next step.
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