On Tuesday, Sandhausen beat Premier League newcomers Huddersfield Town, managed by the German coach David Wagner, with a 3-2 win in a home friendly. The match against Bayer 04 is the final friendly for SVS before they take on newly promoted Holstein Kiel in the opening game in their sixth division two season – the reward for continual development at the club.
Between 1978 and 2007, the club from the small town near Heidelberg, played – with the exception of one season in the Regional League – in the Baden-Württemberg Oberliga and that 28 years represents the longest period any club has played at that level. During this period, SVS won the German Amateur Championship twice and reached the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup in 1986.
With promotion to the Regional League South in 2007, Sandhausen laid the foundations for making their name in German professional football. A year later they qualified for the newly found third division and were promoted to the second tier in 2012. In spite of comparatively limited financial means and the lowest number of members in the second division SVS were able to stay up year after year. In 2016 Kenan Kocak took over as head coach when Alois Schwartz departed for FC Nürnberg and, in his first season, he took Sandhausen to a tenth-place finish – the highest ever finish in the club's history. In the coming season the 36-year-old manager of the Black and Whites will be the youngest coach in the second division.
Reunion with ‘Richy’, Erik and Leart
Sandhausen and Bayer 04 have never met in a competitive match but there are a few points of contact between the two clubs. Homegrown Bayer 04 player Richard Sukuta-Pasu has been in the hunt for goals with SVS since 2016. 'Richy' was in the Leverkusen U19 Team that won the German Championship in 2007 and the Cup a year later and in 2008 he became a European Champion with the Germany U19 side. The central striker played five games for the Werkself first team in the 2008/2009 season. Midfielder Erik Zenga and left back Leart Paqarda are two other players brought through the ranks at Kurtekotten to play for Sandhausen.
Straight off after the final whistle
For two of the Bayer 04 management the trip to the Electoral Palatinate represents a visit to their roots. Sporting manager Jonas Boldt grew up a few kilometres away in Heidelberg and head coach Heiko Herrlich comes from the nearby city of Mannheim. After the final whistle at the BWT Stadium, the Werkself will head straight for the Salzburger Land for a week-long training camp in Zell am See/Kaprun. The next friendly of the pre-season will be played on Thursday 27 July at 18.30 CET against Antalyaspor.
The German Football League (DFL) has announced the three candidates for Bundesliga ‘Rookie of the Month’ for February. Among the candidates is Werkself player Jarell Quansah. Fans of Bayer 04 can vote for their favourite on the Bundesliga app from now until Thursday, 5 March (23:59 CET).
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On a day that celebrated 50 years of official Bayer 04 fan clubs with festivities on the pitch during the match against FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday, New York-based Werkself Warriors were proudly represented on the field by co-founder Alex Kramm.
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The Werkself conceded a goal at home for the first time since the beginning of January 67 minutes into the game against FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday. Jarell Quansah levelled late on for the final score of 1-1 to secure a point and avoid a first home defeat in six games. Bayer 04 were very critical of their performance after the game. The Werkself review.
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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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