1.05.2021Bayer 04

‘Rudi recounts’…: Vollborn on Bayer 04 May highlights

Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for nearly 40 years, he has 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 Cup (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. From 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...

Vollborn looks back at goals, matches, personalities and stories away from the pitch from the Bayer 04 club history. For the month of May, the Leverkusen legend includes highly interesting TV-highlights of a defensive battle against the Royal Blues and the biggest Bundesliga home win to date. For the month of May, the Leverkusen legend presents highly interesting TV-highlights of two Werkself games from 1980 and 2002 , which provided salvation for the Black and Reds.

Also for the month of May: Rudi’s emotional appreciation of Lars Bender who is leaving Bayer 04 in the summer after twelve years as he retires from professional football. Similar to the Benders, our record appearance maker also introduces the Grammingers. Those twin brothers signed for Leverkusen in 1958. Click HERE for the articles.

Related News

Sustainability - 05.10.2026

Interactive health checks, cancer screening and more: Health Day at the BayArena

Despite the international break, numerous Werkself fans turned up at the BayArena on Saturday 3 October. The occasion: Bayer 04, together with Bayer Vital and main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer, organised a Health Day. In the stadium’s Premium Lounge, guests listened to fascinating talks on the subject of cancer, featuring, amongst others, Bayer 04 record appearance holder Rüdiger Vollborn and former Werkself player Hans Sarpei. Afterwards, young and old alike enjoyed interactive stations such as a grip strength test and eye pupil test.

Werkself-TV - 02.10.2026

Women: TV-highlights of 3-2 win against Werder Bremen

Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 3-2 win against Werder Bremen on Matchday 6 of the 2026/27 Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga.

Women - 02.10.2026

Bayer 04 Women seal late 3-2 win against Werder Bremen

Thanks to a thrilling second-half comeback, the Bayer 04 women’s team secured their first home win this term. Against Werder Bremen, the Werkself stepped up their game significantly after the break and turned a two-goal deficit into a 3–2 win. Cornelia Kramer (54’, 56’) and Lobke Loonen (81’) scored the goals that earned coach Roberto Pätzold’s team their first points at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium in the current Bundesliga season.

Bayer 04 - 02.10.2026

6–0 against Fortuna Köln – Werkself win friendly against third-division side

A commanding performance: In a friendly during the international break, Bayer 04 defeated third-division newcomers SC Fortuna Köln 6–0. Martin Terrier and Patrik Schick scored twice each with Nathan Tella and Miguel Gutiérrez netting the other goals for Leverkusen. Due to preparations at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium for tonight’s Bayer 04 women’s Bundesliga home game against Werder Bremen (kick-off: 18:30 CEST), the fixture against the Cologne side was played at the Werkself training ground.