In the end, 111 fans, most of them wearing Werkself shirts and pullovers, followed Vollborn's call to the Schwadbud in the heart of the BayArena. The words "I'll talk about…" were shown on the screens as the guests were admitted – until the former goalkeeper took to the microphone at exactly 19.04 CET. As in previous lectures, Vollborn started by talking about the time the club was founded and historical images were shown of the city of Leverkusen, the first teams and the playing venues. "It was another very enjoyable evening," said Werkself fan Marc. The 50-year-old lives in Leverkusen and once again he was keen to hear Vollborn's tales: "Rudi wholeheartedly embodies the history of our club!". That statement was confirmed by one anecdote.
As part of his thorough and time-consuming research, Vollborn spent three-week stints in the city archives from morning to night to discover the reasons for the change of shirt colours from the original black and red to orange and blue between 1929 and 1932. "I was able to identify the exact timescale with the help of newspaper articles but I wasn't able to find out the reasons for the change," explained Vollborn. After the lecture it’s back to the day-to-day work: The Berlin-born former keeper works for Bayer 04 in fan liaison and during and after work he likes to immerse himself in the subject of Werkself history.
Vollborn is all the more happy about the uniformly positive feedback: "Of course, you like to hear that. The club is very close to my heart. In two years I will celebrate my 40th anniversary at the club." Then there should be a lecture where Rudi talks exclusively about his experiences under the Bayer Cross. At the end of the two and a half hour lecture, the Bayer 04 legend provided a taster of the emotion he might well feel: The screens showed a video of the second leg of the UEFA Cup final of 1987/88. Bayer 04 lost the first leg against Espanyol 3-0 but in the return match the Werkself won 6-2 on penalties at the BayArena to lift the UEFA Cup for the first time with the speaker at the lecture in goal. "It's a very emotional film for me and even today I sometimes start crying," Vollborn said quietly as he completed the tour through the "history of our Werkself".
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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From special edition jerseys to fan banners, the home game against Mainz 05 was all about the many Bayer 04 fan clubs. Accordingly, a fitting tribute to the long-standing Werkself supporters was not to be missed during half-time in the Bundesliga match. Fernando Carro, CEO, honoured the up to 50-year anniversaries of six fan clubs in front of the coaches' benches at the BayArena.
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It is an expression of solidarity and a tribute to the unique fan culture Under the Cross: Bayer 04 Leverkusen make a special statement with the "50 Years of Fan Clubs" jersey. To mark the founding of the "First Fan Club 1976 Leverkusen", which was followed by many more over the years right up to the present day, the Bundesliga club is commemorating 50 years of passion with this new jersey. Highs and lows, successes celebrated together as well as defeats suffered are manifested in this piece of white fabric, a symbol of unwavering identification with the Werkself.
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There’s lots going on at the BayArena today. The home game against FSV Mainz 05 is all about the numerous Bayer 04 fan clubs, whose birth - the founding of the "1. Fanclub 1976 Leverkusen" - dates back 50 years. A number of fan club representatives will be involved in awards, a banner display and a half-time matchday chat, and the Werkself are set to play in a special white fan club jersey. During half-time, Leverkusen mayor Stefan Hebbel and javelin world champion Steffi Nerius will also talk about the Olympic bid involving Leverkusen. Black and Red fans are advised to get to the stadium in good time today. Matchday news.
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The Werkself host Premier League club Arsenal in the Round of 16 first leg in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaign. The match at the BayArena is on 10/11 March. Read on for information on ticket sales for this fixture.
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