Five years later, this club merged with Boxsport Wiesdorf to become the 'Sportvereinigung Wiesdorf-Leverkusen 04' with football, boxing, handball, athletics and fistball sections. The second big club in addition to TuS 04 is founded. The club colours remain Red and Black.
On 28 January 1929, the General-Anzeiger newspaper reports: "The home club wore their new kit in front of a sizeable crowd: orange shirts, blue shorts and orange socks.“ These were the colours worn by Sp.Vg. Wiesdorf-Leverkusen for the next two and a half years – with a change kit of blue tops, orange shorts and socks – and they finally made it into the the third tier of German football, the Bezirksklasse 1. The Orange and Blues, as they were called in the newspapers, clocked up a convincing 3-1 win on the penultimate matchday of the season, on 22 March 1931, against promotion rivals VfB Langenfeld to secure the league title in the Cologne Bezirksklasse 2. 'Bayer' first came into the name of the team in the middle of 1935 and become a permanent part of our club name from 1936.
Willi Korth was born in Essen on 12 April 1955. He was a youth player at TuS Essen 81. After coming to the attention of Schwarz Weiss Essen, he signed for them in the Bundesliga 2 North for the 1977/78 season. He made 24 appearances and scored one goal. The Black and Whites from Essen were relegated at the end of the season.
Show moreRudolf ‘Rudi’ Völler was born in Hanau on 13 April 1960. His father took the young Rudi as an eight-year-old to training at TSV 1860 Hanau. In the sedate Hessen town on the Main he came to the attention of Offenbach Kickers. But Rudi completed his secondary school and started training to become an office administrator.
Show moreJean Pierre de Keyser was born in Cologne on 13 April 1965 as the son of a Belgian NATO soldier stationed in Spich and a German mother. His childhood dream of becoming a vet was resolutely followed at school initially. But football threw a spanner in the works.
Show moreThe third last matchday in the 1954/55 season brings a big showdown at the Stadion Am Stadtpark – the Werkself entertain second-placed SV Sodingen. A win for Bayer 04 would take them above Sodingen and qualify for the finals of the German championship if the last two games of the season in the Oberliga West 1 are also won.
Show moreIn this video you can watch impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 in the month of April. It is not always about the beauty of the goals but also about remembering special games and players.
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