Stories: First promotion in orange and blue
TuS 04 Leverkusen broke away from the parent club in 1923 to set up their own club: the 'Football Club 04 Leverkusen', FV 04 Leverkusen for short. The club colours: Red and Black.
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.
Related News
Bayer 04 - 01.06.2026
Birthday boy of the month: Hans Sarpei turns 50
Hans Sarpei was born on 28 June 1976 in Tema, Ghana, and came to Germany with his parents at the age of three, where he grew up in Cologne. Even before he was born, his mother and father worked in Hamburg in the import-export sector. There they met an older man who introduced them to German culture and supported them. Out of gratitude, Hans was later given his first name, although this man died before he was born. Hans comes from a sporting family; his older brother Edward and his nephews Hans Nunoo Sarpei and Kingsley Sarpei were or are also professional footballers.
Show more
Bayer 04 - 01.06.2026
From the archives: 70 years ago - A coach quits
On 3 June 1953, Hans-Josef (‘Sepp’) Kretschmann became the fifth coach in the history of Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Born in Allenstein, East Prussia, on 21 March 1902, the football coach first studied to become a teacher before later switching to football. He took over the Werkself from Franz Strehle, under whom the team twice managed to stay in the 1st Oberliga West. However, Strehle did not extend his contract in Leverkusen after these two very successful years.
Show more
Bayer 04 - 01.06.2026
Match of the month: 50 years ago - All or nothing
After promotion to Bundesliga North 2 in the summer of 1975, Bayer 04 are fighting relegation just eight months later. The club expects full commitment from everyone in this precarious situation. Promotion coach Manfred Rummel is to give up his main job as a teacher at the Mülheim special school and become a full-time coach at Bayer 04. The coach, who is very popular with the team, does not see himself in a position to fulfil the club's request. Despite a 2-0 home win against SpVgg Erkenschwick, Manfred Rummel is put on gardening leave by "mutual agreement".
Show more
Bayer 04 - 01.06.2026
History: 75 years ago - The 1950/51 season (June)
Bayer 04, already been promoted to the 1st Oberliga West, played friendly after friendly in the second half of May 1951. And that continued throughout the following month.
Show more
Bayer 04 - 01.05.2026
Birthday boy of the month: Jacek Krzynowek turns 50
Jacek Krzynowek was born on 15 May 1976 in Kamiensk, Poland, and grew up as a typical country boy. He spent his childhood less in structured training sessions and more on simple pitches, where he spent hours playing football with older boys. He realised early on that he had exceptional shooting power and enormous stamina. But for a long time, he didn't appreciate just how much talent he had. While others dream of a great career, professional football initially seems like a distant world to him that he only knows from television.
Show more
