
"First of all, I'd like to say a big thank you to Rüdiger Vollborn. He made it possible for some of the players from that team to meet up again here at the BayArena. It's great to be back," said Karl-Heinz Brücken in conversation with the stadium announcers Pitti Dahl and Tobias Ufer at half-time.
The former Leverkusen midfielder provided an insight into the training regime for the team that achieved such success back then that few people would understand today: "We only trained three times a week. That was the most at the amateur level as things were at the time. We all had jobs or were studying." Brücken was a student back then and he joined Bayer 04 from Fortuna Düsseldorf after he came to the attention of the then head coach Theo Kirchberg who offered him a trial and then a contract.

Asked about how the team prepared for matches back then, the 75-year-old Brücken was happy to recall: "We only had 13 outfield players and two keepers in the whole squad – it was simply a completely different time. Although it was possible to substitute players from the 1967/68 season – one player could be replaced. Of course, it was difficult with such a small squad given all the commitments. We met up on Saturdays before matches and often went to the Bergische where we could prepare for matches with walks and discussions. That led to a really good team spirit and that was definitely important for us going on to win the title given the small size of the squad."

Video game producer Electronic Arts (EA) has announced the nominees for the Men's and Women's Team of the Year (TOTY) for EA Sports FC 26. With Patrik Schick and Alejandro Grimaldo for the men and Vanessa Fudalla for the women, there are three Bayer 04 players included. Fans of the Black-and-Reds can vote for each top XI of 2025 from now until 18:59 CET on Monday 12 January.
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The Werkself host Mainz at the BayArena on matchday 24 in the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. The match is on Saturday, 28 February, at 15:30 CET. Information on ticket sales.
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The long-standing successful collaboration between Bayer 04 and the transport service provider wupsi GmbH has been expanded: From January 2026, 100 wupsi bikes with Bayer 04 branding will be available for hire throughout the city of Leverkusen. They will complement the many existing offers and services that provide key support, especially for fans travelling to and from home matches at the BayArena.
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The Werkself are back! Following the two-week winter break, head coach Kasper Hjulmand's team began the new year with an open session on Sunday. After Robert Andrich and his teammates arrived in Leverkusen yesterday for the official check-in, they got back down to business a day later in front of around 1,200 fans at the Ulrich Haberland Stadion. The report from the Werkself's first session of 2026.
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