The farewell for one of the biggest personalities in German football evoked great emotion at the BayArena in Leverkusen: The fans celebrated the Bayer 04 legend with a huge piece of choreography, standing ovations and chants of ‘There’s only one Rudi Völler.’ In addition, 25,000 T-shirts were distributed before the start of the game. All these actions had one message: “Thank you, Rudi!”
Werner Wenning, chairman of the shareholders committee at Bayer 04, plus CEO Fernando Carro presented Völler with a collage of images from over 28 years at the Werkself on the pitch and also praised the work of the 1990 World Cup winner for the Black and Reds. Völler then took to the microphone himself: “Today is the day where I say thank you to everybody who has supported our wonderful club from the bottom of their hearts over the years. As the club anthem says, we have to stand together in coming years with a cross on our chest in good and bad times – for a great atmosphere like today! That’s how I want to see you!”
With the exception of long break when he was the Germany coach (2000 to 2004), Rudi Völler has been part of Bayer 04 since 1994 and over the years developed into the face of the Werkself. Before his move to Leverkusen as a player, the Germany international with 90 caps had already seen a lot and achieved much more: In addition to the World Cup, the now 62-year-old played for AS Roma for five years and he won the UEFA Champions League with Olympique Marseille in 1993.
Towards the end of his career as a player, the Hanau-born striker played for Bayer 04 for two years from 1994 to 1996. The former world-class central striker explained his decision to join the Werkself back then in an interview in the Süddeutsche Zeitung: “It was a gut decision in the end to join Bayer 04 because I saw: At Leverkusen there was Bernd Schuster and Andi Thom plus a few others of the like who could set me up.” That’s what they did. He scored 31 goals in his 75 appearances for the Black and Reds.
Völler remained under the Bayer Cross when he hung up his boots in 1996 and he was introduced to the secrets of the management business by the then boss Reiner Calmund. Before his job with the DFB, he was the sporting director at Bayer 04 for four years and he worked in the same role for 13 years after his time with Germany before taking over the running of the Werkself as sporting managing director alongside Fernando Carro (CEO) in 2018.
Rudi Völler does not need to have any second thoughts about his successor with the Black and Reds: The 62-year-old has passed on the baton to sporting director Simon Rolfes who officially takes over as the sporting managing director on 1 July – and he will certainly have passed on one or two important lessons and anecdotes from his 28 years with Bayer 04 Leverkusen…
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.
Show more
Kasper Hjulmand has led the Werkself back to winning ways and is back in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League with Bayer 04 after the 3-0 win against Villarreal on Wednesday evening. In an interview with the Werkself magazine at the BayArena in the team meeting room, directly opposite the dressing room, he provided some special insights for the current issue, which was published in January. A conversation with the 53-year-old coach about values, attitudes and personal experiences as well as interests outside of football.
Show more
The thrilling 3-1 win for Bayer 04 against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Hinrunde is a fond memory for Alejandro Grimaldo, with his brace from free kicks, and coach Kasper Hjulmand, who was in the dugout under the Cross for the first time. Now comes the return fixture in the metropolis on the River Main and after going out of the DFB Pokal and the Champions League, the full focus at Eintracht, currently managed by two interim coaches, is now on the Bundesliga. For their part, the Werkself will do everything in their power to continue the longest winning run against a Bundesliga club. The matchday news.
Show more
Bayer 04 have ended Artem Stepanov’s loan deal at Nürnberg and agreed a new loan to Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Ukrainian striker did not play as much as hoped for at the Bundesliga 2 club and will now continue his development in the Eredivisie for the rest of 2025/26.
Show more
The draw for the knockout play-offs of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League was made on Friday, 30 January and saw Bayer 04 paired with Olympiacos. It’s a reunion with the Greek side following the Werkself’s 2-0 loss in Athens on Matchday 7 of the league phase.
Show more
