Bayer 04 started the weekend on Friday night, 10 May with ‘Promotion day’: The title winners of 1979 were reunited at the BayArena. Everybody was happy, moved and excited – the players from yesteryear as much as the fans. The former players enjoyed the trip down memory lane with 380 supporters in the evening in the ‘19nullvier-Lounge’. With the exception of a few promotion heroes, everybody was there: from Fred Bockholt via Jürgen Gelsdorf, Thomas Hörster, Gerd Kentschke, Willibert Kremer through to Norbert Ziegler. One person was the focus of attention: legendary general manager Reiner Calmund.
After the atmospheric start on Friday night with the ‘Promotion day’, it carried on seamlessly on Saturday morning: On the second day of the weekend celebrating 40 years in the Bundesliga for Bayer 04, the heroes of 1979 met up at the Lindner Hotel with the Bundesliga Allstars from all over the world. That included Dimitar Berbatov, René Adler, Paulo Sergio, Bum-kun Cha and Zé Roberto, who were presented to the crowd ahead of the Bundesliga game against Schalke 04 at the BayArena.
A very special weekend at the BayArena came to a wonderful conclusion on that Sunday with the ‘Day of tradition’. Around 3,500 Bayer 04 fans came to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium in the morning to see the Legends take on the Bundesliga Allstars. The Whites against Reds game was very entertaining. No wonder as former Werkself players like Zé Roberto, Paulo Sergio, Juan, Ulf Kirsten, Stefan Kießling, Simon Rolfes, Dimitar Berbatov, Falko Götz and many others showed off their ability to help create a brilliant atmosphere in the stands.
Top flight since 1979: 40 years in the Bundesliga, a roller-coaster ride with lots of highs. All of that is available on a two-DVD set that covers the biggest moments for the Werkself over the last 04 decades and provides entertaining, behind-the-scenes outtakes. Click HERE for the online shop.
After being nominated for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025, Martin Terrier's wonderful strike for the opener against FC Köln is now also up for selection for the ARD Sportschau Goal of the Month award for December 2025. Bayer 04 fans have until 19:00 CET on 10 January to vote for the French forward.
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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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"In every ending lies a new beginning" is a well-known saying. This phrase has probably never been more apt at Bayer 04. After winning the Bundesliga in 2023/24 and finishing as runners-up in 2024/25, the summer was the most eventful ever in terms of transfers. Over ten players and the coach, including the coaching staff, left the club. A lot of the heroes of the double-winning side began a new chapter. It was the end of an era. And at the same time the beginning of a new, very exciting and promising chapter for Leverkusen. The Werkself welcomed more than a dozen new arrivals, including experienced title-winners and young talents, to build a new "foundation for a successful team capable of winning titles" under the Bayer Cross, as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. A new spirit, a new hunger, a new story was to be created. Bayer04.de looks back at the first few months of this story and the final act of the preseason.
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43 points at the end of the last Bundesliga season were not only more than ever before for the Bayer 04 Women, but also led to a record fourth-place finish. That was followed by a Hinrunde with many more victories, but also some setbacks. In an interview with bayer04.de, sporting director Achim Feifel takes stock at the end of the year.
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With their wonderful goals, Martin Terrier and Florian Wirtz are up for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025. Voting for fans will run exclusively via the official Bundesliga app until Sunday, 4 January.
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