Bayer 04 is holding its next Members' Matchday as part of the game against Heidenheim. Fans of all ages can look forward to entertaining activities such as multiball, Bolzbox and photo boxes, bouncy castles and gaming stations in the event areas around the BayArena. Throughout the event, Bayer 04 members can enjoy discounts on jerseys and children's items during a four-day promotional period. Anyone who signs up for membership during this time will receive a stylish sweatshirt for free.
The Löwenclub is also celebrating its 30th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the new patron of the youngest Werkself fans will be presented before the match against Heidenheim.
Bayer 04 fans with a ticket for the match against Heidenheim can also take advantage of ticket discounts for fixtures involving the other teams from the Bayer sports family. For them, admission to the BayerVolleys match tomorrow evening at 20:00 CET and the Werkselfen (handball) match on Sunday at 16:00 CET costs only €5 at the box office. Both matches will take place at the Ostermann Arena.
The Werkself are yet to drop points against Heidenheim in the Bundesliga. Last season's encounters were particularly thrilling, with Patrik Schick scoring a hat-trick as Bayer 04 came from 2-0 down to win 5-2 at home. In the away fixture, Emiliano Buendía's stoppage-time strike earned the points for the Black-and-Reds. Referee Bastian Dankert is also a good omen for the preservation of that perfect Bundesliga record against FCH, as he was in charge for the aforementioned 5-2 success a year ago. What's more, it's over two and a half years since the Werkself lost two league matches in a row.
It's certainly fair to expect that Bayer 04 will have most of the control of the game. The hosts, who have played the second-most passes and have the second-best pass completion in the German top flight, meet a Heidenheim side who are second-from-bottom in both those statistics. Kasper Hjulmand's men have also the spent the second-highest amount of time in front in matches this season, the visitors the least.
After surviving relegation by the skin of their teeth, Heidenheim are struggling again this season. The team from the town on the river Brenz are currently bottom of the table after six defeats, two draws and just one win from the first nine matches. The recent 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt should give long-serving coach Frank Schmidt and his team a boost, though, with the bottom half of the table still very tight. FCH can also draw hope from the fact that their injury problems in attack are easing with the return of Marvin Pieringer, Mathias Honsak and Budu Zivzivadze. Alongside top goalscorer Stefan Schimmer (two goals), the trio's qualities going forward are desperately needed to make up for the leaky defence (17 goals conceded). Against Frankfurt, Heidenheim did at least manage to get back to their battling qualities for the first time in a while. Coach Schmidt has demanded "more courage and determination" as he knows: "If we don't make it an exciting season, then we'll be relegated." Read more about FCH in our opposition analysis.
Bayer 04 CEO Fernando Carro and Rüdiger Vollborn, the Werkself's honorary captain and record appearance maker, will honour 12 fan clubs pitchside for their loyalty on behalf of the club. The fan clubs are being recognised for 30, 35 or 40 years of commitment. Here's to many more successful seasons together!
Referee Dankert will be assisted by René Rohde and Stefan Lupp on the sidelines. Lukas Benen is fourth official and Sascha Stegemann the video assistant.
Bayer 04 host Borussia Mönchengladbach at the BayArena on matchday 12 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The schedule for the game remains to be confirmed. The latest information on ticket sales.
Show more
Bayer 04 host Eintracht Frankfurt at the BayArena on matchday 14 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The schedule for the game remains to be confirmed. The latest information on ticket sales.
Show more
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 0-1 loss at Bayern Munich in the round of 16 of the women's DFB-Pokal 2026/27
Show more
“As far as mentality and determination are concerned, we have nothing to reproach ourselves for,” Robert Andrich said up after the first home defeat for the Werkself this term. In terms of their play, too, the Black and Reds put in a respectable performance for long stretches of this intense and physical match, outperforming VfB Stuttgart in most areas. It was only in terms of efficiency in front of goal that the Swabians had the edge over the Werkself. Head coach Carles Martínez wants to learn from this so that, in future, they can “win this sort of match too”. The Werkself review.
Show more
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 working 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 personal 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
