
Bereits seit 1997, als die BayArena noch Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion hieß, wird sowohl im Zuschauer- als auch im Business-Bereich der Spielstätte Gaffel ausgeschenkt. Auch in der Schwadbud sowie bei sämtlichen Events von Bayer 04 gibt es das Kölsch des Sponsorenclub-Partners.
"The partnership with Bayer 04 stands for reliability and is marked by professionalism," declared Thomas Deloy, marketing and PR director at Gaffel. "We are looking forward to attractive football in the Bundesliga and the Europa League."
And Dr. Bernd Schröder, marketing and sales director at Bayer 04, is also happy about the continuation of the partnership: "A quarter of a century demonstrates an impressive affinity and confident cooperation. The contract extension is a good sign of a flourishing partnership."
Gaffel profile:
Gaffel is the most popular Kölsch brand in catering and is also one of the most innovative breweries. Their non-alcoholic Fassbrause launched a boom in that sector. In 2020, Gaffel introduced 'Wiess', the forefather of Kölsch to the market and that has proved to be very popular and not just with Kölsch fans. The family company has been an exclusive Kölsch partner for Bayer 04 since 1997. The Gaffel am Dom is one of the most popular brewery pubs there is. Gaffel is also the initiator of the 'Jeck im Sunnesching', the biggest summer spectacular of Cologne music in the Rhineland.

Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
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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 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…
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