The club from central Baden was established in 2010 following the merger of VfR Pforzheim and FC Pforzheim. The club has been in the Baden-Württemberg Oberliga since promotion in 2015. The team coached by Gökhan Gökce finished thirteenth last season.
Pforzheim qualified for the DFB Cup as finalists of the Baden State Cup. CfR lost 6-5 on penalties but went through as the winners Karlsruher SC, last season's first round opponents for the Werkself, qualify for the national cup competition as a third division club.
The first round ties in the DFB Cup will played from 17-20 August with the final details of the fixtures to be confirmed.
DFB Cup Round One draw in full:
Friday, 17 August, 20.45 CET:
SV Wehen Wiesbaden (League 3) v FC St. Pauli (League 2)
FC Magdeburg (League 2) v SV Darmstadt 98 (League 2)
FC Schweinfurt 05 (Regional League Bavaria) v Schalke 04 (Bundesliga)
Saturday, 18 August, 15.30 CET:
CfR Pforzheim (Oberliga) v Bayer 04
SV Linx (Verbandsliga) v FC Nürnberg (Bundesliga)
SV Rödinghausen (Regional League West) v Dynamo Dresden (League 2)
SV Elversberg 07 (Regional League South West) v VfL Wolfsburg (Bundesliga)
TuS Dassendorf (Oberliga) v MSV Duisburg (League 2)
Wormatia Worms (Regional League South West) v Werder Bremen (Bundesliga)
SV Drochtersen/Assel (Regional League North) v Bayern Munich (Bundesliga)
FC Kaiserslautern (League 3) v TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (Bundesliga)
SSV Ulm (Regional League Bavaria) v Eintracht Frankfurt (Bundesliga)
Saturday, 18 August, 18.30 CET:
TuS Erndtebrück (Oberliga) v Hamburg SV (League 2)
Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (Regional League West) v SV Sandhausen (League 2)
Erzgebirge Aue (League 2) v FSV Mainz 05 (Bundesliga)
Saturday, 18 August, 20.45 CET:
Hansa Rostock (League 3) v VfB Stuttgart (Bundesliga)
Sunday, 19 August, 15.30 CET:
FC Lok Stendal (Oberliga) v Arminia Bielefeld (League 2)
TSV Steinbach (Regional League South West) v FC Augsburg (Bundesliga)
TuS Rot-Weiß Koblenz (Oberliga) v Fortuna Düsseldorf (Bundesliga)
Weiche Flensburg 08 (Regional League North) v VfL Bochum (League 2)
BSG Chemie Leipzig (Oberliga) v Jahn Regensburg (League 2)
BFC Dynamo (Regional League North) v FC Köln (League 2)
SSV Jeddeloh II (Regionalliga Nord) - 1. FC Heidenheim (League 2)
Viktoria Köln (Regional League West) v RB Leipzig (Bundesliga)
Karlsruher SC (League 3) v Hannover 96 (Bundesliga)
Sunday, 19 August, 18.30 CET:
TSV 1860 Munich (League 3) v Holstein Kiel (League 2)
Carl Zeiss Jena (League 3) v FC Union Berlin (League 2)
Monday, 20 August, 18.30 CET:
BSC Hastedt (Oberliga) - Borussia Mönchengladbach (Bundesliga)
SC Paderborn (League 2) - FC Ingolstadt (2. Bundesliga)
Energie Cottbus (League 3) v SC Freiburg (Bundesliga)
Eintracht Braunschweig (League 3) v Hertha BSC (Bundesliga)
Monday, 20 August, 20.45 CET:
SpVgg Greuther Fürth (League 2) v Borussia Dortmund (Bundesliga)
Key dates in 2018/2019 DFB Cup:
Round 2: 30/31 October 2018
Round of 16: 5/6 February 2019
Quarter-finals: 2/3 April 2019
Semi-finals: 23/24 April 2019
Final: 25 May 2019
Kicking off the new season with a fresh look: Bayer 04, in collaboration with sportswear manufacturer New Balance, has unveiled the official kit for Leverkusen’s e-Sports players for the coming season. The jersey is now available from the Bayer 04 online shop and the Fanwelt.
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Paulo Sergio and Bayer 04 have enjoyed close ties since the Werkself training camp in his native Brazil last summer. The club legend is in charge of the Bayer 04 Soccer Academy, which opened in the summer of 2025, and he has also been at this year’s training camp in the Weimarer Land. As well as interacting with the many fans who travelled to the camp, the 1994 World Cup winner used the time to plan the next steps for the Academy together with club officials. In an interview with bayer04.de, Sergio spoke about the project’s future development, the upcoming visit by young Academy players to Leverkusen, and plans for the coming months in Germany and Brazil.
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A round-up of the Werkself training camp in the Weimarer Land, all in one place: in our daily blog you’ll find all the insights and updates from the day. Day five (Thursday 6 August) is as follows: The squad have the final open session of the training camp in the morning. After lunch, there will be a team event.
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A round-up of the Werkself training camp in the Weimarer Land, all in one place: in our daily blog you’ll find all the insights and updates from the day. Day four (Wednesday 5 August) is all about training. The day begins with a gruelling open training session – new signing Miguel Gutiérrez also takes part. A second session follows in the afternoon, this time behind closed doors.
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At the training camp in the Weimarer Land region, Bayer 04 head coach Carles Martínez and his long-standing assistant Pol García talk about their first few weeks with the Werkself, their expectations of their own work, the coaching staff and the squad, as well as the style of football they want the team to play. They emphasise the importance of a winning mentality within the team, comment on cultural and personal differences in the world of football, and outline their goals for the coming season...
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