eSports players Justin ‘B04_JSTIN’ Schwier and Markus ‘B04_MARKUS’ Hüttemann have beaten off the competition in the qualification phase at the B04eAcademy and are now part of the #B04eSports squad. The duo have been signed for the current 2024/25 season.
Schwier and Hüttemann will also have the opportunity to prove themselves in the Virtual Bundesliga (VBL). Schwier, 22, will be a direct part of Bayer 04’s VBL squad, while 15-year-old Hüttemann will join the Leverkusen squad for the Deutsche Fußball Liga’s (DFL) official eSports competition from the age of 16. Cousins Marc ‘MARC_LDW23’ Landwehr and Sean ‘SEAN_LDW07’ Landwehr will also continue to compete for the Werkself on consoles.
With the ‘B04eAcademy unterm Kreuz’, Bayer 04 will specifically develop the skills of the club's own young console players and strengthen their team performance. This will not only increase the club's sporting competitiveness, but also its visibility and attractiveness in the eSports sector.
Marc Fiedler, eSports manager at Bayer 04: “With the launch of the B04eAcademy and the signing of Justin and Markus, the first step has been taken in the still young eAcademy. Both are to be tied to the club through an excellent development programme and supported in their personal and performance development in the long term. Together with Marc and Sean, the boys will form a promising quartet.”
With the launch of EA SPORTS FC 25 at the end of September, both new additions will receive professional coaching from the Academy of eSports, led by Marvin Hintz, once Bayer 04’s first eSports player and now a coach and player-manager in eSports.
Header picture: Justin ‘B04_JSTIN’ Schwier (l.) and Markus ‘B04_MARKUS’ Hüttemann
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 moreTo all Bayer 04 fans: The Fanwelt will be closed all day next Monday 30 June. This is due to preparations for the change of kit supplier from Castore to New Balance on Tuesday 1 July.
Show moreThe Norway U23 international Julie Jorde has completed the move from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Brøndby IF. The twelve-time champions of Denmark have signed the midfielder on permanent terms after her loan move from the Bundesliga to Denmark in the winter.
Show moreIt is almost two years since Bayer 04 new signing Abdoulaye Faye first stepped foot into the BayArena as a player for the Swedish club BK Häcken in the opening match in the 2023/24 Europa League campaign. A day before his nineteenth birthday, the central defender did not play in the 4-0 win for the Werkself but it was "an incredible night" for him on 21 September 2023 as he explained in his first interview on bayer04.de. "I watched the players and saw the fans. I liked it." It was also the first European night early on in his career. He only joined the then champions of Sweden in the cold north of Europe from his home in Senegal a few weeks before that special moment. Bayer04.de profiles our new defender.
Show moreWelcome, Abdoulaye Faye. The 20-year-old Senegalese central defender joins Leverkusen from top-flight Swedish club BK Häcken. In his first interview he talks about his move to Bayer 04 and his targets with the Werkself.
Show more