Bayer 04, together with the club's partners, have supported Ukrainian refugees since the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine. Around 1,500 people who fled to Leverkusen have made their home here. "The colleagues at the community foundation are very grateful the comprehensive support from Bayer 04," said Meinolf Sprink, director of fans/community at the Werkself. "As Bayer 04, we want to provide support in our home city where help is needed most urgently."
The money raised from the sale of the strictly limited edition special shirts is being made available to the Leverkusen community foundation. In cooperation with the City of Leverkusen there will be a fair distribution to regionally active institutions supporting Ukraine refugees.
The proceeds from the joint derby shirt campaign organised by Bayer 04, Barmenia and JAKO was originally to go to the Leverkusen project 'Bayer 04 im Quartier'. However, given the great suffering of millions of people in Ukraine the all the different managements decided to use the money for Ukraine aid.
The Leverkusen community foundation and Bayer 04 worked successfully together last summer in providing flood relief that saw fast support given to numerous people in and around Leverkusen.
Photo (left to right): Meinolf Sprink (Bayer 04 director of fans/community), Marc Adomat (City manager in the city of Leverkusen), Markus Grawe (Chair of the foundation committee at the Leverkusen community foundation) and Fernando Carro (Bayer 04 CEO).
“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
Show more
It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
Show more
“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
Show more
Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
Show more
Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 derby win at 1. FC Köln Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
Show more
