Bayer Leverkusen
Encyclopedia
Bayer 04 Leverkusen is a German football club
based in Leverkusen
, North Rhine-Westphalia
. It is the most well-known department of TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, a sports club
whose members also participate in athletics, gymnastics, basketball
and other sports.
On 31 May 1907 a separate football department was formed within the club. In the culture of sports in Germany at the time, there was significant animosity between gymnasts and other types of athletes. Eventually this contributed to a split within the club: on 8 June 1928 the footballers formed a separate association – Sportvereinigung Bayer 04 Leverkusen – that also included the handball and fistball players, athletics, and boxing, while the gymnasts carried on as TuS Bayer 04 Leverkusen. SV Bayer 04 Leverkusen took with them the club's traditional colours of red and black, with the gymnasts adopting blue and yellow.
Through this period, and into the 1930s, SV Bayer 04 Leverkusen played third and fourth division football. In 1936, they earned promotion to the second highest class of play of the period. That was also the year that the club wore the familiar "Bayer" cross for the first time. They made their first appearance in upper league play in 1951, in the Oberliga West and played there until 1956, after which they were relegated. SV Bayer 04 Leverkusen would not return to the upper leagues until 1962, just one season before the formation of Germany's new professional league, the Bundesliga
. The next year saw the club in the Regionalliga West, tier II, where their performances over the next few seasons left them well down the league table.
after just one season spent in the third division. Four years later, the team handily secured a place in the Bundesliga to start to play there in the 1979–80 season.
By the mid-1980s, SV Bayer 04 Leverkusen had played their way into the upper half of the league table and were well-established there by the end of the decade. It was during this time, in 1984, that the two halves of the club that had parted ways over half a century ago were re-united as TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen e.V. The new club took red and white as their colours.
In addition to becoming an established Bundesliga side, the club earned its first honours with a dramatic win in the 1988 UEFA Cup
. Down (0:3) to Espanyol
after the first leg of the final, they drew even in the return match and then captured the title (3:2) on penalty kicks.
That same year, long-time Bayer Leverkusen executive Reiner Calmund became the general manager of the club. This is regarded as one of the most important moves in the club's history, as Calmund ushered in a decade and a half of the club's greatest success through shrewd, far-sighted player acquisitions.
After the German reunification
in 1990, Reiner Calmund was quick to sign East German stars Ulf Kirsten, Andreas Thom
, and Jens Melzig
. The three players would become instant crowd favourites, and make significant contributions to the team. Calmund also established groundbreaking contacts in Brazilian football
, befriending Juan Figer, one of Brazil's
most powerful player agents. Over the next few years, budding superstars, such as Jorginho
and Paulo Sérgio
, joined the team, as did Czech
star Pavel Hapal
. They also signed charismatic players, such as Bernd Schuster
, and Rudi Völler
, helping to ensure the team's popularity and growing success.
The club captured its next honours in 1993, with a 1–0 win in the German Cup over a surprising Hertha Berlin
amateur squad. In the following season, in a game also known for its 45 m "German Goal of the Year" by Schuster (a goal which was later also named "Goal of the Decade"), Bayer 04 played against Eintracht Frankfurt early in the season, and, as both a "tip of the hat" to their own history as well as an attempt to perhaps upset the Frankfurt team, Bayer played in its new 3rd colors, which were old-fashioned red and black stripes. (The jerseys were similar to the ones Frankfurt generally wore at the time.) This proved so popular with the fans that, very shortly thereafter, the team reverted back to its "retro" colors of red and black, colors used on all home jerseys since then.
After a near disaster in 1996 when the club faced a relegation battle, Bayer Leverkusen established itself as a powerful side, offering a technically pleasing offensive style of play under new coach Christoph Daum
, who was also helped by the signing of players such as Lúcio, Emerson
, Zé Roberto
, and Michael Ballack
. Daum was later to be famously fired for a cocaine
scandal that also cost him his ascent to the role of the national team coach.
The team earned a series of top four finishes from 1997 to 2002 that included four second place finishes. The finishes of 2000 and 2002 were heart-breaking for supporters as on both occasions the team had the Bundesliga title within its grasp. In 2000, Bayer Leverkusen needed only a draw against Unterhaching
to win the title, but an own goal by Ballack
helped send the team to a crushing 2–0 defeat, while Bayern Munich
clinched the title with a (3:1) victory over Werder Bremen
. Two years later, the club surrendered a five point lead atop the league table by losing two of its last three matches while Borussia Dortmund
swept ahead with three consecutive victories in its final matches. The 2002 season has been dubbed the "Treble Horror", as Bayer Leverkusen were also beaten 4–2 in the German Cup final by Schalke 04
, and lost the UEFA Champions League final to Real Madrid
by 2 goals to 1, which also led to some of the English language media dubbing them "Neverkusen". Still, the club entered the record books as the first team ever to reach the UEFA Champions League final without winning a national championship before. They even had to qualify first for the participation in that year's UEFA Champions League.
, and Zé Roberto, to archrivals Bayern Munich. The team flirted with relegation
through most of the 2002–03 season leading to the firing of Klaus Toppmöller
, who had coached the team during its most successful year, and he was replaced by the inexperienced Thomas Hörster. Charismatic coach Klaus Augenthaler
took up the reins in the last two games of the season and helped avoid disaster with a win over his previous club Nuremberg. He then led Bayer Leverkusen to a third place finish and a Champions League place the following year.
That following season's run in the Champions League saw them get some measure of revenge on Real Madrid, opening their group stage campaign with a 3–0 rout of the Spanish giants, they would go on to win the group, but were defeated in the first knockout round by eventual champions Liverpool F.C.
The club finished 6th during the 2004–05 season, and would enter the UEFA Cup the following season.
Early in 2005, Augenthaler was in turn fired as manager after the club got off to their worst Bundesliga start in over twenty years, with only one win in their first four league matches and a (0–1) home loss to CSKA Sofia
in the first leg of their UEFA Cup
match-up. Former German national team
coach Rudi Völler
was named as caretaker manager
. Michael Skibbe
, who was Rudi Völler's assistant coach at the national team, was named as his successor in October. Skibbe turned their season around and guided the club to a 5th place finish, earning another UEFA Cup
place.
The 2007–08
season was not a successful one for Bayer Leverkusen despite a good start to the season. 5 out of the last 10 season games were lost to clubs in the lower half of the table. Michael Skibbe was heavily criticised towards the end of the season after he continuously changed his starting line up. Bayer Leverkusen also lost a lot of their support towards the end of the season. In the 1–2 home loss against Hertha BSC Berlin, the Leverkusen fans caused a lot of commotion. Not only were they yelling their trainer to leave but Ultra fans who had seen enough, set fire to their Jerseys which were then thrown onto the field. Michael Skibbe was fired in the afternoon of 21 May 2008. The reason for his departure was due to the fact that Leverkusen's goal for the season, to qualify for the UEFA Cup, was not reached.
The 2008–09 season got off to a great start for Bayer Leverkusen under their new Trainer Bruno Labbadia, who they had acquired from the Second League team SpVgg Greuther Fürth. As the season progressed however, the team failed to achieve any wins against top clubs in the Bundesliga, despite making it to the German Cup Final in Berlin where they then lost to a motivated Werder Bremen team. Leverkusen ended ninth in the season and Bruno Labbadia moved to Hamburger SV in June 2009. After only a couple of hours, Bayer Leverkusen presented their new Trainer Jupp Heynckes
, who had just previously trained Bayern Munich after Jürgen Klinsmanns departure.
and six times in the UEFA Champions League
. In 1988 Leverkusen won the UEFA Cup and in 2002 the team reached the final of the UEFA Champions League
, where they lost against Real Madrid
2–1 in Glasgow's Hampden Park
.
has the reputation of being one of the most family-friendly football stadiums in Germany. Ironically, Bayer 04 was the first Bundesliga club whose fans identified themselves as Ultras
and the city of Leverkusen is one of the old industrial cities of Germany.
Bayer Leverkusen is perceived by some to have an ongoing image problem of a different sort. Although they are a financially healthy club with a stable of strong players, many fans of the traditional clubs denounce Bayer Leverkusen as being a "plastic club", without traditions or a committed fan base, existing solely as a creation of their rich pharmaceutical company sponsor – Bayer AG. As a result, the club and their fans have started to be proud of their industrial origins, calling themselves "Werkself" (Eng. "Factory team", "Millhanders") or "Pillendreher" (Eng. "Tablet twisters"). This is not unknown in football, and other famous clubs such as PSV Eindhoven, FC Carl Zeiss Jena
and Sochaux
share a similar reputation of being works teams
. As distinguished from the various Red Bull
teams (Salzburg, New York and Leipzig
) which has been established or redefined in the recent past primarily for commercial reasons, the formation of Bayer Leverkusen was motivated by the idea of upgrading the conditions of living of the local factory workers at the beginning of the 20th century. In due consideration of the tradition of the factory squad UEFA allows Bayer Leverkusen, in contrast to Red Bull Salzburg, to use the brand name of Bayer in European club competitions.
:
DFB-Pokal
:
2nd Bundesliga North
:
DFB-Supercup
:
:
UEFA Champions League
:
(vice-captain)
(captain)
Matthias Mink
* Player is still active.
** Player is still active and plays now for Bayer Leverkusen
Football in Germany
Association football is the most popular sport in Germany. The German Football Association is the sport's national governing body, with 6.6 million members organized in over 26,000 football clubs. There is a league system, with the 1. and 2. Bundesliga on top, and the winner of the first...
based in Leverkusen
Leverkusen
Leverkusen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the South, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne and to the North is the state capital Düsseldorf....
, North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
. It is the most well-known department of TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, a sports club
Sports club
A sports club or sport club, sometimes athletics club or sports association is a club for the purpose of playing one or more sports...
whose members also participate in athletics, gymnastics, basketball
Bayer Giants Leverkusen
Bayer Giants Leverkusen is a professional basketball club, part of the Bayer Leverkusen sports club based in Leverkusen, Germany. Based on the number of titles, Leverkusen is the most successful team in the history of German Basketball. In 2009, the Bayer company cut down sponsorship and the club...
and other sports.
Origins and early years
On 27 November 1903 Wilhelm Hauschild wrote a letter – signed by 170 of his fellow workers – to his employer, the Friedrich Bayer and Co., seeking the company's support in starting a sports club. The company agreed to support the initiative, and on 1 July 1904 Turn- und Spielverein Bayer 04 Leverkusen was founded.On 31 May 1907 a separate football department was formed within the club. In the culture of sports in Germany at the time, there was significant animosity between gymnasts and other types of athletes. Eventually this contributed to a split within the club: on 8 June 1928 the footballers formed a separate association – Sportvereinigung Bayer 04 Leverkusen – that also included the handball and fistball players, athletics, and boxing, while the gymnasts carried on as TuS Bayer 04 Leverkusen. SV Bayer 04 Leverkusen took with them the club's traditional colours of red and black, with the gymnasts adopting blue and yellow.
Through this period, and into the 1930s, SV Bayer 04 Leverkusen played third and fourth division football. In 1936, they earned promotion to the second highest class of play of the period. That was also the year that the club wore the familiar "Bayer" cross for the first time. They made their first appearance in upper league play in 1951, in the Oberliga West and played there until 1956, after which they were relegated. SV Bayer 04 Leverkusen would not return to the upper leagues until 1962, just one season before the formation of Germany's new professional league, the Bundesliga
Fußball-Bundesliga
The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...
. The next year saw the club in the Regionalliga West, tier II, where their performances over the next few seasons left them well down the league table.
2. Bundesliga and 1. Bundesliga
SV Bayer 04 Leverkusen made something of a breakthrough in 1968, by winning the division title, but were unable to advance through the playoff round to the first division. They were relegated again in 1973, but made a quick return to what was now called the 2. Bundesliga2. Fußball-Bundesliga
- Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20...
after just one season spent in the third division. Four years later, the team handily secured a place in the Bundesliga to start to play there in the 1979–80 season.
By the mid-1980s, SV Bayer 04 Leverkusen had played their way into the upper half of the league table and were well-established there by the end of the decade. It was during this time, in 1984, that the two halves of the club that had parted ways over half a century ago were re-united as TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen e.V. The new club took red and white as their colours.
In addition to becoming an established Bundesliga side, the club earned its first honours with a dramatic win in the 1988 UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup 1987-88
The UEFA Cup 1987-88 was won by Bayer Leverkusen on penalty kicks over Espanyol.It was the third season of English clubs being barred from this and indeed all European competitions as the sequel of the Heysel disaster of May 1985...
. Down (0:3) to Espanyol
RCD Espanyol
Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona is a sports club based in Barcelona, Spain. It is best known for its football team. Espanyol currently play in the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat with seats for 40,500 spectators. It was inaugurated on 2 August 2009...
after the first leg of the final, they drew even in the return match and then captured the title (3:2) on penalty kicks.
That same year, long-time Bayer Leverkusen executive Reiner Calmund became the general manager of the club. This is regarded as one of the most important moves in the club's history, as Calmund ushered in a decade and a half of the club's greatest success through shrewd, far-sighted player acquisitions.
After the German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
in 1990, Reiner Calmund was quick to sign East German stars Ulf Kirsten, Andreas Thom
Andreas Thom
Andreas Thom is a former German football player who was capped by East Germany, and later Germany. He is a youth coach at Hertha BSC.-Club career:...
, and Jens Melzig
Jens Melzig
Jens Melzig is a German football coach and a former player.- External links :*...
. The three players would become instant crowd favourites, and make significant contributions to the team. Calmund also established groundbreaking contacts in Brazilian football
Football in Brazil
Football is the most popular sport in Brazil. The Brazilian national football team has won the FIFA World Cup tournament a record 5 times, in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002, and is the only team to succeed in qualifying for every World Cup competition ever held. It is among the favourites to win...
, befriending Juan Figer, one of Brazil's
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
most powerful player agents. Over the next few years, budding superstars, such as Jorginho
Jorginho
Jorge de Amorim Campos , aka Jorginho, is a retired Brazilian footballer who played mainly as a right defender, and the current coach of Figueirense Futebol Clube....
and Paulo Sérgio
Paulo Sérgio Silvestre do Nascimento
Paulo Sérgio Silvestre do Nascimento , commonly known as Paulo Sérgio is a former Brazilian footballer. Whilst at Bayern Munich he won the Champions League in 2001, despite missing his penalty in the final shootout.-Club career:...
, joined the team, as did Czech
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
star Pavel Hapal
Pavel Hapal
Pavel Hapal is a Czech former football player and current manager of Zagłębie Lubin.His professional career begun at SK Sigma Olomouc...
. They also signed charismatic players, such as Bernd Schuster
Bernd Schuster
Bernhard Schuster is a German football manager and former player, currently unemployed. His nickname is "der Blonde Engel" .-Club career:...
, and Rudi Völler
Rudi Völler
Rudolf 'Rudi' Völler is a German former international football striker, and a former manager of the German national team...
, helping to ensure the team's popularity and growing success.
The club captured its next honours in 1993, with a 1–0 win in the German Cup over a surprising Hertha Berlin
Hertha BSC Berlin
Hertha Berliner Sport-Club von 1892, commonly known as Hertha BSC or Hertha Berlin, is a German association football club based in Berlin. A founding member of the German Football Association in Leipzig in 1900, the club has a long history as Berlin's best-supported side...
amateur squad. In the following season, in a game also known for its 45 m "German Goal of the Year" by Schuster (a goal which was later also named "Goal of the Decade"), Bayer 04 played against Eintracht Frankfurt early in the season, and, as both a "tip of the hat" to their own history as well as an attempt to perhaps upset the Frankfurt team, Bayer played in its new 3rd colors, which were old-fashioned red and black stripes. (The jerseys were similar to the ones Frankfurt generally wore at the time.) This proved so popular with the fans that, very shortly thereafter, the team reverted back to its "retro" colors of red and black, colors used on all home jerseys since then.
After a near disaster in 1996 when the club faced a relegation battle, Bayer Leverkusen established itself as a powerful side, offering a technically pleasing offensive style of play under new coach Christoph Daum
Christoph Daum
Christoph Daum is a German football coach, currently managing Club Brugge.-Career as a player:Daum began his football career in 1971 in the youth league with Hamborn 07, transferred in 1972 to Eintracht Duisburg and then in 1975 to 1...
, who was also helped by the signing of players such as Lúcio, Emerson
Emerson Ferreira da Rosa
Émerson Ferreira da Rosa , simply known as Emerson, is a retired Brazilian footballer who played as a midfielder. He had 73 caps for Brazil from 1997 to 2006.-Grêmio:...
, Zé Roberto
José Roberto da Silva Júnior
José Roberto da Silva Jr. , commonly known as Zé Roberto, is a Brazilian footballer who currently plays for Al-Gharafa of the Qatari League as midfielder.-Portuguesa:...
, and Michael Ballack
Michael Ballack
Michael Ballack is a German professional footballer, who is currently playing for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. He is among the top goal scorers in the history of his international team. Ballack has worn the number 13 shirt for every team he has played for except for Kaiserslautern...
. Daum was later to be famously fired for a cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
scandal that also cost him his ascent to the role of the national team coach.
The Almost Champions
SpVgg Unterhaching
Spielvereinigung Unterhaching is a German sports club in Unterhaching, a semi-rural municipality on the southern outskirts of the Bavarian capital Munich....
to win the title, but an own goal by Ballack
Michael Ballack
Michael Ballack is a German professional footballer, who is currently playing for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. He is among the top goal scorers in the history of his international team. Ballack has worn the number 13 shirt for every team he has played for except for Kaiserslautern...
helped send the team to a crushing 2–0 defeat, while Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich , is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional football team, which is the most successful football club in Germany, having won 22 national titles and 15 cups....
clinched the title with a (3:1) victory over Werder Bremen
SV Werder Bremen
SV Werder Bremen is a German sports club best known for its association football team playing in Bremen, in the northwest German federal state of the same name. The club was founded on 4 February 1899 as Fußballverein Werder by a group of sixteen vocational high school students who had won a prize...
. Two years later, the club surrendered a five point lead atop the league table by losing two of its last three matches while Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund, commonly BVB, are a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. Dortmund are one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund play in the Bundesliga, the top league of German football...
swept ahead with three consecutive victories in its final matches. The 2002 season has been dubbed the "Treble Horror", as Bayer Leverkusen were also beaten 4–2 in the German Cup final by Schalke 04
FC Schalke 04
Fußball-Club Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04, commonly known as simply FC Schalke 04 or Schalke , is a German, association-football club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. Schalke has long been one of the most popular football teams in Germany, even though major...
, and lost the UEFA Champions League final to Real Madrid
Real Madrid C.F.
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
by 2 goals to 1, which also led to some of the English language media dubbing them "Neverkusen". Still, the club entered the record books as the first team ever to reach the UEFA Champions League final without winning a national championship before. They even had to qualify first for the participation in that year's UEFA Champions League.
Recent years
The club went through startling reversals of fortune in the next two seasons. In the 2002 offseason, the team lost influential midfield stars Michael BallackMichael Ballack
Michael Ballack is a German professional footballer, who is currently playing for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. He is among the top goal scorers in the history of his international team. Ballack has worn the number 13 shirt for every team he has played for except for Kaiserslautern...
, and Zé Roberto, to archrivals Bayern Munich. The team flirted with relegation
Promotion and relegation
In many sports leagues around the world, promotion and relegation is a process that takes place at the end of each season. Through it, teams are transferred between divisions based on their performance that season...
through most of the 2002–03 season leading to the firing of Klaus Toppmöller
Klaus Toppmöller
Klaus Toppmöller is a former football player and the coach of Georgia national football team from 2006 to April 1, 2008.He earned 3 caps and scored 1 goal during his international career for Germany.-Coaching career:...
, who had coached the team during its most successful year, and he was replaced by the inexperienced Thomas Hörster. Charismatic coach Klaus Augenthaler
Klaus Augenthaler
Klaus "Auge" Augenthaler is a former football player and now manager.-Playing years:...
took up the reins in the last two games of the season and helped avoid disaster with a win over his previous club Nuremberg. He then led Bayer Leverkusen to a third place finish and a Champions League place the following year.
That following season's run in the Champions League saw them get some measure of revenge on Real Madrid, opening their group stage campaign with a 3–0 rout of the Spanish giants, they would go on to win the group, but were defeated in the first knockout round by eventual champions Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
The club finished 6th during the 2004–05 season, and would enter the UEFA Cup the following season.
Early in 2005, Augenthaler was in turn fired as manager after the club got off to their worst Bundesliga start in over twenty years, with only one win in their first four league matches and a (0–1) home loss to CSKA Sofia
PFC CSKA Sofia
PFC CSKA Sofia , commonly known as CSKA or CSKA Sofia is a professional football club based in Sofia, Bulgaria. The club was officially founded on May 5, 1948. CSKA's abbreviation stands for Central Sports Club of the Army...
in the first leg of their UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
match-up. Former German national team
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....
coach Rudi Völler
Rudi Völler
Rudolf 'Rudi' Völler is a German former international football striker, and a former manager of the German national team...
was named as caretaker manager
Caretaker manager
In association football, a caretaker manager is someone who takes temporary charge of the management of a football club, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caretaker may also be appointed if the regular manager is ill or unable to attend to his...
. Michael Skibbe
Michael Skibbe
Michael Skibbe is a German football manager who coaches Eskişehirspor.-Club career:In his youth, Skibbe played for SG Wattenscheid 09. Then he switched to the professional team of Schalke 04...
, who was Rudi Völler's assistant coach at the national team, was named as his successor in October. Skibbe turned their season around and guided the club to a 5th place finish, earning another UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
place.
The 2007–08
Fußball-Bundesliga 2007-08
- Managerial changes :-League table:-Results:...
season was not a successful one for Bayer Leverkusen despite a good start to the season. 5 out of the last 10 season games were lost to clubs in the lower half of the table. Michael Skibbe was heavily criticised towards the end of the season after he continuously changed his starting line up. Bayer Leverkusen also lost a lot of their support towards the end of the season. In the 1–2 home loss against Hertha BSC Berlin, the Leverkusen fans caused a lot of commotion. Not only were they yelling their trainer to leave but Ultra fans who had seen enough, set fire to their Jerseys which were then thrown onto the field. Michael Skibbe was fired in the afternoon of 21 May 2008. The reason for his departure was due to the fact that Leverkusen's goal for the season, to qualify for the UEFA Cup, was not reached.
The 2008–09 season got off to a great start for Bayer Leverkusen under their new Trainer Bruno Labbadia, who they had acquired from the Second League team SpVgg Greuther Fürth. As the season progressed however, the team failed to achieve any wins against top clubs in the Bundesliga, despite making it to the German Cup Final in Berlin where they then lost to a motivated Werder Bremen team. Leverkusen ended ninth in the season and Bruno Labbadia moved to Hamburger SV in June 2009. After only a couple of hours, Bayer Leverkusen presented their new Trainer Jupp Heynckes
Jupp Heynckes
Josef "Jupp" Heynckes is a German football coach and former player. As player he belonged to the core of the team of Borussia Mönchengladbach in its golden era of the 1960s and 1970s where he won many national championships and the Cup as well as the UEFA Cup...
, who had just previously trained Bayern Munich after Jürgen Klinsmanns departure.
European Competitions
The Werkself played twelve times in the UEFA Europa League, once in the UEFA Cup Winners' CupUEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
and six times in the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
. In 1988 Leverkusen won the UEFA Cup and in 2002 the team reached the final of the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
, where they lost against Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
2–1 in Glasgow's Hampden Park
Hampden Park
Hampden Park is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The 52,063 capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland...
.
Club culture
In contrast to many other German football clubs, which hold close ties to their working class roots, Bayer Leverkusen strives for a clean, family-friendly image. The BayArenaBayArena
The BayArena is a football stadium in Leverkusen, Germany, which has been the home ground of Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen since 1958.-History:...
has the reputation of being one of the most family-friendly football stadiums in Germany. Ironically, Bayer 04 was the first Bundesliga club whose fans identified themselves as Ultras
Ultras
Ultras are a type of sports fans renowned for their fanatical support and elaborate displays. They are predominantly European followers of football teams...
and the city of Leverkusen is one of the old industrial cities of Germany.
Bayer Leverkusen is perceived by some to have an ongoing image problem of a different sort. Although they are a financially healthy club with a stable of strong players, many fans of the traditional clubs denounce Bayer Leverkusen as being a "plastic club", without traditions or a committed fan base, existing solely as a creation of their rich pharmaceutical company sponsor – Bayer AG. As a result, the club and their fans have started to be proud of their industrial origins, calling themselves "Werkself" (Eng. "Factory team", "Millhanders") or "Pillendreher" (Eng. "Tablet twisters"). This is not unknown in football, and other famous clubs such as PSV Eindhoven, FC Carl Zeiss Jena
FC Carl Zeiss Jena
FC Carl Zeiss Jena is a German association football club based in Jena, Thuringia.-History:The club was founded in May 1903 by workers at the Carl Zeiss AG optics factory as the company-sponsored Fussball-Club der Firma Carl Zeiss. The club underwent name changes in 1911 to Fussball Club Carl Zeiss...
and Sochaux
FC Sochaux-Montbéliard
Football Club Sochaux-Montbéliard is a French association football club based in the city of Montbéliard. The club was founded in 1928 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football. Sochaux plays its home matches at the Stade Auguste Bonal located within the city...
share a similar reputation of being works teams
Works team
A works team is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business. Sometimes, works teams contain or are entirely made up of employees of the supporting company.-Africa:...
. As distinguished from the various Red Bull
Red Bull
Red Bull is an energy drink sold by the Austrian Red Bull GmbH, created in 1987 by the Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz. In terms of market share, Red Bull is the most popular energy drink in the world, with 3 billion cans sold each year. Dietrich Mateschitz was inspired by an already...
teams (Salzburg, New York and Leipzig
RB Leipzig
RB Leipzig is a German association football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club is supported by energy drink-maker Red Bull who purchased the license of fifth division side SSV Markranstädt with the intention of advancing the re-modeled club to the top-flight Bundesliga within ten years...
) which has been established or redefined in the recent past primarily for commercial reasons, the formation of Bayer Leverkusen was motivated by the idea of upgrading the conditions of living of the local factory workers at the beginning of the 20th century. In due consideration of the tradition of the factory squad UEFA allows Bayer Leverkusen, in contrast to Red Bull Salzburg, to use the brand name of Bayer in European club competitions.
National
BundesligaFußball-Bundesliga
The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...
:
- Runners-up (5): 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2010–112010–11 Fußball-BundesligaThe 2010–11 Fußball-Bundesliga was the 48th season of the Fußball-Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. The season started on the weekend of 21 August 2010 with the traditional season opening match involving the defending champions and ended with the last games on 14 May 2011. The winter...
DFB-Pokal
DFB-Pokal
The DFB-Pokal or DFB Cup is a German knockout football cup competition held annually. 64 teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga. It is considered the second most important national title in German football after the Bundesliga...
:
- Winners (1): 1992–93
- Runners-up (2): 2001–02, 2008–09
2nd Bundesliga North
2. Fußball-Bundesliga
- Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20...
:
- Winners (1): 1978–79
DFB-Supercup
DFB-Supercup
The DFL-Supercup is a match between the winner of the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal. In 1997, this was superseded by a league cup called DFB-Ligapokal. In 2008, although not officially sanctioned by the DFB, the match returned as the T-Home Supercup featuring Bundesliga champions FC...
:
- Runners-up (1): 1993
European
UEFA CupUEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
:
- Winners (1): 1987–88
UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
:
- Runners-up (1): 2001–02
Youth
- German Under 19 championship
- Champions:1986, 2000, 2007
- Runners-up: 1995, 2001, 2003, 2010
- German Under 17 championship
- Champions: 1992
- Under 19 Bundesliga WestUnder 19 Bundesliga (football)The Under 19 Fußball-Bundesliga is the highest level in German Under 19 football. It was created in 2003 and is divided in three divisions with 14 teams each...
- Champions: 2007, 2010
Players
For recent transfers, see List of German football transfers summer 2010 and List of German football transfers winter 2010–11.Current squad
As of 10 August 2011(vice-captain)
(captain)
Players out on loan
Bayer 04 Leverkusen II squad
Manager: Matthias MinkBayer Leverkusen's "Squad of the Century"
On 21 May 2004, Bayer Leverkusen announced their "Bayer Leverkusen Squad of the Century".| Pos | Player | Period |
|---|---|---|
| GK | Rüdiger Vollborn Rüdiger Vollborn Rüdiger Vollborn is a retired German footballer, who played as a goalkeeper.During a 17-year professional career, he played solely for Bayer Leverkusen, appearing in a total of 401 Bundesliga matches.-Football career:... |
1983–99 |
| DF | Jorginho Jorginho Jorge de Amorim Campos , aka Jorginho, is a retired Brazilian footballer who played mainly as a right defender, and the current coach of Figueirense Futebol Clube.... |
1989–92 |
| DF | Jens Nowotny | 1996–06 |
| DF | Lúcio Lúcio Lucimar Ferreira da Silva , commonly known as Lúcio, is a World Cup-winning Brazilian footballer who plays for Italian Serie A club Inter and the Brazil national team. He is a strong defender with good aerial play, who adds presence in the attack.Lúcio began his professional career in 1997, in one... * |
2001–04 |
| DF | Juan Juan Silveira dos Santos Juan Silveira dos Santos , commonly known as Juan is a Brazilian footballer who currently plays as a central defender for Italian side Roma.-Club career:... * |
2002–07 |
| MF | Bernd Schneider | 1999–09 |
| MF | Michael Ballack Michael Ballack Michael Ballack is a German professional footballer, who is currently playing for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. He is among the top goal scorers in the history of his international team. Ballack has worn the number 13 shirt for every team he has played for except for Kaiserslautern... ** |
1999–02, 2010— |
| MF | Emerson Emerson Ferreira da Rosa Émerson Ferreira da Rosa , simply known as Emerson, is a retired Brazilian footballer who played as a midfielder. He had 73 caps for Brazil from 1997 to 2006.-Grêmio:... |
1997–00 |
| MF | Zé Roberto * | 1998–02 |
| FW | Ulf Kirsten | 1990–03 |
| FW | Rudi Völler Rudi Völler Rudolf 'Rudi' Völler is a German former international football striker, and a former manager of the German national team... |
1994–96 |
* Player is still active.
** Player is still active and plays now for Bayer Leverkusen
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Manager History
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(1957–59) - Theo Kirchberg (1959–60)
- Erich Garske (1960–62)
- Fritz Pliska (1962–65)
- Theo Kirchberg (1965–71)
- Gero Bisanz (1971–73)
- Friedhelm Renno (1973–74)
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(13 April 1989 – 30 May 91)
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(4 April 1993 – 7 April 95) - Erich Ribbeck (10 April 1995 – 27 April 96)
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(28 April 1996 – 30 June 96) - Christoph DaumChristoph DaumChristoph Daum is a German football coach, currently managing Club Brugge.-Career as a player:Daum began his football career in 1971 in the youth league with Hamborn 07, transferred in 1972 to Eintracht Duisburg and then in 1975 to 1...
(1 July 1996 – 21 October 00) - Rudi VöllerRudi VöllerRudolf 'Rudi' Völler is a German former international football striker, and a former manager of the German national team...
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(1 July 2001 – 15 February 03) - Thomas HörsterThomas HörsterThomas Hörster is a German former footballer.-References:*...
(16 February 2003 – 10 May 03) - Klaus AugenthalerKlaus AugenthalerKlaus "Auge" Augenthaler is a former football player and now manager.-Playing years:...
(13 May 2003 – 16 September 05) - Rudi VöllerRudi VöllerRudolf 'Rudi' Völler is a German former international football striker, and a former manager of the German national team...
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(1 July 2008 – 5 June 09) - Jupp HeynckesJupp HeynckesJosef "Jupp" Heynckes is a German football coach and former player. As player he belonged to the core of the team of Borussia Mönchengladbach in its golden era of the 1960s and 1970s where he won many national championships and the Cup as well as the UEFA Cup...
(5 June 2009–2011)
External links
- Bayer 04 Leverkusen at UEFAUEFAThe Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....