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"Gelle", as his teammates called him, moved on from MSV Duisburg to Arminia Bielefeld in the second Bundesliga North where he scored four goals in 120 games for the team from Westphalia. As former youth coach Willibert Kremer was appointed head coach at Leverkusen in 1976. Kremer remembered the youngster and brought him under the Bayer Cross. Jürgen Gelsdorf is a fixture in the Leverkusen team for next ten years and gains promotion to the Bundesliga with the team in 1979. He made a total of 320 Bundesliga and cup appearances for Bayer 04 scoring 30 goals. However, he demonstrated his qualities in defence. "Gelle" played as a central defender, as a sweeper, but always went into challenges without fear and he never minded doing the basics. Sleeves up, socks down, without shin pads of course, and off we go.
His worst days under the Bayer Cross came in 1980 in the 3-2 home win against Eintracht Frankfurt. In a challenge that was generally accepted at the time, he tackles the South Korean striker and future teammate Bum-kun Cha who unluckily lands on the knee of the Bayer 04 sweeper and he suffers a back injury. The hate campaign against Jürgen Gelsdorf assumes absurd proportions. Sensational headlines and articles fill the TV reports and hate mail comes through to the Bayer 04 headquarters and his home address. He received police protection both at the training ground and at his home. Jürgen Gelsdorf writes an open letter where he describes the situation from his viewpoint. At the end of the letter, he wishes Bum-kun Cha a speedy recovery and that happens with the Frankfurt player only missing four matches. The two players meet up at the cup game at Kickers Offenbach and Cha accepts the apology from Jürgen Gelsdorf.
In his final season in 1985/86, Gelle is a standby player as he does his coaching badges. However, he is needed in the Rückrunde to achieve a first qualification for the UEFA Cup. He makes another six appearances and then in 1986/87 takes charge of the Bayer 04 U19 team. In 1988, the new head coach Rinus Michels promotes brings him into the senior squad as assistant coach alongside Gerd Kentschke. Gelle replaces the hapless Dutchman in April 1989 and is at the helm as Bayer 04 as head coach for the next two years.
After that, he is the coach at several clubs in different leagues for 14 years. Regardless of whether that's at Bochum in the Bundesliga or with Fortuna Köln in the second division: Gelle has fun as a coach and carries on to 2005. Bayer 04 then bring him back as head of the academy. From October 2005, he leads the development of talents for the next ten years and that includes Gonzalo Castro, René Adler, Benjamin Henrichs and Kai Havertz, to name just a few.
Juergen Gelsdorf retired in 2015 but has continued as head of the football section at TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
Dear Gelle, I wish you all the best on your 70th birthday. Carry on as you are and stay fit and healthy.
Emil 'Bubi' Becks was born in Essen on 12 March 1925. As a teenager he played for Union Frintrop. He moved on from Adler Frintrop to the senior team at Rot-Weiß Oberhausen where he scored ten goals in 19 games in his first year in the First Oberliga West. As a skilful centre forward, he brought his teammates into play and was always dangerous in the penalty area. With increasing age he played further and further back with his last games in defensive midfield.
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It is 27 March 1955. Bayer 04 are set to play relegation-threatened Borussia Mönchengladbach at the Stadion Am Stadtpark. In the Oberliga West in the 1954/55 season, Rot-Weiß Essen are in top spot ahead of the club from Herne, SV Sodingen. The Werkself are having a good season and need every point after the defeat in Münster a week before to get back to second place, which would qualify the club for the games for the German Championship title.
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In this video you can watch impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 in the month of March. It is not always about the beauty of the goals but also about remembering special games and players.
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Ahead of matchday 25 in the 1999/2000 season, the Werkself are in second place in the Bundesliga two points behind reigning champions Bayern Munich. The champions have been top of the table since matchday 10 and the rest of the league are trying to stay in touch with Bayern. From matchday 24, an exciting race develops between Bayer 04 and FC Bayern that lasts to the end of the season.
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SV Baesweiler are the visitors to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on 2 March 1975. With a 2-1 win in front of a crowd of 1,600 the Werkself get revenge for the defeat in the reverse fixture but the best thing about this game were not just two points. Leverkusen failed to really impress against battling visitors. It looked very good after an early goal from Matthias Hemmersbach on eight minutes but the Werkself again went too far with individual actions. Bayer 04 were on top in the first half. And Peter Surbach made it 2-0 with a header at the start of the second 45 but suddenly everything fell apart. Baesweiler pulled a goal back on the hour mark and besieged the goal brilliantly minded by Hubert Makel. In the end it was down to him that the game ended with a 2-1 win.
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