True to the club motto 'The other family', the general meeting of the TSV Bayer 04 football section was held at the media centre at the BayArena on Monday night. In a repeat of last year, there were no elections in 2019. Linda Schöttler (Women), Friedhelm Renno (Senior Committee), Dirk Dreher (Veterans team) and Roman Klossek (Youth) plus Jürgen Gelsdorf, chair of the football section, were only elected two years ago.
After a welcome from Jürgen Gelsdorf, the Bayer 04 members who passed away in the last 12 months were remembered. That was followed by honours for those members who have been with TSV Bayer 04 for 25 years or more. Honoured for 25 years of Bayer 04 membership: Berthold Verhees, Horst Stollenwerk, Vladimir Kadlec and Wolfgang Jedwabny. The following have completed 40 years of membership: Reiner Moschall, Clemens Peters plus Klaus Herbertz. The only one celebrating 50 years of membership on the night was Johann 'Hans' Zimmermann. All those honoured were presented with a Bayer 04 shirt with their name on the back.
The club management on the top table then presented a review of the year on the pitch. Linda Schöttler started by highlighting the main target of the Bayer 04 Women this season: to stay in the Allianz Women's Bundesliga. Dirk Dreher looked at the forthcoming events involving the Bayer 04 Veterans and announced to the members that the former Bayer 04 striker Stefan Kießling will be part of the team for the first time this year.
And Fernando Carro, chairman of the board of Bayer 04 Fußball GmbH, did not miss out on the chance to attend the general meeting for the first time and say a few words to the assembled members. Carro focused on the current situation for the Werkself in the Bundesliga and the ambition to be back on the European stage next season. The Spaniard by birth always strives to set himself ambitious targets – And Fernando Carro and the Bayer 04 members at the media centre were unanimous in one desire: "This club deserves titles!"
This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
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With three games to play before the end of the season, the Bayer 04 Women can break one record and equal another at SGS Essen. After three wins on the bounce, coach Roberto Pätzold's team are aiming to maintain the chance of third place in Sunday’s away game (14:00 CEST, Stadion an der Hafenstraße).
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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…
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From Ouagadougou to Leverkusen – and back: in March, Bayer 04 travelled with Edmond Tapsoba for a special project in his homeland Burkina Faso. The country where his roots and heart lie. The country where he’s more than a world-class defender: a symbol of hope and a role model for an entire generation. The result is a 45-minute documentary about Tapsoba’s long journey from Africa via Portugal to Leverkusen, which offers extraordinary, one-off and emotional insights.
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Edmond Tapsoba has signed an early extension to his contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. With two years left on his current deal, the 27-year-old Burkina Faso international has extended his contract until 30 June 2031. The centre-back joined as a young talent from Portuguese top-flight club Vitoria Guimaraes at the start of 2020.
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