One-hit wonders
A total of 292 players have played for Bayer 04 over the course of the 40 years in the Bundesliga since promotion in 1979 – 21 have one thing in common: They all made one appearance in Germany's top flight in a Leverkusen shirt. We have gone in search of the Werkself the one-hit wonders...
All young players in Germany dream of playing in the top flight and being centre stage in the Bundesliga. The stats reveal some 6,000 players have made at least one appearance in Germany's top tier. A dream come true for many. Literally so for some at at Bayer 04: They played just one game for the Werkself in the first division. There are familiar and less familiar names in the list. Incidentally, none of them scored on their debuts – and the big moment was was relatively short for some of them.
21 Bayer 04 players share that unique experience over the past 40 years. 21 Werkself one-hit wonders. 21 extremely diverse sporting careers that can be categorised: There are players who moved on to other clubs where they became established as pros; there are top talents from in-house who had to accept that great talent as a youth player does not guarantee a successful career at first team level; there are reserve players who have to thank fortunate circumstances and/or shortages of personnel for their moment of glory on the big stage; and, of course, there are players who fall between the two. A search in four stages.
breakthrough abroad
Some Bayer 04 players only made one appearance in a Leverkusen shirt. But they did go on to show what they could do at a professional level. Such as Konstantinos Stafylidis, signed by Bayer 04 from PAOK Saloniki in 2013. As the dynamic left-back enjoyed a successful time at the U19 European Championships with Greece, he was sought after by a number of clubs. 'Stafy' made his debut in the Greek top flight at the age of 17 and he quickly established a regular berth at PAOK and he went on to play in the Europa League. After joining the Werkself, the pace of his sporting development diminished. At Bayer 04 Leverkusen he came on as a substitute to replace Gonzalo Castro in the closing stages of a 3-0 win against FC Nürnberg. "It was only for a few minutes but I'd worked hard for that every day," said Stafylidis after his debut. After a brief spell in England's second tier at Fulham under coach Felix Magath, he returned to Leverkusen in 2015 before being transferred to FC Augsburg. Stafylidis established a regular berth in the side and has even made a name for himself as a goalscorer.
Another player of Greek origin also found his feet in another place: Thanos Petsos, who joined Bayer 04 as a ten-year-old, progressed through the youth teams and was in the starting eleven for the U19 team in the Championship final against Hansa Rostock in 2010, is today in the first team squad at Werder Bremen. The Düsseldorf lad made his Bundesliga debut in 2010 in the 3-0 win against Hannover 96 when he came on for Burak Kaplan on 79 minutes. After that, Petsos went out on loan at FC Kaiserslautern and then Greuther Fürth, and he now has 57 Bundesliga appearances under his belt. He signed for Austria's record champions Rapid Vienna in 2013. After three very successful years in the neighbouring country, the defensive midfielder returned to the Bundesliga at Werder Bremen, with further loan spells at Fulham and Rapid Vienna again.
Domagoj Vida also furthered his career abroad. The Croatian central defender and full back joined Leverkusen as a youngster in 2010 from NK Osijek but was unable to make his mark here. Vida made just outing in the league in a 3-0 victory over Wolfsburg but the the head coach Jupp Heynckes did play him in the Europa League in a number of games. After one year, he returned to Croatia to play for Dinamo Zagreb where he won the cup and league double in 2013. That was followed by a move to the most successful in Ukraine: He twice won the league and cup with Dynamo Kiev. In January of this year he signed for Besiktas – and this summer he topped his sporting contribution to Turkish football by being a runner-up on the global stage. At the World Cup in Russia, Vida was a first choice for Croatia and he now has 66 caps for his countryt.
hopes dashed
Bayer 04 have stood for outstanding youth development for decades. There have been countless youth international players at Leverkusen and many Werkself talents who played for their country were predicted to have promising careers. Youngsters like Samed Yesil and Okan Aydin, who played nearly all opponents into the ground at the U17 World Cup in Mexico in 2011. The one a goalscorer par excellence, with a fine nose for an efficient finish, the other a bustling winger and a ten with a penchant for audacious dribbling. Yet both were only given ten minutes on the Bundesliga stage in 2012. Yesil then attempted to find success abroad with Liverpool in the Premier League. However, he failed to make the breakthrough at Anfield: After a number of games for the Liverpool Reserves, Yesil twice suffered torn cruciates in 2013 and 2014 and he needed a long time to get back on his feet. He went out on loan to FC Luzern in 2015 before a move to the Greek club Panionios FC at the start of 2017. The Düsseldorf-born Yesil returned to the Rhineland a few weeks ago at the age of 24 to join third division newcomers KFC Uerdingen. A taxing journey. Okan Aydin left Bayer 04 in 2013 for Turkey and Eskisehirspor before moving on to third division Rot-Weiß Erfurt and Chemnitzer FC a year later. He is out of contract at the moment.
Samed Yesil gained the nickname 'Gerd' playing for Germany teams due to scoring ability. Years ago, another big Bayer 04 talent was compared to the Bundesliga record goalscorer (365 goals in 427 games). "He is our pocket Gerd Müller." This compliment relating to his stature and low centre of gravity, which enabled him to turn quickly and make surprise moves, was applied by the great coach Dettmar Cramer, who passed away in 2015, to the young Frank Glaß at the start of the 1980s. In 1981 he became a European Championships runner-up with Germany under coach Berti Vogts in 1981.
Glaß, who has worked as a physiotherapist at Bayer 04 since 1998 and with wife Philippa is part of one of the host families for youth players with the two talented U19 players Herdi and Kevin Bukusu staying there at the moment, can remember well. "Dettmar Cramer liked me but he left at some point and then I didn't get a look-in under Erich Ribbeck," said the now 53-year-old. Glaß joined the ranks of the Bundesliga debutants on matchday 13 in the 1985/86 season: The striker came on for double goalscorer Bum-kun Cha on 84 minutes in the 5-1 win against Werder Bremen at the Haberland Stadium.
"I played two games on that day, my first and my last," said Glaß with a smile, "I didn't think that at the time. When you're 20, you think there's lots more to come.But, at some point, I saw there wasn't going to be a great career as a pro. My finishing wasn't sharp enough and I didn't have a particularly strong shot. Most of my goals were scored in the box from eight or nine yards out and long-range efforts rarely came off." Glaß finished at Bayer 04 in 1987, he started studying sport and went down a division to newly promoted BVL 08 Remscheid where he played 16 games and scored two goals. He ended his playing career in the Oberliga at Bad Honnef, Wegberg-Beeck and finally TuSpo Richrath.
Ioannis Masmanidis also belongs in the category of dashed hopes and expectations, again with a background of a highly talented youth player. The Greek, who could play on the left wing or behind the central striker, replaced Robson Ponte for the last ten minutes of the 1-0 league defeat for Bayer 04 away to Freiburg in 2004. Otherwise he only played for the reserve team and moved on to the Regional League and Oberliga. There he established a reputation as a wanderer with spells at Karlsruher SC, Arminia Bielefeld, where he made 46 Bundesliga appearances at the height of his playing career, and after FC Nürnberg Masmanidis moved on to Cyprus to play in the top division for Apollon Limassol, then on to the second tier in Greece for Ethnikos Piraeus, then back to Germany to Wehen Wiesbaden in the third division, and again to Belgium at AS Eupen and CS Visé, thyen the Regional League North with the reserve team at VfL Wolfsburg and finally in the Swiss fourth tier with FC United Zürich. A wide-ranging career before Masmanidis hung up his boots.
Now, at the age of 35, the man from Opladen is back on familiar ground playing for FC Hellas Leverkusen in the Kreisliga C. On shale at Birkenberg instead of in front of full stands in the pro leagues. The 35-year-old, who regularly plays for the Bayer 04 Veterans team, only sees that as a minor step backwards. "It feels good to be back home after all those years. I enjoy playing alongside many of my old friends in a team again and it provides the chance to make up for lost time. And I played on shale when I started in the youth team at Bayer 04," he said. Halfway round Europe and now back to his roots.
unexpected fortune
While almost all Germany youth internationals dream of plying their trade in the Bundesliga, that is an absolute exception as a rule for players in amateur and reserve teams. If one of them makes a short appearance in the limelight then a lot has to come about in terms of personnel shortages and constraints. A number of former Bayer 04 players come from that group such as Willi Hölzgen or Thorsten Wittek. Or Dieter Regh. A beefy central striker with huge thighs, strong on the ball, able to shield it – particularly with his back to his opponent – were some of his special abilities. Regh came from Bonner SC in 1987 after he was spotted by Erich Ribbeck in a match against the Bayer 04 reserves.
Regh made his only Bundesliga appearance in a Leverkusen shirt on 30 April 1988 in a 4-1 defeat at Uerdingen, four days before the first leg of the UEFA Cup final away to Espanyol. "Bum-kun Cha was rested to spare him for the final so I got my chance. We were getting thrashed but my performance was definitely ok," said Regh in retrospect. He was something of a stand-in: As a key player and later captain of the reserve team he sometimes was on the first team subs bench – as in the 2-2 draw with Feyenoord in the UEFA Cup in 1987: "The game at De Kuip was a massive experience for me, unforgettable." And Regh was also on board for the first leg of the final in Barcelona, "albeit, Ribbeck took me and another player to one side and said that we weren't in the team so we could have a look round town." He was able to keep the bonus payment, "but I didn't really feel part of the group."
Regh's sporting abilities were more in demand in the winter during his three years at Bayer 04 when indoor games were on the agenda. Bayer 04 record appearance maker Rüdiger Vollborn still remembers well: "Dieter often played for us at indoor tournaments. When he had the ball at his feet, it was almost impossible to get it off him." Regh, a lad from the Eifel with a natural wit, now sees it as follows: "If Bayer 04 would have had a Bundesliga indoor team back then, I would have played more than one game." Outdoors on the pitch pace was required on top of ball skills and technique both in challenges and over distance and Regh did not have it. "I definitely lacked two things. Primarily basic speed and then also a degree of aggression and the ability to use your elbows. Less on the pitch than off it where he had to battle for his place in the team. But I was never obsessed with becoming a pro. When I joined Bayer 04 I was already 26." Dieter Regh never came close to the first team again. Until recently he was chairman of his hometown club Schwarz-Weiß Stotzheim for many years.
And then there was...
Of the 21 players with one appearance for the Werkself, Dieter Regh enjoys a special status along with Andreas Fehse and Jürgen Luginger: They are the only ones to play the full 90 minutes in their only appearance for Bayer 04 in the Bundesliga. All the other 18 had to settle for far fewer minutes. And several were on for a matter of second: Taifour Diane only replaced Paulo Sergio in added time in December 1994 and he could probably have gone without a shower afterwards. A crumb of comfort the striker from Guinea, who played for the Bayer 04 reserve team: He came on in the derby against FC Köln and was able to join in celebrations with the fans as the game ended in a 3-1 win for the Werkself. Diane, after his time at Leverkusen, played for Saarbrücken, Borussia Mönchengladbach II, Homburg, Alemannia Aachen, Elversberg and Borussia Neunkirchen, is now the coach of the women's team at FC Saarbrücken in the second division.
Manuel Cardoni was something of an exception as he was one and only player from Luxemburg to play for Leverkusen in the Bundesliga. Cardoni, an attacking midfielder with brilliant technique but with room for improvement in terms of pace, came to Bayer 04 from Jeunesse Esch in 1996 when Christoph Daum took over the helm at Bayer 04 after the near relegation in the previous season and he started to look for new talents. Cardoni was unable to make a very big contribution: He only played for six minutes in the Bundesliga when he came on for Erik Meijer in a 4-2 defeat away to FC Bayern. Cardoni won 68 caps for Luxemburg and was four-time champion and Player of the year in his country. Today, the 46-year-old is coach of the Luxemburg U19 and U21 national teams.
Andreas Nagel has remained loyal to football after his playing career. In 1983, the former Germany U18 goalkeeper joined Bayer 04, but he was unable to get past the Werkself number one Rüdiger Vollborn. Nagel made his one Bundesliga appearance for Bayer 04 in 1995 when he replaced the injured Vollborn 79 minutes into the 1-1 draw with Borussia Dortmund. Nagel, who went on to play for Hannover 96 and FC Gütersloh and now he is a successful official: The 54-year-old is the sporting and youth director at the German Football League (DFL) and also a member of the board of the Robert Enke Foundation.
A curious note: The last two players to make just one appearance for the Werkself in the Bundesliga did it in the one and the same match and in the same position. On matchday 34 in the 2015/16 season, Bayer 04 played FC Ingolstadt at the BayArena and two goalkeepers made their long-awaited debuts within 90 minutes: Dario Kresic was in goal for the Werkself at first but he was replaced by David Yelldell two minutes after the restart. For both keepers, it was a debut and a final appearance at the same time: Dario and David left Bayer 04 after that game.
