The third most successful club in the history of the Bundesliga can be traced back to a tug-of-war competition in 1899. A group of 16 year old schoolboys were the winners and then received a football as a prize. The crucial incentive to found the 'Fußballverein Werder Bremen von 1899' in the same year. FVW was exclusively a football club to start with before the addition of athletics, chess, tennis, baseball and cricket in 1920 that saw the club officially renamed as 'Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899'.
The name of the club is based on the location of the first training ground and pitch on Bremen's Stadtwerder. A Werder is a river island, which in this case is in the city of Bremen between the Weser and the Kleine Weser rivers.
SV Werder Bremen shaped the start of the Bundesliga as a founding member. The team from the Hanseatic city were champions of Germany for the first time in their second season in 1964/1965. Three other titles followed in 1988, 1993 and 2004. Bremen have taken part in 57 Bundesliga campaigns and are the record holders alongside Bayern Munich. In the all-time Bundesliga table the Green and Whites are in third place behind FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund.
The DFB Cup has been won six times. And the North German club were also successful on the European stage with a 2-0 win against AS Monaco in the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1992.
Werder ended the league campaign in second place. The club relegated from the Bundesliga were mid table for much of the season. With the exception of third place after matchday six, SVW did not come close to the promotion spots at any part of the Hinrunde. However, Werder were in sight of the top three but the competition was always in front up to the winter break in a tight race in Bundesliga 2. Werder Bremen parted company with head coach Markus Anfang on 20 November and Ole Werner took over the helm eight days later. The first half of the season ended with the club in ninth place although they were only three points behind third-placed Hamburg SV.
The Rückrunde began with an impressive run. Werder won seven of their first eight matches in the second half of the season and drew the other. On matchday 20, the Green and Whites moved into the play-off position of third after a 4-3 win away to SC Paderborn. Werder Bremen then remained in the top three until the end of the season. That included wins against direct rivals: A 3-2 win as league leaders against second-placed HSV (matchday 24) and a 4-1 victory at league leaders Schalke 04 (matchday 31). The Werner team were the most successful side in the Rückrunde and they secured promotion on the final matchday with a 2-0 win against SSV Jahn Regensburg. As in 1980/81, the Green and Whites were again promoted straight back to the top-flight in their second season in the second division.
Strike partners Marvin Duksch and Niklas Füllkrug have impressed in attack. The 28-year-old Duksch joined Werder at the start of the season from Hannover 96. The right-footer clocked up an impressive 20 goals in the season in 28 appearances for the Green and Whites. He also found the back of the net once for his former side on matchday one, ironically against his current club Werder Bremen. The 21 goals put the striker in third place in the list of top goalscorers last term and he also provided ten assists.
A second Bremen player is just behind him. Niklas Füllkrug scored 19 times in 33 games and he also set up eight other goals. In addition to an efficient attack, SVW had the second best defence of all the second division clubs with 43 goals conceded.
Mitchell Weiser, on loan at Werder Bremen for a season from Bayer 04 Leverkusen, immediately slotted in as a reliable player on the right side of the Bremen defence in the early part of the season. The 28-year-old started at right-back but moved into midfield over the course of the campaign. The Troisdorf-born player made 24 appearances for the Green and Whites in the promotion season and he scored twice and provided two assists.
Werder Bremen have signed three players to date. Amos Pieper from Arminia Bielefeld and Niklas Stark from Hertha Berlin have strengthened the North German club's defence. Midfielder Dakeni Salifou was signed from the FC Augsburg U19s. Captain Ömer Toprak is leaving the club with his contract running out on 30 June.
95 matches between Werder Bremen and Bayer 04 Leverkusen have often ended all square. 36 of the fixtures between the two clubs have ended in draws. SVW have won 34 times and the Black and Reds have come out on top in 25 games. Interestingly, there is an unusual goals statistic looking at all the games with each side scoring 144.
Bayer 04 first entertain Werder Bremen at the BayArena in the forthcoming Bundesliga season on matchday seven with three important points in the league at stake (16 to 18 September). The return match at the Weserstadion in Bremen is due to be played on matchday 24 (10 to 12 March).
After Jens Nowotny was officially named a Bayer 04 honorary captain last weekend, the long-standing Werkself player is part of the Leverkusen delegation on the trophy tour to New York City next week from 11 to 14 September. In an interview with bayer04.de, the 50-year-old talked about his expectations ahead of the trip to the metropolis on the East Coast of the USA.
Show moreThe German Football League (DFL) has confirmed the dates and kick-off times for matchdays 6 to 12 of the 2024/25 Bundesliga season. Full details of the Bayer 04 fixtures.
Show moreMarkus Rehm, a long jumper at TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, won the gold medal for the fourth time in succession at the Paralympics on Wednesday.
Show moreThe fixture details for the second round of the DFB Pokal 2024/25 have been confirmed. The home tie for Bayer 04 against second division SV 07 Elversberg is on Tuesday, 29 October with the kick off at 18.00 CET (live on Sky). That was announced by the German Football Association (DFB) on Thursday.
Show more