The Ulrich Haberland Stadium and Pitch 1 at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre were assessed as the two home venues in the Bundesliga for the Women’s team. The basis for the award is a DFB ground staff tool where representatives of each team and the referees provide their assessment of the quality of the pitch after every league game. The scale ranges from 1 (very poor) to 10 (excellent). Bayer 04 had the best average mark of 8.76. VfL Wolfsburg were second and SGS Essen were third.
“We see the award as confirmation of our work and an incentive to carry on doing all we can to provide the best possible playing surface,” said Georg Schmitz. “When you remember our U17, U19 and Women’s teams were playing home games at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium last season and the Werkself trained there twice a week then the pitch was used a lot – and that demands appropriate care. That makes us even happier to receive such recognition for our work.”
Under the direction of Schmitz, the large number of pitches at Bayer 04 are looked after by a team of 14 permanent members of staff, part-timers and employees. While there is a hybrid playing surface at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium – a durable mixture of grass and synthetic fibres – Pitch 1 at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre has a traditional turf playing surface. The ground staff work on a shift system as there is almost daily use of both venues.
Linda Schöttler, general manager of the Bayer 04 Women, very much values this work: “We can train and play under optimum conditions and the playing surfaces are exemplary at both sites. That’s not always the case in the Women’s Bundesliga. There are big differences at times with regard to the pitch quality at the various venues.”
Bayer 04 won a pitch of the year award for the first time two years ago. In 2017/18, an expert panel from the German Football League (DFL) named the BayArena as the ‘Bundesliga pitch of the year’.
With two days to go until the top-of-the-table clash against VfL Wolfsburg in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga, bayer04.de looks back over Bayer 04 Women's international exploits. Eleven players were in action with their countries in recent days – with mixed success. Seven of them represented either the Germany U23s or U20s, while one player scored three goals in total.
Show more
The games continue to come thick and fast for Bayer 04, with the next on Tuesday as Xabi Alonso and his team visit Bayern Munich in the last 16 of the DFB Pokal (kick-off: 8.45pm CET). The Spaniard spoke at his press conference ahead of the match about how to approach the tie, the opposition and two players set to return from injury.
Show more
Delivery fees have now been reintroduced to purchases from the Bayer 04 online shop.
Show more
Bayer 04 take on Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena for the second time this season, but on this occasion in the DFB Pokal for Tuesday’s round of 16 tie (kick-off: 8.45pm CET). There was no winner in the Bundesliga meeting back in September, but there has to be this time. The Munich club have been in good form of late but are without their top scorer Harry Kane now. Here’s all you need to know about our next opponents.
Show more
The seventh edition of the ‘Einfach Fußball’ ('Simply Football') Cup once again delighted participants and spectators alike. On Saturday in the Ostermann Arena in Leverkusen, around 200 sports-mad children, young people and adults with disabilities had the opportunity to compete with players from other clubs and to socialise off the pitch. A highlight of the tournament was the visit of two players from the Bayer 04 women's team.
Show more