Bayer Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen is a German football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the most well-known department of a sports club whose members also participate in athletics, gymnastics, basketball and other sports.

History

Origins and the early years

On November 27, 1903 Wilhelm Hauschild wrote a letter – signed by 107 of his fellow workers – to his employer, the Friedrich Bayer and Co, seeking the company's support in starting a sports club. The company agreed to support the initiative and on July 1, 1904 Turn- und Spielverein Bayer 04 Leverkusen was founded.

On May 31, 1907 a separate football department was formed within the club. In the culture of sports in Germany at the time there was significant animosity between gymnasts and other types of athletes. Eventually this contributed to a split in the club: on June 8, 1928, the footballers formed a separate association – Sportvereinigung Bayer 04 Leverkusen – that also included the handball and fistball players, athletics, and boxing, while the gymnasts carried on as TuS 04. SV Bayer 04 Leverkusen took with them the club's traditional colours of red and black, with the gymnasts adopting blue and yellow.

Through this period and into the 30's, SV 04 played third and fourth division football. In 1936, they earned promotion to the second highest class of play of the period. That was also the year that the club wore the familiar "Bayer" cross for the first time. They made their first appearance in upper league play in 1951 in the Oberliga West and played there until 1956 after which they were relegated. Leverkusen would not return to the upper leagues until 1962, just one season before the formation of Germany's new professional league, the Bundesliga. The next year saw the club in the tier II Regionalliga West where their performances over the next few seasons left them well down the league table.

Entry to the Bundesliga

SV04 made something of a breakthrough in 1968 by winning the division title, but were unable to advance through the playoff round to first division. They were relegated again in 1973, but made a quick return to what was now the 2.Bundesliga after just one season down. Four years later the team handily secured a place in the Bundesliga to begin play there in the 1979-80 season.

By the mid-80's Leverkusen had played their way into the upper half of the league table and were well-established there by the end of the decade. It was during this time, in 1984, that the two halves of the club that had parted ways over half a century before were re-united as TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen e.V. The new club took red and white as their colours, but the footballers kept their now-familiar red and black jerseys.

In addition to becoming an established Bundesliga side the club earned its first honours with a dramatic win in the 1988 UEFA Cup. Down (0:3) to Espanyol after the first leg of the final, they drew even in the return match and then captured the title (3:2) on penalty kicks.

The same year, long-time Bayer executive Reiner Calmund became general manager of the club. This is regarded as one of the most important moves in Bayer history, as Calmund ushered in a decade and a half of the club's greatest success through shrewd, far-sighted player aquisitions.

After German reunification in 1990, Calmund was quick to sign East German stars Ulf Kirsten, Andreas Thom and Jens Melzig. The three players would become instant crowd favourites and make significant contributons to the team. Calmund also established groundbreaking contacts in Brazil, befriending Juan Figer, one of that country's most powerful player agents. Over the next few years, budding superstars like Jorginho and Paulo Sergio joined the team, as did Czech star Pavel Hapal. They also signed charismatic players like Bernd Schuster and Rudi Völler, helping to ensure the team's popularity and growing success.

The club captured its next honours in 1993 with a 1-0 win in the German Cup over a surprising Hertha BSC Berlin amateur squad. After a near disaster in 1996 when the club faced relegation, Bayer Leverkusen established itself as a powerful side offering a technically pleasing offensive style of play under new trainer Christoph Daum and helped by the signing of players like Lucio, Emerson, Ze Roberto and Michael Ballack. Daum was later to be famously fired for a cocaine scandal that also cost him his ascent to the role of national team coach.

The Almost Champions

The team earned a series of top four finishes from 1997 to 2002 that included four second place finshes. The finishes of 2000 and 2002 were heart breaking for supporters as on both occasions the team had the Bundesliga title within its grasp. In 2000, Bayer needed only a draw against minnows SpVgg Unterhaching to take the title, but an own goal by Ballack helped send the team to a crushing (0:2) defeat, while Bayern Munich clinched the title with a (3:1) victory over Werder Bremen. Two years later Bayer surrendered a five point lead atop the league table by losing two of its last three matches while Borussia Dortmund swept ahead with three consecutive victories in its final matches. The 2002 season has been dubbed the "Treble Horror" as Leverkusen was also beaten in the German Cup final (2:4) by Schalke 04, and lost the UEFA Champions League final to Real Madrid(1:2).

Recent years

The club went through startling reversals of fortune in the next two seasons. In the 2002 offseason Bayer lost midfield stars Michael Ballack and Zé Roberto to archrivals Bayern Munich. The team flirted with relegation through most of the 2002-03 season leading to the firing of Klaus Toppmöller, who had coached the team during its most successful years, and his replacement by the inexperienced Thomas Hörster. Charismatic coach Klaus Augenthaler took up the reins in the last game of the season and helped avoid disaster with a win over his previous club 1. FC Nürnberg. He then led Leverkusen to a third place finish the following year.

Early in the 2005, Augenthaler was in turn fired as manager after Bayer got off to their worst Bundesliga start in over twenty years, with only one win in their first four league matches and a (0:1) home loss to CSKA Sofia in the first leg of their UEFA Cup match-up. Former German national coach Rudi Völler was named caretaker manager. Michael Skibbe, who was Rudi Völler's assistant coach with the national team was named as his successor in October. Skibbe turned their season around and guided the club to a 5th place finish, earning a UEFA Cup place.

Club culture

In contrast to many other German soccer clubs, which hold close ties to their proletarian roots, Bayer strives for a clean, family-friendly image. The BayArena has the reputation of being one of the most family-friendly soccer stadiums in Germany.

Unfortunately, Bayer Leverkusen is perceived by some to have an ongoing image problem of a different sort. Although they are a financially healthy club with a stable of strong players, many fans of the oldschool clubs denounce Bayer as a "plastic club" without traditions or a committed fan base, existing solely as a creature of their rich pharmaceutical company sponsor. This is not unknown in football and other famous clubs like PSV Eindhoven share a similar reputation.

Honours

German Cup: 1993
UEFA Cup: 1988

Seemingly a perennial bridesmaid, the club has been taunted by some for their string of second place finishes and has been tagged with the unfortunate nicknames Bayer Loserkusen and Bayer Neverkusen. In fact they are the only club to ever appear in the European Cup Final not having ever won their domestic league.

Bundesliga runners-up: 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002
German Cup finalist: 2002
Champions League finalist: 2002

Current squad

As of January 31, 2006

Squad change during 06/07 season

In:

Stefan Kießling Signed From Nürnberg
Sergej Barbarez Signed From Hamburg

Out:

Dimitar Berbatov Transferred To Tottenham Hotspur
Clemens Fritz Transferred To Werder Bremen
Jacek Krzynówek Transferred To VfL Wolfsburg