Bayer 04 Leverkusen

"Bayer Leverkusen" redirects here. For the women's football club, see Bayer 04 Leverkusen (women). For the women's handball club, see TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen (handball). For the basketball team, see Bayer Giants Leverkusen.

Bayer Leverkusen
Full nameBayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH
Nickname(s)Die Werkself (The Factory XI)[citation needed]
Die Schwarzroten (The Black and Reds)[citation needed]
Founded1 July 1904; 120 years ago (1904-07-01)
GroundBayArena[1]
Capacity30,210[2]
OwnerBayer AG[3]
AdministrationFernando Carro (chairman)[4]
Simon Rolfes (sporting director)[3]
Head coachXabi Alonso
LeagueBundesliga
2023–24Bundesliga, 1st of 18 (champions)
WebsiteClub website
Current season

Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH (German: [ˌbaɪ̯ɐ ˈleːvɐˌkuːzn̩]) and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia.[5] It competes in the Bundesliga, the top tier of German football, and plays its home matches at the BayArena.[1][6]

Founded in 1904 by employees of the pharmaceutical company Bayer (whose headquarters are in Leverkusen and from which the club draws its name), the club was formerly the best-known department of TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen and RTHC Bayer Leverkusen, sports clubs whose members participate in athletics, gymnastics, basketball, field handball, rowing, tennis and hockey. In 1999, the football department was separated from the sports club.[6] Bayer Leverkusen's main colours are red and black, which feature across their playing kits and badge, and their main rivals are 1. FC Köln, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Fortuna Düsseldorf.[7]

Bayer Leverkusen were promoted to the Bundesliga in 1979 and won their maiden top-flight honor, the UEFA Cup, in 1988. The club won its first domestic honour, the DFB Pokal, in 1993. The club infamously finished runners-up across three competitions in 2002, including the UEFA Champions League. After over 30 years without silverware, the club won their first Bundesliga title and their second DFB Pokal in 2024,[8][9] becoming the first German team to win the league unbeaten and the first German team to complete an unbeaten domestic double, while setting the European record for consecutive unbeaten competitive games (51).

  1. ^ a b "Bayer 04 Leverkusen – BayArena". Bundesliga. Archived from the original on 26 April 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  2. ^ "The BayArena". bayer04.de. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Bayer 04 Leverkusen: Our Lineup 2013/14" (PDF). Bayer Leverkusen. November 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  4. ^ "Fernando Carro de Prada – CEO". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Archived from the original on 8 April 2024. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  5. ^ "Sports – moving moments". NRW Invest. Archived from the original on 15 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Bayer 04 Leverkusen – Club Data". Bundesliga. Archived from the original on 13 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  7. ^ "FC Köln derby a Saturday fixture". Bayer Leverkusen. 25 September 2014. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference BL2324 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Bayer 04 Honours". Bayer Leverkusen. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2014.