Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH

About Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH

Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH – commonly known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Bayer Leverkusen, or Bayer 04 – is a football club from Leverkusen in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was founded on April 1, 1999, by the spin-off of the professional players' division of the Turn- und Sportverein Bayer 04 Leverkusen e. V., which was founded in 1904, and has continued it ever since. As Bayer AG had supported the club for more than 20 years prior, it was allowed to take over all shares in Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH through an exception to the 50+1 rule via the Erste K-W-A Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH (so-called Lex Leverkusen and Wolfsburg). Due to the close ties with Bayer AG, the team is also referred to as the "Werkself" (Works Team). The Bayer 04 team was promoted to the Bundesliga in 1979 and has been represented in the top German league without interruption ever since; only FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are currently participating in this competition for longer continuously. The greatest successes include winning the UEFA Cup in 1988 and the DFB-Pokal in 1993, as well as reaching the Champions League final in 2002. However, due to numerous second-place finishes in various competitions between 1997 and 2011, including five German runner-up titles, the team has the image of the "eternal second" with the nickname Vizekusen.