i STARTED A SEASON WITH THEM BACK IN 2001 ON FIFA and after playing with them for the whole season, I was lucky enough to watch them on TV and I fell even more in love with them!! Been a fan ever since!! We won today!!!
Lived in Leverkusen for nearly four years. In the beginning I was not really a fan. I'd often support the visiting team (Freiburg, 1860), though not openly and vociferously, because I'm not an Asi. But they won me over. I ended up getting season tickets because a friend wanted them but didn't want to go to the games alone. And damned if they didn't play very successful and attractive soccer for the next three years. I ended up going to a lot of away games (Cologne, Gladbach, Bochum, Dortmund, Munich, DFB Cup final in Berlin), which really solidified my allegiance. Another important factor was Leverkusen's terrible bad luck in continually finishing second under tragic circumstances. Experiences like that make a club more "sympathisch" in my opinion. So even though I left Leverkusen three years ago, but I still follow the club and sometimes go to away games (to Munich, for example).
Keith's Response: I really like Leverkusen, although I'm not a Leverkusen "supporter". It's because I lived in Germany for almost 15 years and my perception was that Bayer Leverkusen were truly the first team to give American players a real opportunity at the highest level of Bundesliga football. And you couldn't be a fan with any type of heart and not feel for Herr Calmund during his time at the club. I don't know that there was a President of a club with more passion for the game than Reiner Calmund. I've also been to a few matches at the BayArena (Formerly Ulrich-Haberland Stadion) and I haven't been to a better stadium in Germany for match viewing. It's not the "Best Stadium" in Germany in my opinion. That title goes to Dortmund's Westfalenstadion, but the best one for comfort and view of the match is the BayArena. It's just really "too small". Which I guess really isn't true because Bayer doesn't have a truly large fan-base as clubs like Bayern, Dortmund and Schalke do. But despite all of that, I think Bayer Leverkusen is the second best managed club in Germany behind Bayern Muenchen. And despite my being a die-hard Borussia Dortmund supporter, we I think I'll always have a soft spot for Bayer Leverkusen. There is no real animosity between the fans of the two clubs. In all of my visits to the BayArena, I usually see quite a few fans running around there in Borussia Dortmund shirts and I was always welcomed there as a fan of Borussia Dortmund. As long as Borussia Dortmund wasn't that day's opponent!!! Keith
Landon Donovan and the year of the second place finishes! I bought a Leverkusen shirt - green with one front panel blue and a big Bayer aspirin on the front. My German exchange student supports K'lautern and any bayerische team. (Nurnberg, 60, or Hollywood) I also have a couple of Bayern shirts.
Keith's Response: I lived in the Nuernberg area for most of my almost 15 years in Germany. I also support FCN (Local team for almost 15 years and I got to know a few of the players over the years) and I like 1860 (Former fan friendship with Dortmund). I like Kaiserslautern because I also spent a lot of time in Rheinland-Pfalz and still have friends there. I still carry ticket stubs in my filofax from FCK v. Rangers in the UEFA Cup and FCK v. Teplice (Czech Republic) in the Intertoto Cup. My "pet name" for Bayern is "BayScum", which is short for "Bayerische Scum". Or I call them by their fully earned title, "The Scum of Southern Bavaria". I occassionally wear the one FCN shirt I have left. I've never owned a BayScum shirt or an 1860 shirt. I do have an old Borussia Dortmund/1860 friendship scarf though and plenty of Dortmund shirts.....
As a paying member of the Fanergy club (what a silly name) I must admit I have no love for Leverkusen. My interest lies in the Ami Donovan. I wish Donovan well and couldn't really care much about what the team does. Same with PSV, Fulham, Moenchengladbach, Hannover, Ajax etc. See the pattern of my interest in European footie? I have been a fan of Stuttgart since 1988, when I was an exchange student in Germany. I also root for whoever is playing against bloede Bayern, I truly can't stand that club. They sum up the arrogance in German soccer for me. Yes, I'm bitter about Magath, he should've stayed at VfB. Mace
Please give me more detail as to why you detest Bayern Munich? What do you mean by arrogance in German football? Thanks.
Here's my deal... I'm a yank through and through, I love US soccer, I support it. I love the underdogs. I speak fluent German, lived there a bit. I read both German and US soccer web sites. From what I read on German web sites, if Germany loses or go on a bad streak, it isn't because the other teams were better, it is because the Germans were worse (in other words, I rarely see acknowledgement of the other teams' positives). It was a huge slap in their face back in 2000 (I think), when the US beat them twice in one year, outscoring them something like 5:0 total. The Germans only made excuses with nary a word of anything good about the US boys. Of course, the US press couldn't have cared less anyway, because it was soccer, which I found pretty funny. Bayern is a special case. My wife is from northern Germany and as such has never cared much for Bayern (the state) in general. This has rubbed off on me, I suppose. In addition Bayern München, like the NY Yankees or Man U, is a team people "love to hate". They have all the money, get all the good players etc. So, I wish them not well. With the tradition Germany has (3 world cups, many finals etc.) I suppose they can't help but feel that they should go into every tournament expecting nothing less than to win it all (maybe 2002 WC was an exception, since they had such a poor showing in 2000 Euro Cup). This attitude seeps into the press and comes off to me as overconfident, or arrogant. In general I don't feel the US gets enough respect in the soccer world. Since I read the German press, I can say the US doesn't get enough respect in Germany. There is only one way to fix this and the US must make good showings on the international stage each and every time. Why do I care so much about Germany? I've got family there and I enjoy talking soccer and bantering about the US vs. Germany etc. I don't detest German soccer (I follow it regularly), but I just enjoy seeing them lose at times. It really ticked my wife off when I showed up downstairs early in the morning of the 2002 WC final wearing my German national team shorts with Brazialian jersey. Enough rambling, mace
I disagree. When they lose to France or Brazil or Argentina, they have no trouble admitting that those teams are world-class and they rightfully lost. Sure, when they lost to the U.S. they claimed it was because they were not playing up to their potential, and they were absolutely right. But the German press is more than willing to acknowledge when another country is playing very well. p.s. I too hate Bayern, but I have a grudging respect for them.
They used to pay me and send me stuff for free. Now they don't ..but I still have a soft spot for them.
Studied abroad in Germany in 1999 and 2000. Was devastated to see Bayer lose on the last day of the season to evil Munich. Loved Ballack's game too and watching Lucio and Ze Roberto... so I became a fan. 2002, I was studying in England. Bayer kicked Man U's butt... loved every minute. So I've been a fan for 5 years now!
As a lifelong euro-soccer, UW Husky and Seattle SuperSonics fan, Detlef Schrempf's hometown led me to Leverkusen.