The word “journeyman” comes from the French word “journée”, meaning the period of one day; this refers to their right to charge a fee for each day's work. They would normally be employed by a master craftsman, but would live apart and might have a family of their own. A journeyman could not employ others.
In contrast, an apprentice would be bound to a master, usually for a fixed term of seven years, and lived with the master as a member of the household, receiving most or all of their compensation in terms of room and board.
In parts of Europe, as in later medieval Germany, spending time as a journeyman (Geselle), moving from one town to another to gain experience of different workshops, was an important part of the training of an aspirant master. Carpenters in Germany have retained the tradition of traveling journeymen until today, although only a small minority still practice it.
This journeyman-story is about a German as well. A former U17 international and FC Bayern youth academy goalie with the illustrious name Lutz Pfannenstiel. Now why is Lutz the ultimate journey-man? Because he’s the first and so far only football player that has played for a club in all six major continents (excluding Antarctica).
When you follow his career, it becomes obvious that Lutz’ way of planning his career is to simply accept any offer he gets. This makes his curriculum vitae look like some drunkard has been throwing darts arrows at a world map.
Lutz Pfannenstiel goes global.
Let’s have a closer look. In Europe alone, Lutz has played in seven nations for twelve clubs. He has played for three German clubs (1. FC Bad Kötzting, SV Wacker Burghausen, ASV Cham), three English clubs (Wimbledon, Nottingham Forest, Bradford Park Avenue), two Norwegian clubs (Bærum SK, Flekkerøy IL), one Belgian club (Sint Truiden), one Maltese club (Hamrun Spartans), one Finnish club (TPV) and one Albanian club (Vllaznia Shkodër).
In Africa, Pfannenstiel defended the colours of South Africa’s Orlando Pirates. In Asia, Singapore’s Geylang United and Malaysia’s Penang Panthers have signed Pfannenstiel in the past. In North America, he played for Canada’s Calgary Mustangs. In South America, he played for Clube Atlético Hermann Aichinger from Brazil. Last but not least, he played in Oceania for Otago United and Dunedin Technical from New Zealand.
11 comments Last one added 8 months ago — Leave a Comment
Yoosof Farah 8 months ago
blimey, this man really is the ultimate journeyman. it's an incredible story, hardly anyone would experience all of that in their lifetime, let alone their footballing career! being iranian, i don't appreciate what he said about the azadi stadium. it's a great stadium with an incredible atmosphere, i just suppose he couldn't really handle the pressure of playing infront of 100,000 considering he was playing in the unibond league a few years before. a great read, and i'm going to give you a potd and 5 stars because you have highlighted the story of a very interesting man. great work guido.
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Guido 8 months ago
Sorry Yoosof, it wasn't meant to be degrading. It was just what Lutz said.
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Yoosof Farah 8 months ago
oh no don't worry mate. i was having a go at him, not you. great article.
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Thomas 8 months ago
haha, great work once again. This guy is an absolute journeyman. I thought I was a journeyman, but I guess not. I've been to 8 countries and 45 different states in my lifetime so far.
potd for me.
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Guido 8 months ago
Thanks Thomas.
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Thomas 8 months ago
u know how to trick a lie detector? no? neither do I. should watch that show on how to do it.
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Ricky O'Neal 8 months ago
I'll be very lucky if I get to travel that much in my life, interesting article nice read!
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Guido 8 months ago
Thanks Ricky.
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Anthony Sanchez 8 months ago
Another interesting piece Guido.
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Guido 8 months ago
Thanks Anthony.
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Salomon Gonzales 8 months ago
The term journeyman is usually bashed around in England when a player keeps changing from club to club within England. I suppose I wouldnt be surprised if you now told me that this player has also played in NZ, Zimbabwe, Somalia and Ethiopia lol....
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