Lutz Pfannenstiel; The Ultimate Journeyman

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.

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