Around the world with Lutz Pfannenstiel


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David Dodds looks at the extraordinary tale of Lutz Pfannenstiel, who represented 25 clubs and remains the only professional to have played in all 6 FIFA Confederations…

Earlier this month I wrote a profile of Lutz Pfannenstiel and his charity Global United F.C. which appeared on In Bed With Maradona For the sake of brevity I excluded a lot of biographical information from that article, but his story is so interesting that I’ve decided to construct a more comprehensive account of his footballing life from the remaining notes and research I have.

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Mercenary. Greedy. Financially-motivated. When you see a footballer who has played for twenty-five different clubs, you might be forgiven for thinking this. The game has no shortage of players who consider football a job, a way to pay the mortgage. But in the words of Lutz Pfannenstiel, the globetrotting German goalkeeper: “It’s nice to be rich. But it’s better to be wealthy in the head, wealthy in experience”. Continue reading

The Many Faces of Ground-Shares

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The Valley – home of Charlton Athletic since 1919, despite a short hiatus between 1985-92

Making his False Nine debut, Fergus McWalters looks at the culture of ground-sharing and its implications across the football landscape…

Last weekend, my club Charlton Athletic celebrated the 20th anniversary of ending its exile from The Valley. Charlton played against Brighton and Hove Albion in a thrilling game that ended 2-2. Other than a mutual rivalry with Crystal Palace, Charlton and Brighton both share another thing in common; in their recent history, they had to leave their respective home grounds and share with other clubs. I am too young to remember Charlton’s exile, but the fact that it’s such an important part of the club’s history meant that I’ve learned all about it ever since I started watching Charlton all the way back in 1996. Continue reading

MK Dons v AFC Wimbledon Preview: More Than a Grudge Match

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False Nine editor, Andrew Belt, attempts to sum up the significance of AFC Wimbledon’s first game against the MK Dons…

Imagine you’re a boxer and you’ve just won a world title belt.

Imagine that your promoter steals the belt and gives it to another fighter, and the boxing governing body is happy for that person to take over as champion of the weight division you were the best in.

It isn’t the new title-owner’s fault as the governing body allowed this to happen. Continue reading