Julian Pollersbeck (born 16 August 1994) is a German professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

club 1. FC Magdeburg. A prospect from the

Wacker Burghausen SV Wacker Burghausen is a German football club based in Burghausen, Bavaria and is part of one of the nation's largest sports clubs with some 6,000 members participating in two dozen different sports. History The club was founded on 13 Novemb ...

academy, Pollersbeck made his breakthrough as part of the

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern () or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to football, the club also operates in sev ...

team in the

. Ahead of the 2017–18 season, he moved to

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

, but failed to convince during his time there, as the club suffered relegation from the league. In September 2020, he joined

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

where he became the backup to

Anthony Lopes Anthony Lopes (; born 1 October 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Lyon and the Portugal national team. He came through the youth ranks at Lyon, being called to the first team in 2011 and making his ...

. Pollersbeck in a German youth international, having made seven appearances for the Germany under-21 team.

Club career

Burghausen and Kaiserslautern

Pollersbeck grew up in Emmerting in

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (german: Oberbayern, ; ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat o ...

and initially played at the local club DJK Emmerting as a youth player, before moving to

at the age of 16, the

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for th ...

club, which at that time was by far the most successful club in his home district

Altötting Altötting (, Bavarian: ; ''Oidäding'') is a town in Bavaria, capital of the district Altötting of Germany. For 500 years it has been the scene of religious pilgrimages by Catholics in honor of Mary, including a visit by Pope John Paul II i ...

. From the 2011–12 season, he was included in the squad of the under-19 team in the second-tier Under-19 Bayern League and the second men's team in the sixth-tier

Landesliga Bayern The Landesliga Bayern sits at step 6 of the German football league system and is the third highest level in the Bavarian football league system, below the Bayernliga and organised in five regional divisions. The current Landesligas were formed in ...

. In

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

he played seven games in the

Bayernliga The Bayernliga (English: Bavarian league) is the highest amateur football league and the second highest football league (under the Regionalliga Bayern) in the state of Bavaria (german: Bayern) and the Bavarian football league system. It is one o ...

for the recently promoted second team, and sat on the bench in three games for the first team in the 3. Liga. After the season, Pollersbeck moved to

. For the 2014–15 season he moved up to the first-team squad and received a professional contract in November 2014. The young goalkeeper made his professional debut in the

on 11 September 2016 in the 0–2 away defeat against SV Sandhausen after substituting for Stipe Vučur in the 74th minute, after regular goalkeeper André Weis had been sent-off. Pollersbeck also represented the team in the following games and stayed in goal even after Weis' return from suspension. Pollersbeck's contract with Kaiserslautern ran until 2020.

Hamburger SV

For the 2017–18 season, Pollersbeck moved to

club

, where he signed a four-year contract. In the pre-season, Pollersbeck competed with Christian Mathenia for the starting spot in the HSV goal. During the test matches as part of the preparation for the season against

Holstein Kiel Kieler Sportvereinigung Holstein von 1900 e.V., simply as KSV Holstein or Kieler SV Holstein, commonly known as Holstein Kiel (), is a German association football and sports club based in the city of Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein. From the 1900s thro ...

and Sparta Rotterdam, Pollersbeck made mistakes, each of which led to goals conceded. Shortly before the start of the season, HSV coach Markus Gisdol finally decided on Mathenia as the starter. In order to gain match experience, Pollersbeck made his first appearance for the second team in the fourth-tier

Regionalliga Nord The Regionalliga Nord ( en, Regional League North) is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Hamburg. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with the Regional ...

on 2 October 2017. Due to poor form, Pollersbeck briefly lost his place as backup to regular third keeper

Tom Mickel Tom Lutz-Hans Mickel (born April 19, 1989) is a German professional goalkeeper for 2. Bundesliga club Hamburger SV. He is a youth international for Germany. A career backup, Mickel has spent most of his professional career at Hamburger SV apart ...

in November 2017. After the last game before winter break, Gisdol held an open competition for the number one spot again. After the winter preparations, Pollersbeck finally replaced Mathenia as the starter. He made his Bundesliga debut on 13 January 2018 in a 0–1 defeat in the away game against

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg () or Augsburg, is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. The team was founded as ...

. After the second game of the spring season, Pollersbeck lost his place to Mathenia under the new coach

Bernd Hollerbach Bernd Hollerbach (born 8 December 1969) is a German football coach and a former player who manages Sint-Truiden. From 2007 to 2012 he worked as an assistant coach to his former Hamburger SV boss Felix Magath. Career statistics Honours Hambur ...

. After

Christian Titz Christian Titz (; born 1 April 1971) is a German professional football manager and former player who is the manager of 1. FC Magdeburg. Besides coaching, Titz has published several specialised books on football training methods. During his act ...

, the third coach of the season, had taken over the team, Pollersbeck became the starting goalkeeper again from matchday 27. He played 10 Bundesliga games in his first season as HSV suffered relegation to the

. Also in the 2018–19 season, Pollersbeck kept his starting place under Titz and his successor Hannes Wolf and made 31 appearances in the league. Although he finished 12 games without conceding a goal, which was the second best value behind

Rafał Gikiewicz Rafał Gikiewicz (born 26 October 1987) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bundesliga club FC Augsburg. Club career Gikiewicz was born in Olsztyn. In July 2008, he moved to Jagiellonia Białystok. In August 2010, ...

from

Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as 1. FC Union Berlin () or Union Berlin, is a professional German football club in Köpenick, Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweid ...

who had 14, he was rated the worst goalkeeper by ''

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the word used i ...

'' sports magazine among 16 goalkeepers rated. His training performance was also criticised. HSV finished in 4th place and missed out on promotion. Before the 2019–20 season, a new goalkeeper was signed in

Daniel Heuer Fernandes Daniel Heuer Fernandes (born 13 November 1992) is a professional association football, footballer who plays a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for 2. Bundesliga club Hamburger SV. Born in Germany, he has represented Portugal at you ...

. Under new head coach

Dieter Hecking Dieter-Klaus Hecking (; born 12 September 1964) is a German football manager for 1. FC Nürnberg and former professional player. He played for Hannover 96 and Eintracht Braunschweig. He returned to manage Hannover despite the long-standing and bi ...

, Pollersbeck was demoted to third goalkeeper behind Heuer Fernandes and Tom Mickel. He also had to give his shirt number 1 to Heuer Fernandes. Until the winter break, Pollersbeck was in the matchday squad for both league and a

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...

games. In addition, he played five times for the second team in the Regionalliga Nord. In early January, during the winter break, Pollersbeck tore a ligament in his left ankle during practice and was unable to attend the winter training camp. However, he returned to team practice at the beginning of February. After Heuer Fernandes was unable to convince in league games, Pollersbeck returned in goal on matchday 29 and played the last 6 league games. As in the previous year, HSV finished the season in 4th place and missed out on promotion.

Lyon

Pollersbeck joined Ligue 1 club

in September 2020 on a four-year deal, for an initial fee of €250,000 that could rise to €300,000. After the departure of backup keeper Ciprian Tătărușanu to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Pollersbeck became the new backup to starter

. He did not make his debut with the French club until 6 March 2021, in a 5–2 victory against

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy S ...

in the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

. On 31 January 2023, Pollersbeck joined fellow Ligue 1 club

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginning around 3000 BC, settlements in the area of Lorient are attested by the presen ...

on loan until the end of the season. On 13 June 2023, Lyon announced that a mutual agreement had been reached with Pollersbeck to terminate his contract with the club upon his return from Lorient, making him a free agent on 1 July 2023.

1. FC Magdeburg

On 15 June 2023, Pollersbeck signed a contract with

club 1. FC Magdeburg.

International career

Pollersbeck made his Germany U21 debut in a 1–0 win over Turkey U21 on 10 November 2016.

Honours

Germany U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

Individual *

Team of the Tournament:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pollersbeck, Julian 1994 births Living people People from Altötting (district) Footballers from Upper Bavaria German men's footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers SV Wacker Burghausen players 1. FC Kaiserslautern II players 1. FC Kaiserslautern players Hamburger SV II players Hamburger SV players Olympique Lyonnais players FC Lorient players 1. FC Magdeburg players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Regionalliga players Ligue 1 players Championnat National 2 players German expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France German expatriate sportspeople in France