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 lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

for club

SSV Jahn Regensburg Sport- und Schwimmverein Jahn Regensburg e. V., commonly known as SSV Jahn Regensburg, Jahn Regensburg, SSV Jahn or simply Jahn, is a German football club based in Regensburg, Bavaria. The club plays their home games at Jahnstadion Regen ...

. 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 (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...

team in the 2. Bundesliga. 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 and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

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

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

where he became the backup to

Anthony Lopes Anthony Lopes (; born 1 October 1990) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club FC Nantes, Nantes. He came through the youth ranks at Olympique Lyonnais, Ly ...

. 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 (, ; ) is one of the seven administrative regions 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 of the district gove ...

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 t ...

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

Altötting Altötting (, , in contrast to "Neuötting, New Ötting"; , ) is a Town#Germany, town in Bavaria, capital of the Altötting (district), district Altötting of Germany. For 500 years it has been the scene of religious pilgrimages by Catholics in ...

. 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, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

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 () and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of fourteen Ob ...

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 2. Bundesliga on 11 September 2016 in the 0–2 away defeat against

SV Sandhausen Sportverein Sandhausen 1916 e.V., commonly known as simply SV Sandhausen or Sandhausen, is a Football in Germany, German association football club that plays in Sandhausen, immediately to the south of Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg. It is Ger ...

after substituting for Stipe Vučur in the 74th minute, after regular goalkeeper

André Weis André Weis (born 30 September 1989) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Sportfreunde Siegen. Career On 17 February 2012, Weis extended his contract with VfB Stuttgart until June 2014. On 1 July 2013, he moved to F ...

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 Christian Mathenia (born 31 March 1992) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for 1. FC Nürnberg in the 2. Bundesliga. Club career Mathenia joined SV Darmstadt 98 in 2014 from 1. FSV Mainz 05 II on a free transfer. ...

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., commonly known as Holstein Kiel () or KSV Holstein, is a German association football and sports club based in the city of Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein. From the 1900s through the 1960s, the club was o ...

and

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top flig ...

, Pollersbeck made mistakes, each of which led to goals conceded. Shortly before the start of the season, HSV coach

Markus Gisdol Markus Gisdol (born 17 August 1969) is a German Association football, football manager and former player who is the manager of Turkish club Kayserispor. Managerial career Early career Gisdol had coaching stints at SG Sonnenhof Großaspach, So ...

finally decided on Mathenia as the starter. In order to gain match experience, Pollersbeck made his first appearance for the

second team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

in the fourth-tier

Regionalliga Nord The Regionalliga Nord () 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 Regionalliga Bayern, Regionalliga N ...

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 19 April 1989) is a German professional Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for 2. Bundesliga club Hamburger SV. He is a youth international for Germany. A career backup, Mickel has spent most of his profess ...

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 (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. T ...

. 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 professional football manager and former player. He last managed Hansa Rostock. Throughout his playing career, he operated as a left-back for Würzburger Kickers, FC St. Pauli, 1. FC Kaisersla ...

. 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 activ ...

, 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 2. Bundesliga. 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 from

Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as Union Berlin (), is a professional Football in Germany, German football club based in Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweide was fo ...

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'' (magazine), sports magazine in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the wor ...

'' 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 footballer who plays a goalkeeper for 2. Bundesliga club Hamburger SV. Born in Germany, he has represented Portugal at youth level. Early life Daniel Heuer Fernandes was born ...

. Under new head coach

Dieter Hecking Dieter-Klaus Hecking (; born 12 September 1964) is a German football manager and former professional player who is the manager of Bundesliga club VfL Bochum. He played for Hannover 96 and Eintracht Braunschweig as a midfielder. He returned to man ...

, 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 (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

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 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

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 Anton Ciprian Tătărușanu (; born 9 February 1986) is a Romanian former professional football player, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He started his senior career in Romania with ASC Daco-Getica Bucure ...

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, 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 ...

in the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

. On 31 January 2023, Pollersbeck joined fellow

club

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

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 2. Bundesliga club

1. FC Magdeburg 1. FC Magdeburg is a German Association football Football club (association football), club based in Magdeburg. The club was founded in 1965 from the football department of the Sports club (East Germany), sports club ''SC Magdeburg'' and has bee ...

SSV Jahn Regensburg

On 27 June 2024, Pollersbeck moved to 2. Bundesliga club

International career

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

Career statistics

Club

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 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

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 SSV Jahn Regensburg 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 21st-century German sportsmen