Lars Unnerstall (born 20 July 1990) 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 ...

for Dutch club

FC Twente Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedes ...

Club career

Schalke 04

Born in Ibbenbüren,

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhab ...

, Unnerstall finished his development at

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhi ...

after joining at the age of 18. In April 2010, after featuring regularly for

the B team The B Team is a global nonprofit initiative co-founded by Sir Richard Branson and Jochen Zeitz. It advocates for business practices that are more centered on humanity and the climate. History In 2013, a group of leaders came together followin ...

, he signed a professional contract until 2012. For the 2011–12 season, coach Ralf Rangnick announced Unnerstall as second-choice behind Ralf Fährmann. His professional debut took place on 31 July 2011, in an 11–1 away win against FC Teningen in the first round of the

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 considere ...

. In October, he agreed to an extension until June 2013. On 15 October 2011, after Fährmann's ejection early in the game, Unnerstall made his

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 footbal ...

debut, in an eventual 1–2 home defeat to

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 severa ...

. After it was revealed the former had suffered a serious

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in a toy Jacob's ...

injury he became the starter, remaining as such even after the signing of veteran Timo Hildebrand and earning praise from manager

Huub Stevens Hubertus Jozef Margaretha "Huub" Stevens (; born 29 November 1953) is a Dutch former professional football manager and player. Playing career Stevens was born in Sittard. While active, he played for Fortuna Sittard and PSV. During his time at ...

. Unnerstall agreed to a new deal until 2015 before the 2012–13 campaign started. He continued to battle with Hildebrand for starting duties, and was also first choice during the team's

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop grou ...

in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

; he also committed several mistakes in

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it ...

matches, which led to fan criticism. During the 2013 off-season, Unnerstall was linked a move away from the club. Nothing came of it, however, and he remained as third-choice behind Fährmann and Hildebrand. On 24 January 2014, Unnerstall was loaned to

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 seaso ...

side

FC Aarau FC Aarau is a Swiss football club based in Aarau. They play in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football after being relegated from Swiss Super League. History FC Aarau was formed on 26 May 1902 by workers from a local ...

. His first match took place eight days later, in a 1–1 draw against FC St. Gallen; he was later chosen Player of the Month for this display.

Fortuna Düsseldorf

On 21 May 2014, Unnerstall joined

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...

as a replacement for Fabian Giefer, for a reported fee of €250,000. He spent most of his tenure as backup to Michael Rensing, featuring rarely in the 2. Bundesliga and adding two appearances in the 2015–16 edition of the domestic cup. Increasingly frustrated with his lack of playing time, and occasionally demoted to the reserves, Unnerstall was also afflicted with

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

in early 2017.

VVV and PSV

Unnerstall signed a two-year deal with

VVV-Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, followin ...

in June 2017, for an undisclosed fee. On 18 May of the following year he agreed to a three-year contract at fellow

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is ...

team

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, wh ...

, being immediately loaned to his previous club. After a series of poor performances from regular starter Jeroen Zoet in autumn 2019, Unnerstall became first choice for PSV. He finished the season with 14 league appearances. In the 2020–21 campaign, however,

Mark van Bommel Mark Peter Gertruda Andreas van Bommel (born 22 April 1977) is a Dutch football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently the manager of Belgian side Royal Antwerp. His FIFA World Cup profile describes him as "a tacklin ...

's successor Roger Schmidt preferred the newly recruited

Yvon Mvogo Yvon Landry Mvogo Nganoma (born 6 June 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Lorient. Born in Cameroon, he plays for the Switzerland national team. Club career Mvogo was born in Yaoundé, Cameroon. He made his ...

, and Unnerstall was demoted to backup once again. Due to a tight schedule in the autumn of 2020, he played the full match against

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 compete in the Eredivisie, the top fligh ...

on 29 November, a 1–0 win.

Twente

On 2 March 2021, Unnerstall agreed to join

also of the Dutch top division as of 1 July.

International career

In September 2010, Unnerstall was called by the German under-20 team, appearing against Switzerland and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

the following month. On 31 August 2011 he was selected to the under-21s, but did not appear in any games with the latter.

Career statistics

Honours

Schalke 04 * DFL-Supercup: 2011

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Unnerstall, Lars 1990 births Living people People from Ibbenbüren Sportspeople from Münster (region) German footballers Footballers from North Rhine-Westphalia Association football goalkeepers Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players FC Schalke 04 II players FC Schalke 04 players Fortuna Düsseldorf players Swiss Super League players FC Aarau players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players VVV-Venlo players PSV Eindhoven players Jong PSV players FC Twente players Germany youth international footballers German expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands German expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland German expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands