Tiger Woods knows a thing or two about getting through a lot of clubs – and so do these footballers.
Some players, it seems, have constantly itchy feet and don’t stick around with the same side for too long – perhaps not even in the same country.
Here, we take a look at the game’s ultimate journeymen, from icons of the English lower leagues to globetrotting South American stars.
Chris O'Grady
A League One and League Two promotion winner with Sheffield Wednesday and Rochdale respectively, striker Chris O’Grady played for 17 professional clubs in England – and scored for 14 of them.
In 2022, he dropped down into non-League with Ilkeston Town, before making Grantham Town his 19th club the following year.
Ricardo Paez
Across a career spanning almost two decades, Venezuelan midfielder Ricardo Paez played club football in 11 countries on four continents.
In addition to his homeland – who he represented 64 times – he had spells in Belgium – joining Standard Liege in 1997 – Argentina – where he had stints with Boca Juniors and Lanus – Mexico, the UAE, Ecuador, Colombia, Romania, Greece, Peru and Spain.
Mohamed Kallon
A centre-forward who earned 39 caps for Sierra Leone, Mohamed Kallon spent time with an intriguing range of clubs.
As well as starring for big European clubs like Inter and Monaco, he played in Lebanon, Sweden, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Greece, the UAE, China and India – in addition to his home country, where he had two stints with his own club, FC Kallon.
Ailton
While he’s best-known for his prolific exploits at Werder Bremen, where he scored 88 Bundesliga goals and won the 2003/04 German title, Brazilian striker Ailton turned out for more than 20 clubs in all.
Among the other outfits for whom he featured were Besiktas, Red Star Belgrade, UANL of Mexico and China’s Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic.
Kazuyoshi Miura
An extraordinary man, Japanese legend Kazuyoshi Miura was still playing the game professionally well into his 50s.
As well as starring prominently for various sides in Japan, the forward – who scored 55 international goals – has represented a string of Brazilian clubs – including Santos and Palmeiras – and European outfits such as Genoa and Dinamo Zagreb.
Nii Lamptey
Former Ghana midfielder Nii Lamptey had stints at 14 clubs in 12 countries, beginning with Belgian giants Anderlecht – where he won two league titles – and finishing up with South Africa’s Jomo Cosmos.
The 1991 U-17 World Cup winner briefly played in the Premier League, featuring for Aston Villa and their West Midlands rivals Coventry City.
Eduardo Hurtado
One of Ecuador’s greatest-ever players, Eduardo Hurtado played the game for the best part of 20 years, representing more than 20 clubs in that time.
An imposing centre-forward who was nicknamed ‘El Tanque’ (‘The Tank’), Hurtado had multiple spells with LDU and Barcelona de Guayaquil in his homeland, and turned out abroad for, among others, Colo-Colo, the LA Galaxy and Hibernian.
Trevor Benjamin
One of the go-to examples of a journeyman, Trevor Benjamin played for 29 clubs in the space of 17 years.
The two-cap Jamaica forward played Premier League football for Leicester but ultimately dropped out of the professional game in his late 20s, going on to turn out for a host of non-League outfits – among them Gainsborough Trinity, Kidsgrove Athletic and Morpeth Town.
Steve Claridge
Steve Claridge’s epic career lasted almost a quarter of a century and saw him rack up over 1,000 domestic appearances.
The ex-Leicester striker, a 1996/97 League Cup winner with the Foxes, had 10 clubs between 2004 and 2007 alone, including Weymouth for the second of three spells – this one as player-manager.
Richard Pacquette
The mid-2010s saw striker Richard Pacquette pass the 30-club mark of an exceptionally itinerant career that has taken him around England.
In 2008, Pacquette – who started out at QPR before playing almost exclusively in non-League – memorably gave Havant & Waterlooville the lead against Liverpool at Anfield in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
John Burridge
An enduring presence between the sticks, goalkeeper John Burridge played the game for nearly 30 years, taking to the pitch for 29 clubs.
A League Cup winner with Aston Villa in 1977, Burridge’s epic career took him from Workington to Blyth Spartans via Aberdeen and Manchester City – where in 1995, aged 43, he became the Premier League’s oldest player.
Sebastian Abreu
In addition to playing for Uruguay at two World Cups, Sebastian Abreu made his way through 32 clubs in 11 countries.
The 2011 Copa America-winning centre-forward got his hands on club silverware in Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and El Salvador – as well as featuring for European sides such as Spain’s Deportivo La Coruna and Aris of Greece.
Tulio Maravilha
Brazilian striker Tulio Maravilha’s career went on for over 30 years, beginning and ending in his homeland.
A scorer of 13 goals in 15 international games between 1990 and 1995, Tulio played for dozens of clubs just in Brazil – plus Sion in Switzerland, Ujpest in Hungary, Jorge Wilstermann in Bolivia and Al-Shabab in the UAE.
Miodrag Andelkovic
Serbian frontman Miodrag Andelkovic retired in 2011, having featured for more than 20 clubs across Europe, Asia, North America and South America.
Aside from five spells with OFK Belgrade, Andelkovic’s employers included Spain’s Espanyol and Almeria, Brazilian giants Fluminense, South Korea’s Incheon United and Japan’s Cerezo Osaka, Irtysh Pavlodar of Kazakhstan and Canadian outfit Brantford Galaxy.
Jefferson Louis
As of the start of the 2024/25 season, Jefferson Louis had changed clubs an astonishing 51 times since beginning his career with Risborough Rangers in 1996.
The striker, who earned one cap for Dominica, has played most of his football for non-League outfits in Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire and London, but he did make a number of EFL appearances for Oxford United, Bristol Rovers and Mansfield Town.
Lutz Pfannenstiel
And the award for Football’s Ultimate Journeyman goes to… Lutz Pfannenstiel, the globetrotting German goalkeeper who’s played on all six inhabited continents (he was the first footballer to do so, in fact).
The former Wimbledon, Nottingham Forest, Bradford Park Avenue and Huddersfield Town man completed the set when he joined Brazilian outfit Atletico Hermann Aichinger in 2008, having previously ticked off Asia with Penang (Malaysia); Africa with Orlando Pirates (South Africa); Oceania with Dunedin Technical (New Zealand); and North America with the Calgary Mustangs (Canada).
