Jean-Pierre Papin

Jean-Pierre Papin
Personal information
Full name	Jean-Pierre Papin
Date of birth	November 5, 1963 (1963-11-05) (age 47)
Place of birth	Boulogne-sur-Mer, France
Playing position	Striker
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1983–1984 1984–1985 1985–1986 1986–1992 1992–1994 1994–1996 1996–1998 1998–1999 1999–2001 2001–2004 2009	INF Vichy Valenciennes FC Club Brugge Marseille AC Milan Bayern Munich Bordeaux Guingamp JS Saint-Pierroise US Cap-Ferret AS Facture-Biganos Boiens Total	033 0(15) 031 0(20) 215 (134) 040 0(18) 027 00(3) 055 0(22) 010 00(3) 027 0(13) 057 00(0) 494 (228)
National team
1986–1995	France	054 0(30)
Teams managed
2004–2006 2006–2007 2007–2008 2009–2010	FC Bassin d'Arcachon RC Strasbourg RC Lens Châteauroux
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Jean-Pierre Papin (born November 5, 1963 in Boulogne-sur-Mer) is a French professional football player who was European Footballer of the Year in 1991.

Papin achieved his greatest success while playing for Olympique Marseille between 1986 and 1992. He later played for AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Bordeaux and Guingamp (1998 to 1999) then he went to JS Saint-Pierroise and spent 2 years at the club between (1999 to 2001) then he left to go to US Cap-Ferret and spent 3 years at the club between (2001 and 2004). Then in January 2009 he got out the football boots again at the age of 45 years old to play for AS Facture-Biganos Boiens where he still plays for them to this day. Papin also played 54 times for the French national team. After a short time as manager of French clubs, he joined the local amateur club AS Facture-Biganos Boïen as a player in 2009, aged 45.

Playing career

Papin scored 30 goals for France in 54 matches. He played at the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico, where France finished third, and at the 1992 European Championships in Sweden. His last game for the national team was in 1995.

At club level, he played for INF Vichy (1983–1984), Valenciennes (1984–1985), Club Brugge (1985–1986), Olympique Marseille (1986–1992), AC Milan (1992–1994), Bayern Munich (1994–1996), Bordeaux (1996–1998) and Guingamp (1998).

During Papin's hugely successful spell at Olympique Marseille, with the Frenchman as striker and team leader Marseille won four French league championships in a row (1989–1992), a French league and cup double in 1989 and reached the final of the European Champions Cup in 1991, losing to Red Star Belgrade after a penalty shootout. During this period, Papin was the French league's top scorer for five consecutive seasons (from 1988 to 1992). While at Marseille he won the Ballon d'or, awarded to Europe's top footballer, in 1991. He is the only player to win this award while playing for a French club.

In 1992 Papin joined Italian giants AC Milan for a world record fee of £10,000,000, and was the first high-profile French player to join the Italian league since Michel Platini. However, he never established himself as a regular first team member with the rossoneri due to injuries and adaptation problems. He entered as a substitute during the 1993 UEFA Champions League Final where Milan lost to his former club, Marseille. Nevertheless, Papin has kept good memories of his spell in Italy and frequently cites former Milan managers Fabio Capello and Arrigo Sacchi as his models when coaching is concerned. In 1994, he was transferred to Bayern Munich where his season was again plagued by injuries. In his second season in Germany he was part of the side that won the UEFA Cup against Girondins de Bordeaux, a club that Papin would join the following season. With Bordeaux, he lost the final of the 1997 Coupe de la Ligue against Strasbourg. Papin's career ended in 1998 with Second Division side EA Guingamp.

Papin was a prolific striker on the French scene but, contrary to many other French great players, never really became dominant abroad. He was also part of the 'cursed generation' of French players that came between the Platini era of the 80's and the 1998 world champions boasting the likes of Zidane, Thuram, Henry and company. Despite some talented players like Papin, Éric Cantona or David Ginola the French national team fared disappointingly, missing the 1990 and 1994 World Cups – the later after two humiliating defeats at home against Israel and Bulgaria – and being ousted in the group stage of Euro 1992 by Denmark after a perfect record in the qualifications. It was the only period (1989–1996) in French football where clubs actually did better than the national team.

Papin was also iconic in French pop culture because of his caricature in the satirical TV puppet show Les Guignols de l'Info. At first, Papin was depicted as a rather dumb football player (a common stereotype in France), his only obsession being the many different ways to score goals. When Papin experienced difficulties in Italy, the coverage became more sympathetic, especially with the infamous Reviens JPP ! song where even God Himself would urge Papin to come back to his home country, because "France needs you !"

After a short time as manager of French clubs, he joined the local amateur club AS Facture-Biganos Boïen as a player in 2009, aged 45.

Managerial career

In May 2006, Papin took over from Jacky Duguépéroux as the new coach of RC Strasbourg, who were relegated to the Second Division. He had previously been coaching FC Bassin d'Arcachon, an amateur team, and helped them to be promoted from CFA 2 to CFA. In 2006–07, he guided Strasbourg back to Ligue 1 with a third-placed finish but came under pressure shortly after the end of the season when internal conflicts at the club surfaced in the press. Several players, including '05 league cup final hero Jean-Christophe Devaux, also openly criticized Papin's methods. Initially confirmed as manager for the 2007–08 season, he was forced to resign a week later after it was revealed that he had interviewed for the vacant managerial job at RC Lens only hours after his confirmation at Strasbourg. He was replaced by Jean-Marc Furlan, former manager of ES Troyes AC, while Lens selected Guy Roux as their new manager. Ironically, Papin eventually became the manager of Lens after the club lost at Strasbourg 2–1, as Roux resigned only 5 games into the 2007/2008 season. In the midst of the season, Lens and Papin are fighting to avoid relegation to the Second Division. Lens was also eliminated in the first round of both the UEFA cup and the Coupe de France by, respectively, FC Copenhagen (1–1 ; 1–2) and Second Division side Chamois Niortais (0–1, at home). On 29 December 2009 Châteauroux have hired the coach ^[1] to replace Dominique Bijotat^[2]. He left his position in May 2010 and was subsituted by Didier Tholot.^[3]

Career statistics

Honours and awards

Papin was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.

As a player

Cups

• UEFA Champions League: 1994
• UEFA Cup: 1996
• Première Division Française: 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992
• Coupe de France: 1989
• Serie A: 1993, 1994
• Italian Super Cup: 1992
• Belgian Cup: 1986
• Kirin Cup : 1994

Awards

• Top French Division 1 Scorer: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992
• French Player Of The Year: 1989, 1991
• Ballon d'Or: 1991
• Onze d'Or: 1991
• Named in the FIFA 100
• Named Joueur du Siècle (player of the century) of Olympique de Marseille

As a manager

With RC Strasbourg:

• Ligue 2 promotion: 2006–07

Trivia

• He was famous for his volley shots that his fans nicknamed "Papinades" from his name.

• In 1996, after their eight-month-old daughter Emily was shown to have serious cerebral lesions, Jean-Pierre and his wife, Florence, set up an association "Neuf de Coeur" (Nine of Hearts; Papin's shirt number was 9) to help others in that situation and, particularly, to find and apply methods to mentally and physically educate such children.

• Although Papin played only 31 matches for Club Bruges, he was elected as its best foreign player by the supporters in April 2008.

Notes

References

• (French) French Football Federation Profile

Sporting positions
Preceded by Roberto Baggio	World football transfer record 1992–1992	Succeeded by Gianluca Vialli
Preceded by Manuel Amoros	France national football team Captain 1992–1993	Succeeded by Eric Cantona

France squad – 1986 FIFA World Cup Third Place 1 Bats • 2 Amoros • 3 Ayache • 4 Battiston • 5 Bibard • 6 Bossis • 7 Le Roux • 8 Tusseau • 9 Fernández • 10 Platini • 11 Ferreri • 12 Giresse • 13 Genghini • 14 Tigana • 15 Vercruysse • 16 Bellone • 17 Papin • 18 Rocheteau • 19 Stopyra • 20 Xuereb • 21 Bergeroo • 22 Rust • Coach: Michel

France squad – UEFA Euro 1992 1 Martini • 2 Amoros (c) • 3 Silvestre • 4 Petit • 5 Blanc • 6 Casoni • 7 Deschamps • 8 Sauzée • 9 Papin • 10 Fernández • 11 Perez • 12 Cocard • 13 Boli • 14 Durand • 15 Divert • 16 Vahirua • 17 Garde • 18 Cantona • 19 Rousset • 20 Angloma • Coach: Platini