Jean-Pierre Papin

Jean-Pierre Papin (French pronunciation: ​[ʒɑ̃ pjɛʁ papɛ̃]; born 5 November 1963 in Boulogne-sur-Mer) is a former French professional football player, who played as a forward, and who was named the 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 A.C. Milan, FC Bayern Munich, Bordeaux, Guingamp, JS Saint-Pierroise and US Cap-Ferret. 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.

Papin was known for his goalscoring, striking ability, and volleys, which his fans nicknamed Papinades in his honour.^[1]

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.

In a 17-year career in many of Europe's biggest leagues, he scored nearly 350 goals in over 620 matches.

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 Valenciennes (1984–1985), Club Brugge (1985–1986), Olympique Marseille (1986–1992), A.C. Milan (1992–1994), FC Bayern Munich (1994–1996), Bordeaux (1996–1998), Guingamp (1998–1999) and Saint-Pierroise (1999–2001).

During Papin's hugely successful spell at Olympique Marseille, with the Frenchman as striker and skipper 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 A.C. Milan for a world record fee of £10 million (equivalent to £19 million today), 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 !^[2] song where even God Himself would urge Papin to come back to his home country, because "France needs you !"

He was twice linked with clubs in England later in his playing career. First, in March 1994, he was a transfer target for Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur.^[3] Towards the end of his spell with Bordeaux in 1998, he was a target for ambitious Fulham, then a Division Two (third tier) side, and even expressed his desire to sign for the club. However, neither transfer ever happened and Papin finished his career without having spent any time in England.^[4]

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,^[5] as Roux resigned only five games into the 2007–08 season. In the midst of the season, Lens and Papin were 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^[6] to replace Dominique Bijotat. He left his position in May 2010 and was replaced by Didier Tholot.^[7]

Career statistics

International goals

Scores and results list France's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	1 June 1986	Estadio Nou Camp, León	Canada	1–0	1986 World Cup	1
2	28 June 1986	Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla	Belgium	4–2 (a.e.t.)	1986 World Cup	1
3	28 September 1988	Parc des Princes, Paris	Norway	1–0	1990 World Cup qualifier	1
4,5	16 August 1989	Malmö Stadion, Malmö	Sweden	4–2	Friendly	2
6	5 September 1989	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo	Norway	1–1	1990 World Cup qualifier	1
7	28 February 1990	Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier	West Germany	2–1	Friendly	1
8	5 September 1990	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík	Iceland	2–1	Euro 1992 qualifier	1
9, 10	13 October 1990	Parc des Princes, Paris	Czechoslovakia	2–1	Euro 1992 qualifier	2
11	20 February 1991	Parc des Princes, Paris	Spain	3–1	Euro 1992 qualifier	1
12, 13	30 March 1991	Parc des Princes, Paris	Albania	5–0	Euro 1992 qualifier	2
14	14 August 1991	Stadion Miejski, Poznań	Poland	5–1	Friendly	1
15, 16	4 September 1991	Tehelné Pole Stadium, Bratislava	Czechoslovakia	2–1	Euro 1992 qualifier	2
17	12 October 1991	Benito Villamarín, Sevilla	Spain	2–1	Euro 1992 qualifier	1
18, 19	25 March 1992	Parc des Princes, Paris	Belgium	3–3	Friendly	2
20	5 June 1992	Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens	Netherlands	1–1	Friendly	1
21	10 June 1992	Råsunda Stadium, Solna	Sweden	1–1	Euro 1992	1
22	17 June 1992	Malmö Stadion, Malmö	Denmark	1–2	Euro 1992	1
23	14 October 1992	Parc des Princes, Paris	Austria	2–0	1994 World Cup qualifier	1
24	14 November 1992	Parc des Princes, Paris	Finland	2–1	1994 World Cup qualifier	1
25	27 March 1993	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna	Austria	1–0	1994 World Cup qualifier	1
26	28 July 1993	Stade Michel d'Ornano, Caen	Russia	3–1	Friendly	1
27	8 September 1993	Ratina Stadion, Tampere	Finland	2–0	1994 World Cup qualifier	1
28	22 March 1994	Stade Gerland, Lyon	Chile	3–1	Friendly	1
29	29 May 1994	Olympic Stadium (Tokyo), Tokyo	Japan	4–1	Kirin Cup	1
30	13 December 1994	Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadium, Trabzon	Azerbaijan	2–0	Euro 1996 qualifier	1
Correct as of 1 December 2014[8]

Honours

Club

Club Brugge KV

• Belgian Cup: 1986

Olympique de Marseille

• Division 1: 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92
• Coupe de France: 1988–89
• European Cup Runner-up: 1990–91

A.C. Milan

• Serie A: 1992–93, 1993–94
• Italian Super Cup: 1992, 1993
• UEFA Champions League: 1993–94

FC Bayern Munich

• UEFA Cup: 1995–96

National

French

• Kirin Cup: 1994
• FIFA World Cup Third place: 1986

Individual

• French Division 1: Top Scorer 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92
• Onze de Bronze: 1989, 1990, 1992
• European Cup Top Scorer: 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92
• Onze d'Or: 1991
• Ballon d'Or: 1991
• FIFA World Player of the Year – Silver award: 1991
• IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer of the Year: 1991
• FIFA XI: 1997, 1998, 1999^[9]
• FIFA 100: 2004
• Named Joueur du Siècle (player of the century) of Olympique de Marseille
• Équipe type spéciale 20 ans des trophées UNFP: 2011
• Golden Foot: 2013, as football legend
• The Dream Team 110 years of OM: 2010^[10]

References

External links

• French Football Federation Profile (French)

Awards
FIFA 100 UEFA Baggio Ballack Banks Baresi Van Basten Beckenbauer Beckham Bergkamp Bergomi Best Boniek Boniperti Breitner Buffon Butragueño Cantona Ceulemans Charlton Cruyff Dalglish Dasayev Davids Del Piero Desailly Deschamps Emre Eusébio Facchetti Figo Fontaine Gullit Hagi Henry Kahn Keane Keegan R. van de Kerkhof W. van de Kerkhof Klinsmann Kluivert Kopa B. Laudrup M. Laudrup Lineker Luis Enrique Maier Maldini Masopust Matthäus Müller Nedvěd Neeskens Nesta Van Nistelrooy Owen Papin Pfaff Pirès Platini Puskás Raúl Rensenbrink Rijkaard Rivera Rossi Rui Costa Rummenigge Rüştü Schmeichel Seedorf Seeler Shearer Shevchenko Stoichkov Šuker Thuram Totti Trésor Trezeguet Van der Elst Vieira Vieri Zidane Zoff CONMEBOL Carlos Alberto Batistuta Cafu Crespo Cubillas Di Stéfano Falcão Figueroa Francescoli Júnior Kempes Maradona Passarella Pelé Rivaldo Rivelino Roberto Carlos Romário Romero Ronaldinho Ronaldo Djalma Santos Nílton Santos Saviola Sívori Sócrates Valderrama Verón Zamorano Zanetti Zico CAF Diouf Milla Okocha Abedi Pelé Weah CONCACAF Akers Hamm Sánchez AFC Hong Nakata Ballon d'Or 1956: Matthews 1957: Di Stéfano 1958: Kopa 1959: Di Stéfano 1960: Suárez 1961: Sívori 1962: Masopust 1963: Yashin 1964: Law 1965: Eusébio 1966: Charlton 1967: Albert 1968: Best 1969: Rivera 1970: Müller 1971: Cruyff 1972: Beckenbauer 1973: Cruyff 1974: Cruyff 1975: Blokhin 1976: Beckenbauer 1977: Simonsen 1978: Keegan 1979: Keegan 1980: Rummenigge 1981: Rummenigge 1982: Rossi 1983: Platini 1984: Platini 1985: Platini 1986: Belanov 1987: Gullit 1988: Van Basten 1989: Van Basten 1990: Matthäus (1991–2009): FIFA World Player of the Year 1991: Papin 1992: Van Basten 1993: Baggio 1994: Stoichkov 1995: Weah 1996: Sammer 1997: Ronaldo 1998: Zidane 1999: Rivaldo 2000: Figo 2001: Owen 2002: Ronaldo 2003: Nedvěd 2004: Shevchenko 2005: Ronaldinho 2006: Cannavaro 2007: Kaká 2008: C. Ronaldo 2009: Messi (2010–2015): FIFA Ballon d'Or 2010: Messi 2011: Messi 2012: Messi 2013: C. Ronaldo 2014: C. Ronaldo 2015: Messi (2016–): The Best FIFA Football Awards 2016: C. Ronaldo FIFA World Player of the Year (1991–2009) FIFA Ballon d'Or (2010–2015) The Best FIFA Football Awards (2016–) UEFA Champions League top scorers European Cup 1955–56: Milutinović 1956–57: Viollet 1957–58: Di Stéfano 1958–59: Fontaine 1959–60: Puskás 1960–61: J. Águas 1961–62: Di Stéfano, Løfqvist, Puskás, Strehl & Tejada 1962–63: Altafini 1963–64: Kovačević, Mazzola & Puskás 1964–65: Eusébio & Torres 1965–66: Albert & Eusébio 1966–67: Piepenburg & Van Himst 1967–68: Eusébio 1968–69: Law 1969–70: Jones 1970–71: Antoniadis 1971–72: Dunai, Macari & Takač 1972–73: Müller 1973–74: Müller 1974–75: Müller & Markarov 1975–76: Heynckes 1976–77: Cucinotta & Müller 1977–78: Simonsen 1978–79: Sulser 1979–80: Lerby 1980–81: McDermott, Rummenigge & Souness 1981–82: Hoeneß 1982–83: Rossi 1983–84: Sokol 1984–85: Nilsson & Platini 1985–86: Nilsson 1986–87: Cvetković 1987–88: R. Águas, Ferreri, Hagi, Madjer, McCoist, Míchel & Novák 1988–89: Van Basten 1989–90: Papin & Romário 1990–91: Pacult & Papin 1991–92: Papin & Yuran UEFA Champions League 1992–93: Romário 1993–94: Koeman & Rufer 1994–95: Weah 1995–96: Litmanen 1996–97: Pantić 1997–98: Del Piero 1998–99: Shevchenko & Yorke 1999–2000: Jardel, Raúl & Rivaldo 2000–01: Raúl 2001–02: Van Nistelrooy 2002–03: Van Nistelrooy 2003–04: Morientes 2004–05: Van Nistelrooy 2005–06: Shevchenko 2006–07: Kaká 2007–08: C. Ronaldo 2008–09: Messi 2009–10: Messi 2010–11: Messi 2011–12: Messi 2012–13: C. Ronaldo 2013–14: C. Ronaldo 2014–15: Neymar, C. Ronaldo & Messi 2015–16: C. Ronaldo French Player of the Year 1959: Sbroglia 1960: Kopa 1961: Mahi 1962: Lerond 1963: Douis 1964: Artelesa 1965: Gondet 1966: Gondet 1967: Bosquier 1968: Bosquier 1969: Revelli 1970: Carnus 1971: Carnus 1972: Trésor 1973: Bereta 1974: Bereta 1975: Guillou 1976: Platini 1977: Platini 1978: Petit 1979: Bossis 1980: Larios 1981: Bossis 1982: Giresse 1983: Giresse 1984: Tigana 1985: L. Fernández 1986: Amoros 1987: Giresse 1988: Paille 1989: Papin 1990: Blanc 1991: Papin 1992: Roche 1993: Ginola 1994: Lama 1995: Guérin 1996: Deschamps 1997: Thuram 1998: Zidane 1999: Wiltord 2000: Henry 2001: Vieira 2002: Zidane 2003: Henry 2004: Henry 2005: Henry 2006: Henry 2007: Ribéry 2008: Ribéry 2009: Gourcuff 2010: Nasri 2011: Benzema 2012: Benzema 2013: Ribéry 2014: Benzema 2015: Matuidi Ligue 1 top scorers 1933: Kaiser & Mercier 1934: Lukács 1935: Abegglen 1936: Courtois 1937: Rohr 1938: Nicolas 1939: Courtois & Koranyi 1946: Bihel 1947: Sinibaldi 1948: Baratte 1949: Baratte & Humpál 1950: Grumellon 1951: Piantoni 1952: Andersson 1953: Andersson 1954: Kargu 1955: Bliard 1956: Cisowski 1957: Cisowski 1958: Fontaine 1959: Cisowski 1960: Fontaine 1961: Piantoni 1962: Touré 1963: Masnaghetti 1964: Oudjani 1965: Simon 1966: Gondet 1967: Revelli 1968: Sansonetti 1969: Guy 1970: Revelli 1971: Skoblar 1972: Skoblar 1973: Skoblar 1974: Bianchi 1975: Onnis 1976: Bianchi 1977: Bianchi 1978: Bianchi 1979: Bianchi 1980: Kostedde & Onnis 1981: Onnis 1982: Onnis 1983: Halilhodžić 1984: Garande & Onnis 1985: Halilhodžić 1986: Bocandé 1987: Zénier 1988: Papin 1989: Papin 1990: Papin 1991: Papin 1992: Papin 1993: Bokšić 1994: Boli, Djorkaeff & Ouédec 1995: Loko 1996: Anderson 1997: Guivarc'h 1998: Guivarc'h 1999: Wiltord 2000: Anderson 2001: Anderson 2002: Cissé & Pauleta 2003: Nonda 2004: Cissé 2005: Frei 2006: Pauleta 2007: Pauleta 2008: Benzema 2009: Gignac 2010: Niang 2011: Sow 2012: Giroud & Nenê 2013: Ibrahimović 2014: Ibrahimović 2015: Lacazette 2016: Ibrahimović World Soccer Player of the Year 1982: Rossi 1983: Zico 1984: Platini 1985: Platini 1986: Maradona 1987: Gullit 1988: Van Basten 1989: Gullit 1990: Matthäus 1991: Papin 1992: Van Basten 1993: Baggio 1994: Maldini 1995: Vialli 1996: Ronaldo 1997: Ronaldo 1998: Zidane 1999: Rivaldo 2000: Figo 2001: Owen 2002: Ronaldo 2003: Nedvěd 2004: Ronaldinho 2005: Ronaldinho 2006: Cannavaro 2007: Kaká 2008: C. Ronaldo 2009: Messi 2010: Xavi 2011: Messi 2012: Messi 2013: C. Ronaldo 2014: C. Ronaldo 2015: Messi

France squads
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 (c) 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