Jean Pierre Papin

Jean-Pierre Roger Guillaume Papin (born 5 November 1963) is a French football manager and former professional player who played as a forward. He was named the Ballon d'Or and IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer of the Year in 1991. Papin was known for his goalscoring, striking ability and volleys, which his fans nicknamed ''Papinades'' in his honour. In a 17-year career in many of Europe's biggest leagues, he scored nearly 350 goals in over 620 matches.

Papin achieved his greatest success while playing for Marseille between 1986 and 1992. He later played for AC 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.

In 1996, after their eight-month-old daughter was shown to have serious cerebral lesions, Jean-Pierre and his wife 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.

Early life

Born in Boulogne-sur-Mer in 1963, Papin was the son of a professional football player, Guy Papin. After his parents divorced, he moved to live with his grandmother in Germont, a French city located near the Belgian border.

Club career

At age 15, Papin started his professional career with Valenciennes, in Northern France, before moving to Club Brugge in Belgium.

Papin had a very successful first season at Club Brugge, scoring 32 goals in 43 games. Although he only played one season for Club Brugge, he was elected as its greatest ever foreign player by the supporters in 2008.

At club level, he played for Valenciennes (1984–1985), Club Brugge (1985–1986), Marseille (1986–1992), AC Milan (1992–1994), Bayern Munich (1994–1996), Bordeaux (1996–1998), Guingamp (1998–1999) and Saint-Pierroise (1999–2001).

Marseille

During Papin's hugely successful spell at Marseille, with the Frenchman as striker and skipper Marseille won four French league championships in a row (1989–1992), a league and cup double in 1989 and reached the final of the European Cup in 1991, losing to Red Star Belgrade after on penalties.

During this period, Papin scored 181 goals in 279 games
and was the 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.

AC Milan

In July 1992, Papin joined Italian giants AC Milan for a world record fee of £10 million, 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. As a foreign player in the Pre-Bosman rule era, Papin also suffered from the three-foreigner rule that made him compete for playing time with other foreign players such as Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard, Dejan Savićević, Zvonimir Boban, Brian Laudrup, Florin Răducioiu, and Marcel Desailly.

He entered as a substitute during the 1993 Champions League final in which Milan lost to his former club, Marseille. He won the Champions League in the next year, but did not play in the final. 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.

Bayern Munich

In 1994, he was transferred to Bayern Munich for £2.1 million,

but his first season was once again plagued by injuries. In his second season in Germany he was part of the side that won the UEFA Cup against Bordeaux, a club that Papin would join the following season.

Later career

With Bordeaux, he lost the 1997 Coupe de la Ligue final against Strasbourg. Papin's professional career ended in 1998 with Second Division side Guingamp.

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. 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.

Papin finished his career as a player in the amateur club US Cap-Ferret between 2001 and 2004. Then, after five years of managing, he played in another amateur club, AS Facture-Biganos Boïen.

International career

Papin scored 30 goals for France in 54 matches.

Papin earned his first cap in a friendly match against Northern Ireland in February 1986
and appeared at the 1986 World Cup. He scored twice in four games: first during France opening game against Canada (1–0) and then during France's victory against Belgium (4–2), helping France finish third.

While Papin scored an impressive number of goals during his nine-year international career, his record for France is a mixed one. Papin was 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 and Henry. Despite some talented players, the French national team failed to qualify for the 1988 European Championship and for 1990 and 1994 World Cups – the latter after two humiliating defeats on home soil against Israel and Bulgaria.

The French team did manage to qualify for the Euro 1992 in Sweden, with Papin scoring 9 goals during the qualifying round. However, France fared disappointingly in the final competition and did not make it past the group stage, despite Papin scoring twice.

His last game for the national team was in 1995.

Style of play

Papin has been described as "a fast and lethal striker, who made goal scoring his signature for club and country" and a player who could score in a variety of situation, "from neat, chipped finishes, low drives into the corner, towering headers and, in particular, thumping volleys."

During his career, the term ''Papinade'' was used to describe powerful volleys from difficult angles.

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 Troyes, while Lens selected Guy Roux as their new manager. Ironically, Papin eventually became the manager of Lens after the club lost at Strasbourg, 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 hired the coach to replace Dominique Bijotat. He left his position in May 2010 and was replaced by Didier Tholot.

For the 2014–15 season, Papin once again took the managerial position at FC Bassin d'Archachon in Championnat de France Amateur 2.

On 2 June 2020, Papin was announced as the new manager of Championnat National 2 side C'Chartres.

He left his position in October 2022 to go back to Marseille as a technical advisor.

Outside football

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 his daughter, Emily, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as an infant, Papin started running the Neuf de cœur (Nine of Hearts) foundation, which provides support to families affected by the neurological disorder.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list France's goal tally first.''

Honours

Club Brugge
* Belgian Cup: 1985–86

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

AC Milan
* Serie A: 1992–93, 1993–94
* Supercoppa Italiana: 1992, 1993
* UEFA Champions League: 1993–94; runner-up: 1992–93

Bayern Munich
* UEFA Cup: 1995–96

France
* Kirin Cup: 1994
* FIFA World Cup third place: 1986

Individual
* 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: 1991
* Goal of the Year (Germany): 1995
* FIFA XI: 1997, 1998, 1999
* 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
* 8th French Player of the Century

Orders
*Knight of the Legion of Honour: 2005

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Papin, Jean-Pierre
1963 births
Living people
People from Boulogne-sur-Mer
Sportspeople from Pas-de-Calais
French footballers
Association football forwards
INF Vichy players
Valenciennes FC players
Club Brugge KV players
Olympique de Marseille players
A.C. Milan players
FC Bayern Munich footballers
FC Girondins de Bordeaux players
En Avant Guingamp players
JS Saint-Pierroise players
Ligue 2 players
Belgian First Division A players
Ligue 1 players
Serie A players
Bundesliga players
UEFA Champions League winning players
UEFA Cup winning players
UEFA Champions League top scorers
Ballon d'Or winners
France international footballers
1986 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 1992 players
FIFA 100
French expatriate footballers
French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
French expatriate sportspeople in Italy
French expatriate sportspeople in Germany
Expatriate footballers in Belgium
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Expatriate footballers in Germany
French football managers
RC Strasbourg Alsace managers
RC Lens managers
LB Châteauroux managers
C'Chartres Football managers
Ligue 1 managers
Championnat National 2 managers
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
Footballers from Hauts-de-France