Jean-Pierre Papin

Born in Boulogne-sur-Mer in 1963, Papin was the son of a professional football player, Guy Papin.[3] After his parents divorced, he moved to live with his grandmother in Germont, a French city located near the Belgian border.[3]

At age 15, Papin started his professional career with Valenciennes, in Northern France, before moving to Club Brugge in Belgium.[4]

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.[5]

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).

Papin scored 30 goals for France in 54 matches.[13]

Papin earned his first cap in a friendly match against Northern Ireland in February 1986[14] 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.[15]

While Papin scored an impressive number of goals during his nine-year international career,[4] his record for France is a mixed one. Papin was part of the "cursed generation"[16] 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[17] – 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.[18]

His last game for the national team was in 1995.

Papin has been described as "a fast and lethal striker, who made goal scoring his signature for club and country"[17] 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."[3]

During his career, the term Papinade was used to describe powerful volleys from difficult angles.[8]

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,[19] 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[20] to replace Dominique Bijotat. He left his position in May 2010 and was replaced by Didier Tholot.[21]

For the 2014–15 season, Papin once again took the managerial position at FC Bassin d'Archachon in Championnat de France Amateur 2.[22][23]

On 2 June 2020, Papin was announced as the new manager of Championnat National 2 side C'Chartres Football.[24]

Papin in 2013

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 ![25] 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 coeur (Nine of Hearts) foundation, which provides support to families affected by the neurological disorder.[3]

Club Brugge

• Belgian Cup: 1985–86

Marseille[26]

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

Milan[26]

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

Bayern Munich[26]

• UEFA Cup: 1995–96

France[26]

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

Individual

• Division 1 top scorer 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92[27][26]
• Onze de Bronze: 1989, 1990, 1992
• European Cup top scorer: 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92
• Onze d'Or: 1991
• Ballon d'Or: 1991[26]
• FIFA World Player of the Year Silver award: 1991
• IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer: 1991[28]
• Goal of the Year (Germany): 1995[29]
• FIFA XI: 1997, 1998, 1999[30]
• 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[31]
• 8th French Player of the Century

Orders

• Knight of the Legion of Honour: 2005[32]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jean-Pierre Papin.

• Jean-Pierre Papin at the French Football Federation (in French). Archived at webarchive.org.