Jean-Pierre Papin

Jean-Pierre Papin

Papin during a charity match in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Jean-Pierre Roger Guillaume Papin
Date of birth	(1963-11-05) 5 November 1963 (age 61)
Place of birth	Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais, France
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Marseille B (head coach)
Youth career
1969–1978	Jeumont
1978–1980	Trith-Saint-Léger
1980–1981	Valenciennes
1981–1984	INF Vichy
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1981–1984	INF Vichy	49	(13)
1984–1985	Valenciennes	33	(15)
1985–1986	Club Brugge	33	(21)
1986–1992	Marseille	214	(134)
1992–1994	AC Milan	40	(18)
1994–1996	Bayern Munich	27	(3)
1996–1998	Bordeaux	55	(22)
1998–1999	Guingamp	10	(3)
1999–2001	JS Saint-Pierroise	27	(13)
2001–2004	US Lège-Cap-Ferret	57	(24)
Total		545	(266)
International career
1985–1986	France U21	4	(3)
1986–1995	France	54	(30)
Managerial career
2004–2006	Arcachon
2006–2007	Strasbourg
2007–2008	Lens
2009–2010	Châteauroux
2014–2015	Bassin d'Arcachon
2020–2022	C'Chartres
2023–	Marseille B
Medal record Men's football Representing  France FIFA World Cup 1986
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Jean-Pierre Roger Guillaume Papin (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃pjɛʁ papɛ̃]; born 5 November 1963) is a French football manager and former professional player who played as a forward. He is the head coach of Championnat National 3 club Marseille B. He won the Ballon d'Or in 1991.

Papin was included in the FIFA 100, a list of the greatest living footballers, published in 2004 for the centenary of the FIFA, signed by Pelé. He was named one of the best European footballers on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the UEFA in 2004. He is famous in particular for his first-time strikes from distance, his overhead kicks, and his volleys, which are known as Papinades. The nickname of JPP was given to him by supporters and journalists.

Trained at Jeumont, Papin signed his first professional contract in 1984 at Valenciennes. Recruited by Brugge, he won the Belgian Cup and went on to be selected for the French team for the 1986 FIFA World Cup. Signed by Marseille, he experienced the pinnacle of his career as he won Ligue 1 titles with Marseille in 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1992, the Coupe de France in 1989 and reached the final of the UEFA Champions League in 1991. In 1992, he left Olympique de Marseille for AC Milan in a record transfer; he won Serie A in 1994 and the UEFA Champions League. He joined Bayern Munich, where he won the UEFA Cup in 1996. He returned to France, to Bordeaux, where he was a finalist in the Coupe de la Ligue in 1997 and 1998 and then ended his professional career at Guingamp.

Capped 54 times, and captained 11 times, Papin played in the French team which reached the 1986 World Cup Semi final. France failed to qualify for either the 1988 European Championships or the 1990 World Cup but he was part of the team for Euro 1992. Injuries and the emergence of the Zinedine Zidane generation saw his international career come to an end in the mid-1990s. He was out of favour by Euro'96 nor was he part of the set up which won the World Cup in 1998.

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.