5 November: Papin, the king of the volley
Jean-Pierre Papin
«JPP»
- Valenciennes Football Club 1984-1985 · 15 goals
- Club Brujas 1985-1986 · 20 goals
- Olympique de Marsella 1986-1992 · 134 goals
- A.C. Milan 1992-1994 · 18 goals
- F. C. Bayern Múnich 1994-1996 · 3 goals
- FC Girondins de Burdeos 1996-1998 · 22 goals
- En avant Guingamp 1998-1999 · 3 goals
- JS Saint-Pierroise 1999
The papinade
He joined Marseille in 1986 from Club Brugge, and with him the team won four league titles in a row. He was the league's top scorer from 1988 to 1992 without a break. His speciality was acrobatic volleys, scissor kicks and half-overheads, from anywhere.
In 1991 Marseille reached the European Cup final in Bari and lost it on penalties to Red Star Belgrade. That year Papin won the Ballon d'Or.
The final against his own
In 1992 he moved to Milan, who already had Van Basten. The 1993 Champions League final pitted Milan against Marseille, and Papin played it in rossonero. He lost it: his old club won 1-0 and became the first French side to be crowned European champions. The following year Milan did win the Champions League, though he barely featured. He later won the UEFA Cup with Bayern.
Also born on 5 November
Abedi Pelé, Africa's Maradona
A Ghanaian playmaker, three times African Footballer of the Year. In the 1993 Champions League final in Munich, with Papin on the other side, he took the corner that Basile Boli headed in for Marseille's 1-0 win over Milan. He is the father of André and Jordan Ayew, also Ghana internationals.
- Real Tamale United 1980-1982 · 21 goals
- Al-Sadd Sports Club 1983 · 7 goals
- FC Zúrich 1983-1984 · 9 goals
- AS Dragons FC de l'Ouémé 1984 · 11 goals
- Real Tamale United 1985 · 7 goals
- Chamois Niortais Football Club 1986-1987 · 14 goals
Another 52 internationally known footballers were born on this day. We do not list them for the sake of it: only those with a story to tell make it here.
📅 The almanac: pick any date
Every day of the year has its story. Highlighted days are already out: click to see who was born or what happened on that date. The faded ones go live on their day, at midnight (Spain time). 50 published.
Football almanac · Elopi23
January
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February
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March
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July
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August
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September14 ★
- 11 September: Ruud Gullit
- 1111 September: Franz Beckenbauer
- 1818 September: Ronaldo
- 2020 September: Henrik Larsson
- 2121 September: Sándor Kocsis
- 2222 September: Thiago Silva
- 2323 September: Quini
- 2424 September: Marco Tardelli
- 2525 September: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
- 2626 September: Michael Ballack
- 2727 September: Francesco Totti
- 2828 September: Javi Poves
- 2929 September: Andriy Shevchenko
- 3030 September: Frank Rijkaard
October31 ★
- 11 October: George Weah
- 22 October: Alisson Becker · Roberto Firmino
- 33 October: Zlatan Ibrahimović
- 44 October: Jorge Valdano
- 55 October: Kopa, Rial, Di Stéfano, Puskás and Gento
- 66 October: Bruce Grobbelaar
- 77 October: Diego Costa
- 88 October: Zvonimir Boban
- 99 October: Gheorghe Popescu
- 1010 October: Tony Adams
- 1111 October: Bobby Charlton
- 1212 October: Cristhian Stuani
- 1313 October: Raymond Kopa
- 1414 October: Matt Le Tissier
- 1515 October: Didier Deschamps
- 1616 October: Paulo Roberto Falcão
- 1717 October: Sergio Goycochea
- 1818 October: Julio Olarticoechea
- 1919 October: Gunnar Nordahl
- 2020 October: Claudio Ranieri
- 2121 October: Paco Gento
- 2222 October: Lev Yashin
- 2323 October: Pelé
- 2424 October: Wayne Rooney
- 2525 October: Francisco Sá
- 2626 October: The founding of the Football Association
- 2727 October: Sebastián Abreu
- 2828 October: Garrincha
- 2929 October: Edwin van der Sar
- 3030 October: Diego Armando Maradona
- 3131 October: Marco van Basten
November5 ★
December
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★ published · ✎ written, waiting for their day · the red circle is today
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Dates, clubs, individual awards and photos come from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, under free licences, and update themselves. Ages are not written anywhere: they are calculated the moment you open the page, so this page always shows the right age, this year and twenty years from now. If any of these players signs for another club or wins an award, their profile picks it up on its own. What is written by hand is the story and the judgement: who the day belongs to, and why.