Ulrich Le Pen
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 23 January 1974 | ||
Place of birth | Auray, Brittany, France | ||
Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1990–1997 | Stade Rennais | 99 | (1) |
1997–1999 | Laval | 50 | (14) |
1999–2001 | Lorient | 75 | (14) |
2001–2003 | Ipswich Town | 1 | (0) |
2002–2003 | → Strasbourg (loan) | 26 | (3) |
2003–2006 | Strasbourg | 79 | (13) |
2006–2009 | Lorient | 62 | (6) |
2009–2010 | Laval | 24 | (1) |
Total | 416 | (52) | |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Ulrich Le Pen (born 23 January 1974) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his career in his native France apart from a short stint at Ipswich Town.
Career
[edit]Born in Auray, Brittany, Le Pen began his professional career with Rennes where he spent six years. In 110 games, he scored once. Either a winger or central midfielder, he is renowned for his passing. He moved to Laval where he scored 14 goals in 50 games within two seasons. In 1999, he moved to Lorient, where in two seasons he scored 14 times in 63 games, scoring every 4.5 games. He stayed with Lorient until November 2001.
Despite interest from Rangers F.C he was then transferred to Premier League side Ipswich Town for FRF 15 million (GBP 1.4 million).[1] He only played once in the league against Bolton Wanderers, but got injured almost immediately resulting in only 12 minutes of play for the club.[2] He made one more appearance that season in the FA Cup[3] and another the following season in the UEFA Cup, but he never played again in a league game for Ipswich; it is assumed that he and his family never really settled in England.[4]
After that short taste of Premier League football, he returned to France and joined Strasbourg permanently in 2003 after a loan spell.[5] He scored 16 times in 105 games and scored Strasbourg's first goal of the 2005–06 season with a free kick. While at Strasbourg Le Pen played as a substitute as they won the 2005 Coupe de la Ligue Final.[6] He left to join FC Lorient in 2006. On 25 June 2009 the 35-year-old winger left FC Lorient to sign for Stade Lavallois.[7]
Later career
[edit]In November 2017 Le Pen revealed that he had begun coaching Laval's U9's.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ "Ipswich sign French winger". BBC. 13 November 2001. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
- ^ "Bolton sink Ipswich". BBC. 18 November 2001. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
- ^ "Man City humble Ipswich". BBC. 27 January 2002. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
- ^ Profile on Yahoo! Sports
- ^ "Transfers - June 2003". BBC. 2 June 2003. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
- ^ "Caen - RCS 1-2". racingstub.com. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
- ^ Ulrich LE PEN est de retour chez les Tangos !
- ^ Ulrich Le Pen : « Le terrain me manquait », ouest-france.fr, 12 December 2017
- 1974 births
- Living people
- People from Auray
- Footballers from Morbihan
- Men's association football midfielders
- French men's footballers
- France men's under-21 international footballers
- Ipswich Town F.C. players
- Stade Rennais FC players
- Stade Lavallois players
- FC Lorient players
- RC Strasbourg Alsace players
- Ligue 1 players
- Premier League players
- Expatriate men's footballers in England
- French expatriate men's footballers