Ulrich Le Pen

Ulrich Le Pen (born 21 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.

Ulrich Le Pen
Personal information
Date of birth (1974-01-21) 21 January 1974
Place of birth Auray, Brittany, France
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing 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)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

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 Premiership 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]

References
  1. "Ipswich sign French winger". BBC. 13 November 2001. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  2. "Bolton sink Ipswich". BBC. 18 November 2001. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  3. "Man City humble Ipswich". BBC. 27 January 2002. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  4. Profile on Yahoo! Sports
  5. "Transfers - June 2003". BBC. 2 June 2003. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  6. "Caen - RCS 1-2". racingstub.com. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  7. Ulrich LE PEN est de retour chez les Tangos !
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