Cédric Kipré



Strong, powerful and very good technically on the ball, Cédric Kipré initially arrived at Fir Park in the summer of 2017 on trial after his release from English Premiership side Leicester City.

The ‘Well faithful got their first glimpse of the 6’3” defender during a pre season friendly against Stirling Albion at Forthbank Stadium but it was his compatriot Bira Dembele who was also on trial with the club that had impressed more in this match, the club were swift to offer him a deal but this was rebuffed as he elected to return to France, Kipré was offered a one year deal following this but manager Stephen Robinson did state that he had intended to add both centre backs to his squad.

It was viewed that Cédric would be one for the future as he wasn’t expected to make an immediate impact, but the 21 year old settled into Scottish football instantly, he enjoyed a solid debut in his first team bow, a League Cup win over Queen’s Park at Hampden which was won 5-1. He had made such an impression early in his ‘Well career that not only was he offered a better deal early but again in April 2018 it was extended again, the club clearly knew they had a real talent in the squad.

Easily noticeable with his bleach blonde hair, Cédric had all the tools necessary to succeed, not only did he possess a towering stature but he was rarely outmuscled, he possessed fantastic speed and on more than one occasion he helped bail his team mates out of some sticky situations, this of course being all the more impressive as he was a youngster enjoying his first season as a professional in a senior side. 

He quickly became a favourite with the ‘Well fans, not a week would go by without a rendition of the “Kipreee, Kipreee” war cry ringing around the stadium.

Kipré made 52 first team appearances for the club in all competitions and scored the solitary goal, this came in a 2-1 win over Dundee at Fir Park, this of course is quite fondly remembered by many as wild celebration ensued as he had throated to score on many previous occasions but it had taken until the latter part of the season before he finally broke his duck.

He played a pivotal role in helping the side get to the League Cup Final in 2017 and the Scottish Cup Final in 2018, sadly however he had to settle for a runners up medal on both occasions, but it must be noted that his red card in the League Cup Final was an absolute travesty after Celtic’s Scott Sinclair dived in the box to win a penalty, hit with a triple whammy the defender was sent off, Celtic scored the penalty and the game was killed off. Sinclair admitted after the game when challenged about the incident that “he felt a touch so went down” but he quickly backtracked a day later.

This wasn’t the only injustice against Celtic as he was sent off for an apparent kick out at Scott Brown in a league fixture, the side played a large portion of the game with ten men and came away with a point. Unsurprisingly the red card was rescinded.

His form didn’t go unnoticed as he was called up by the Ivory Coast in March 2018 and was capped by the U23 side a week later.

Cédric played his last game in claret and amber on the 28th July 2018 in a 3-1 victory over Clyde. A matter of days later he signed for English Championship side Wigan Athletic, the fee was undisclosed but rumoured to be in the region of one million pound with additional add ones, the club did mention if the defender reaches his potential the fee could end up surpassing that of Phil O’Donnell which was set in the mid 90’s when the midfielder joined Celtic for £1.75 million.

His brother Steve was also a professional footballer, he had a short spell with Clyde when Cédric was on the books at Fir Park. 

Name:
Cédric Kipré
Height:
6′ 3″
Weight:
Date of Birth:
9th December 1996
Place of Birth:
Paris
Position:
Defender
Nationality:
Ivorian

Football Career:

Leicester City 2014 2017
Corby Town (Loan) 2015
Motherwell  2017   2018
Wigan Athletic 2018

Well Career:

Apps Goals
League:
35 (1) 1
Scottish Cup:
5 0
League Cup:
10 0
Other:
0 0
Total:
51 (1) 1