Lipponen made 301 appearances in Finnish top-tiers Mestaruussarja and Veikkausliiga, scoring 49 goals.
He spent the majority of his career with his former youth club TPS.
[1] Besides in his native Finland, Lipponen played for First Vienna in Austrian Bundesliga and Oxelösund in Sweden.
In 1999, he briefly served as the manager of VPS in Veikkausliiga after the dismissal of Sören Cratz.
[2] Later he has worked for the Football Association of Finland and coached various Finnish youth national teams.