West Ham
United (England), Swansea City (England), West Ham United (England),
Chelsea FC (England)
Honours
2005
Premiership Champions (Chelsea) 2005 League Cup winner (Chelsea) 2002 FA Cup Finals (Chelsea)
Biography
Frank Lampard, (born June 20, 1978) is an English football
player currently at Chelsea and previously with West Ham United
and Swansea City
Lampard was born in Romford, Havering, England. He is the son of
Frank Lampard Sr., former England fullback and two-time FA Cup
winner with West Ham United. His family are releated to another
famous footballing family, the Redknapps. Both of the families
have firm East End London roots.[citation needed]
An England national team regular, Lampard is acknowledged as one
of the most improved players in English football over the past
three years. He is most renowned for his goal scoring; as of 3
December 2005 he has scored 129 career goals, including 60 goals
for Chelsea and 10 goals for England. However, Lampard is more
than a goal-scorer; he is a complete midfielder with excellent
attacking and defensive qualities.
He has won the FA Community Shield (with Chelsea, 2005), the
English Premiership (with Chelsea, 2004-05), the League Cup (with
Chelsea, 2005) and the UEFA Intertoto Cup (with West Ham, 1999).
He has also been capped 38 times for England.
In November 2005 he was named the second best player in Europe,
losing out in the European Footballer of the Year awards to the
Brazilian midfielder Ronaldinho. A month later he finished in
second place, once again behind Ronaldinho, in the 2005 FIFA
World Player of the Year awards.
West Ham United and Swansea City
Lampard joined West Ham United, where his father was Assistant
Manager, as an apprentice in July 1994 as part of their Youth
System, and signed his professional forms on July 1, 1995.
In October 1995, he was loaned to Division Two team Swansea City.
He made his league debut in the colours of Swansea City on 7
October, 1995 in a match against Bradford City that Swansea won
2-0. He made a total nine league appearances for Swansea, and
another two in Cup competitions, scoring one goal, before
returning to West Ham in January, 1996. Lampard's debut for West
Ham came on January 31, 1996 against Coventry City F.C., but he
did not become a team regular that season. He then broke his
right leg in a game against Aston Villa on March 15, 1997, which
ended his season. Lampard's first goal for West Ham came in the
1997-98 season, in an away win against Barnsley. Lampard was a
regular in the West Ham youth team and captained his side to the
final of the FA Youth Cup in 1996.
Around this time, Lampard was spotted by Peter Taylor, the
England Under-21 manager, and selected for the team. His U21
debut came on November 13, 1997, in Crete against Greece.
The 1998-99 season was a prolific one for young Lampard. He
became a regular in the West Ham first team, not missing a
single game throughout the season as the club finished fifth in
the Premiership standings. He made his first appearance for the
senior England team, starting in a friendly against Belgium, in
Sunderland, on October 10, 1999.
Although Lampard was not selected in the England side for EURO
2000, he captained the England U21 side in the 2000 U21 European
Championship. His final appearance for the U21 team was in June
2000 in an away match against Slovakia. Lampard was a fixture in
the West Ham first team, making 187 appearances and scoring a
total 39 goals in all competitions in his 6 years at the club.
But this regularity in appearance was not appreciated by
everyone at the club. Lampard's father, Frank Lampard Sr, was
the first team coach and there were accusations of nepotism.
Lampard had formed the core of a successful West Ham team along
with players like Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Rio Ferdinand.
But after Ferdinand, a close friend of Lampard's, was sold to
Leeds United in the 2000-01 season, and his father, and uncle
Harry Redknapp left West Ham, Frank decided to leave as well.
Despite interest from Aston Villa, Lampard chose to remain in
London by joining Chelsea. He later revealed he had no
compassion left for West Ham and its fans.
Chelsea FC
Lampard signed for Chelsea on May 15, 2001 for Ł11 million, one
of the first signings of then Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri.
Lampard's improvement at Stamford Bridge has been steady and
spectacular. His first two seasons were sometimes bogged down by
his massive transfer fee and later eclipsed by the scintillating
form of Gianfranco Zola, but in his third season there, with the
arrival of Roman Abramovich, he fully blossomed, establishing
himself as a regular of the multi-million pound Chelsea squad,
and a fans' favourite.
Lampard made his debut for Chelsea in a pre-season game against
Leyton Orient on July 26, 2001, and scored his first goal for
the club in another pre-season match, against Northampton Town,
a 7-1 away victory, on August 1, 2001. His Premiership debut for
Chelsea came on August 19, 2001, in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle
United. Despite being sent off in only his fourth Premiership
game for Chelsea, against Tottenham Hotspur on September 16,
2001, the only dismissal of his career, he had a fruitful first
season, missing only one match and scoring seven goals in all
competitions.
Lampard again failed to make the England squad for a major
competition, as he was left out of the 23-member squad for the
World Cup finals in June 2002 in Japan and South Korea. In the
2002-03 season for Chelsea, Lampard was at his regular best
again, not missing a match throughout the campaign. He scored
eight goals in all competitions as Chelsea finished fourth in
the Premiership, giving Lampard the chance to play in the UEFA
Champions League for the first time in his career.
The next season turned out to be extremely productive for
Lampard. He was selected in the England squad for a friendly
against Croatia on August 20, 2003, and scored his first goal
for the country as England won 3-1. He also had an impressive
start to the season with his club, being selected as the
Barclays Player of the Month in September 2003 and the PFA Fans'
Player of the Month in October. Chelsea reached the semi-final
of the Champions League before being eliminated by AS Monaco,
with Lampard scoring four goals in fourteen games. They also
finished second in the Premiership behind Arsenal. This display
for the club earned Lampard a place in the England team for the
match against Iceland in the FA's Summer Tournament before EURO
2004, and he scored his second international goal as England won
6-1.
He was then selected in the squad for EURO 2004 in Portugal.
England reached the quarter-finals with Lampard having an
exceptional tournament. He scored three goals in four matches
and was named in the official EURO 2004 All-Star squad by the
UEFA technical study group. With Paul Scholes's retirement from
international football, Lampard finally became a fixture in Sven-Göran
Eriksson's squad.
The 2004-05 season was one of the most successful in Chelsea's
history, and Lampard was at its centre. He played in all 38 of
the club's Premiership matches, scoring thirteen goals,
remarkable for a midfielder, helping Chelsea to win their first
title for 50 years by a 12-point margin. He scored another four
goals in the Champions League as Chelsea made the semi-finals
for the second successive year. His two goals in six matches
were also instrumental in his club's League Cup victory. So
impressive was his form during the Champions League and league
run that former Brazilian captain Carlos Alberto and Dutch
footballer Johann Cruyff both referred to him as one of Europe's
best midfielders. Lampard was voted English Footballer of the
Year and earned the Football Writers' Association Footballer of
the Year in 2005.
Despite being a midfielder, Lampard has an impressive scoring
ratio since signing for Chelsea, and a keen eye for goal. His
ability to time his runs into the box as well as his accuracy
from long range have made him one of the most prolific
midfielders in Europe. Lampard also has an impressive passing
range, and contributes heavily to the Chelsea side through his
goal assists. He is usually Chelsea's first choice penalty and
free-kick taker as well. He is also second choice captain of the
club, behind John Terry.
He has scored 14 goals in 29 matches in the Premiership in the
current season, 2005-06, and one goal in five Champions League
matches. His form has continued to impress, and in October 2005,
after a Premiership match against against Blackburn at Stamford
Bridge, manager José Mourinho declared him the "best player in
the world", a sentiment echoed days earlier by Matthias Sammer
in a Kicker interview.
His goal from the penalty spot against Austria in the October 8,
2005 World Cup qualifier helped England qualify for the World
Cup finals to be held in Germany in 2006.
In September 2005 Lampard was selected as a member of the World
XI at the FIFPro awards. The team was chosen by a vote of
professional footballers in 40 countries. In Winter 2005 he was
voted runner-up twice to Ronaldinho, firstly in the European
Footballer of the Year award, and secondly in the Fifa World
Player of the Year Award.
Lampard is the holder of the all-time Premiership record of
playing consecutive league matches dating back to October 13,
2001, set on November 26, 2005, breaking the previous record of
159 appearances by David James. The streak was broken on
December 28, 2005, after 164 games, when Lampard was taken ill
before Chelsea's game at Manchester City.
On 15 April he scored his 15th league goal of the season against
Bolton Wanderers, a record for a midfielder in the Premier
League.
