Frank Lampard

Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English football manager and former midfielder who is the manager of EFL Championship club Coventry City. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time and one of Chelsea's and the Premier League’s greatest ever players, Lampard holds the record of the most Premier League goals (177) by a midfielder in its history.

A box-to-box midfielder, Lampard began his career in 1995 at West Ham United, the club where his father Frank Sr. also played. In 2001, he was signed by London rivals Chelsea for £11 million. In his thirteen years with the club, Lampard established himself as a prolific scorer from midfield, becoming the club's all-time leading goalscorer, with 211 goals in all competitions.

At Chelsea, Lampard won three Premier League titles, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, four FA Cups, and two League Cups. In 2005, he was named FWA Footballer of the Year, and finished runner-up for both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year. After leaving Chelsea, Lampard played for league rivals Manchester City, and Major League Soccer club New York City FC before retiring in 2017. He ranked highly on a number of statistics for Premier League players for ten years from 1 December 2000, including most games and most wins.

Lampard played 106 matches and scored 29 goals for the England national team, after making his debut in 1999. He represented his country at three FIFA World Cups – in 2006, 2010 and 2014 – and in UEFA Euro 2004, where he was named in the Team of the Tournament. Lampard was voted England Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005.

Lampard is one of 11 players, and the only midfielder, to have scored 150 or more goals in the Premier League. He is fourth in the Premier League's all-time assists ranking, with 102 assists. Lampard holds a number of additional Chelsea and Premier League records, and has won PFA Fans' Player of the Year and the FWA Tribute Award. During his career, he was named in the PFA Team of the Year three times, Premier League Player of the Month four times, Premier League Player of the Season once and finished as the Premier League's top assist provider three times, and was named in the FIFPro World XI and a MLS All-Star. After departing, Lampard was named in the Chelsea Team of the Decade as voted for by Chelsea fans, and into the Premier League Hall of Fame.

After retiring from international football, Lampard was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2015 for services to football. Lampard served as a team captain on the ITV sport panel show Play to the Whistle from 2015 until 2017. He has also written a number of children's books.

Lampard began his managerial career with Derby County in 2018, leading the club to the final of that season's Championship play-offs. He returned to Chelsea as head coach a year later, guiding them to fourth place and the FA Cup Final in his first season, before being dismissed in 2021. Following a one-year spell with Everton, and a brief return to Chelsea as caretaker, Lampard joined Coventry City as manager in 2024.

Club career

West Ham United

Lampard began his career at West Ham United, his father's former club, joining the youth team in 1994, his schoolboy hero being West Ham striker Frank McAvennie. Lampard joined West Ham when his father was the assistant coach, entering as an apprentice in the youth team in 1994 and signing a professional contract the following year. He went on loan to Second Division club Swansea City in October 1995, debuting in his team's victory 2–0 over Bradford City and scoring his first career goal in a match against Brighton & Hove Albion. Lampard played nine times for Swansea before returning to West Ham in January 1996.

1995–97: Development

Lampard made his debut for West Ham on 31 January 1996 against Coventry City coming on as a substitute for John Moncur. His only other game of the season was the season's last, on 5 May 1996, a 1–1 home draw with Sheffield Wednesday when Lampard was used as a substitute for Keith Rowland.

The following season Lampard made his first start for West Ham, on 17 August 1996, in a 2–0 away defeat to Arsenal before being substituted for Robbie Slater. Lampard's season ended on 15 March 1997 when he sustained a broken leg during an away, 0–0 draw, against Aston Villa. Carried from the pitch on a stretcher, his 31st-minute substitute was Rio Ferdinand. The game also saw his first booking as a West Ham player. Lampard claims to have been jeered from the pitch by West Ham United supporters, an action which made him consider leaving football. He had made 16 appearances in all competitions for The Hammers.

1997–99: First-team regular

From this season Lampard took the number 18 squad number having previously held the number 26 spot. On the first day of the 1997–98 season, West Ham opened their fixtures with an away game against Barnsley who were playing in the top tier of English football for the first time in 110 years. Lampard came on as a 76th-minute substitute for Eyal Berkovic. Barely a minute later he scored what was the winning goal in a 2–1 win for The Hammers having received the ball from Michael Hughes and flicking it past Barnsley goalkeeper David Watson. The season also saw his first hat-trick. On 19 November 1997, West Ham played Walsall in a League Cup, fourth-round game. Lampard's three goals plus another from John Hartson were enough to beat Walsall who responded via a goal from Andy Watson. Lampard made 42 appearances for the 1997–98 season in all competitions scoring nine goals.

Lampard was an ever-present for West Ham in the 1998–99 season, helping his team to fifth place in the 1998–99 Premier League and qualification for the UEFA Intertoto Cup. This is the highest West Ham have ever come in the league.

1999–2001: New contract and departure

Before the start of the 1999–2000 FA Premier League season, Lampard signed an extension to his contract which would have kept him with the club until 2005. Having qualified for the Intertoto Cup, West Ham's season started early, in July 1999. On 24 July 1999, Lampard scored his first goal in European football in a 1–1 away draw with Finnish side Jokerit. Another goal in the semi-final against Heerenveen put West Ham into the final against Metz. Despite losing the first leg 1–0 in London, West Ham won 3–1 in France on 24 August 1999 with goals from Trevor Sinclair, Paulo Wanchope and Lampard. Winning the competition saw West Ham in the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup. Lampard scored his first goal in this competition on 16 September 1999, in a 3–0 home win against Osijek, a tie which they won 6–1 on aggregate.

This season also saw West Ham beat Bradford City 5–4 at Upton Park in February 2000. The game received notoriety for Lampard's fight over the ball with Paolo Di Canio. With West Ham 4–2 down they gained a penalty. Lampard was West Ham's regular penalty taker. Di Canio, however, wanted to take the kick and the two tussled over the ball with Di Canio winning and scoring to make the game 4–3 to West Ham. In the 1999–2000, season he finished as the club's third top scorer, behind Di Canio and Paulo Wanchope, with a total of 14 goals.

In the 2000–01 season, West Ham's form suffered. They spent most of the season in the bottom half of the Premier League table. From fifth place the previous season they finished 15th. Despite this Lampard scored 9 goals in 37 games, behind only Frédéric Kanouté and Di Canio. In May 2001, his uncle Harry Redknapp left the club by mutual consent after seven years in the role. His father Frank also left the club and Lampard, under the pressure of being known as "Frank Lampard's son" and the poor treatment of his father by West Ham, decided to move to another club. He left West Ham for Chelsea for £11 million in June 2001, the Hammers having previously declined a £15 million joint bid from Aston Villa for Lampard and Frédéric Kanouté.

Chelsea

2001–04: Signing and first-team breakthrough

Lampard's Premier League debut with Chelsea came on 19 August 2001 in a 1–1 draw with Newcastle United on the opening day of the 2001–02 season, while his first red card came in a match against Tottenham Hotspur on 16 September 2001. He appeared in all of Chelsea's league matches and scored eight goals in the 2001–02 season. He netted the match-winner in Chelsea's 2002–03 season-opener against Charlton Athletic.

The following season, he was selected as the Premier League Player of the Month in September 2003, and the PFA Fans' Player of the Month in October. Chelsea finished second in the 2003–04 Premier League behind unbeaten Arsenal and he was named in the 2004 PFA Team of the Year as he reached double figures in league goals (10) for the first time in his career, in addition to four goals in fourteen UEFA Champions League matches, as Chelsea advanced to the semi-finals. In the semi-final against Monaco he scored, but Chelsea lost 5–3 on aggregate. At the end of the season, he came second behind Thierry Henry for the 2004 FWA Footballer of the Year award.