Football Player's Biography 7: Frank Lampard

Full name	Frank James Lampard^[1]
Date of birth	20 June 1978 (1978-06-20) (age 32)^[1]
Place of birth	Romford, London, England
Height	1.84 m (6 ft ¹⁄₂ in)^[2]
Playing position	Attacking midfielder

Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chelsea and the England national team. He also holds the position of vice-captain for his club side.^[3] He is considered to be one of the best English footballers.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]
Lampard began his career at West Ham United, his father's former club. He had secured a place in the first team by the 1997–98 season, and the following year helped the team finish 5th in the Premier League, their highest ever Premier League placing. In 2001, he moved to rival London club Chelsea for £11 million.
From his debut onwards he was ever-present in the Chelsea first team, setting a record 164 consecutive Premier League appearances. He established himself as a prolific scorer at the West London club and was a key part of the sides which won back-to-back Premier League titles in 2004–05 and 2005–06 and a domestic cup double in 2007. He signed a new contract in 2008, becoming the highest paid Premier League footballer at that time,^[8] and scored in his first Champions League Final that same year. He won the FA Cup for the second time in 2009, scoring the winning goal in the final. On 23 December 2009, he was named the Premier League's Player of the decade by official statistics.^[9] In the 2009-10 season Lampard won the Premier League title and FA Cup (domestic cup double) also he had his best prolific season with Chelsea scoring 22 league goals and 17 league assists.^[10]
Lampard has won the Chelsea Player of the Year award once, and he is Chelsea's 3rd all-time goalscorer with 164 goals in all competitions, including over 100 league goals, the most in the club's history for a midfielder. Lampard is the highest goalscoring midfielder in Premier League history with 133 league goals^[11] and he's 2nd in the Premier League's all-time assists table with 83 assists.^[12] Also Lampard completes over 1400 successful passes and has 10 or more assists every season.^[13] In 2005, Lampard was voted second place in both the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year and the 2005 Ballon d'Or.
Internationally, Lampard has been capped 83 times by England since making his debut in October 1999, and has scored 20 goals. He was voted England player of the year for two consecutive years in 2004 and 2005. He played in Euro 2004, where he was named in the team of the tournament after scoring three goals in four games. He was top scorer for England in their successful 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign with five goals, and played in the 2006 World Cup. In the 2010 World Cup qualifiers he scored four goals, helping England qualify for the tournament proper in South Afric

Club career

West Ham United

Lampard began his career at West Ham United, his father's former club. Joining the youth team in 1994, he had secured a place in the first team by the 1997–98 season. He helped the team secure their highest ever Premier League placing in the 1998–99 season. The following season, Lampard scored 14 goals in all competitions from midfield. With progress stagnating at West Ham, he moved to rival London club Chelsea in 2001 for £11 million.^[14]

Chelsea

2001–2004

Lampard's Premier League debut with Chelsea came on 19 August 2001 in a 1–1 draw with Newcastle United, while his first red card came in a match against Tottenham Hotspur on 16 September.
Lampard 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 Barclays Player of the Month in September 2003, and the PFA Fans' Player of the Month in October. Chelsea finished 2nd 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.^[15]

2004–2007

Lampard played in all thirty-eight Premier League matches for the third consecutive season in 2004–05. He finished with 13 goals (19 in all competitions), in addition to leading the league in assists with sixteen.
He scored a long-range goal from 25 yards against Crystal Palace in the Premier League in 2004 which Chelsea won 4–1.^[17] He scored two goals against Bolton Wanderers in a 2–0 win which was the Premier League title winning match for Chelsea,^[18] which also won the first major trophy of his career as Chelsea bagged their first top-flight title in fifty years, by a twelve point margin. He was named as Barclays Player of the Season.^[19] In the 2004–05 Champions League quarter-finals, he scored 3 goals in 2 legs against Bayern Munich as Chelsea won 6–5 on aggregate, his second goal in the first leg was stunning; he controlled Makélélé's cross with his chest then turned & swivelled and sent the ball inside the far post with a left-foot half volley.^[20]^[21] Though Chelsea were eliminated in the Champions League semi-finals by league rivals Liverpool, they took home the Football League Cup, in which Lampard scored twice in six matches, which included the opening goal against Manchester United in the League Cup semi-final, which Chelsea won 2–1. He landed his first personal award by being named the Footballer of the Year.^[22] He netted a career-high 16 league goals in 2005–06, which marked an increase for the fifth consecutive season and was a Premier League record for a midfielder to score goals in one season. In September 2005, Lampard was selected as a member of the inaugural World XI.^[23] His record of consecutive Premier League appearances ended at 164 (five better than previous record-holder David James) on 28 December 2005, when he sat out a match against Manchester City due to illness.^[24] The streak began on 13 October 2001, during his first season with the club, though has since been bettered twice.^[25] He finished as runner-up to Ronaldinho for both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards.^[26]^[27] He scored twice against Blackburn Rovers in a 4–2 win, which included a free-kick from 25 yards. After the match, manager José Mourinho hailed Lampard as the "best player in the world.^[28] Chelsea won the Premier League for the second time, in which Lampard was Chelsea's topscorer with 16 league goals. In the Champions League group stages, he scored a free-kick against Anderlecht, Chelsea proggresed to the first knock-out round but were eliminated by Barcelona.
Due to a back injury sustained by John Terry, Lampard spent much of the 2006–07 campaign as team captain in his absence. He enjoyed a streak of seven goals in eight games, he scored both the goals in a 2–0 win over Fulham and scored his 77th goal for Chelsea from a long range strike in a 3–2 win over Everton on 17 December, overtaking Dennis Wise as Chelsea's highest scoring midfielder.^[29] Then in the UEFA Champions League group stages he scored a goal from an extremely tight angle against Barcelona, at the Camp Nou, the match ended 2–2.^[30] Lampard finished with 21 goals in all competitions, including a career-high six FA Cup goals; he had scored seven Cup goals in his first eleven seasons combined. He scored his first Chelsea hat-trick in the third-round tie against Macclesfield Town on 6 January 2007. He scored two goals to help Chelsea to a quarter-final draw with Tottenham Hotspur after having trailed 3–1, and he was named the FA Cup player-of-the-round for his performance.^[31] He gave the assist to Didier Drogba in the 2007 FA Cup Final which was the winning goal in extra-time, as Chelsea won it 1–0. In a post-match interview following Chelsea's FA Cup Final victory over Manchester United, Lampard said he wanted to stay at the club "forever".^[32]

2007–2009

Lampard is now world's third best player according to Castrol Football Rankings. Lampard's 2007–08 season was riddled with injury, managing to play 40 matches, 24 of which in the league-the fewest he had played in a season since 1996–97. On 16 February 2008, Lampard became the eighth Chelsea player to score 100 goals for the club in a 3–1 FA Cup fifth-round win over Huddersfield Town.^[33] After the final whistle, Lampard removed his jersey and flashed a T-shirt to the Chelsea fans with "100 Not Out, They Are All For You, Thanks" printed across the front.^[34] In the Premier League match with Liverpool he scored a penalty in a 1–1 draw at Anfield. He scored four goals in a 6–1 rout of Derby County on 12 March. Then in the Champions League quarter-final second leg he scored the winning goal against Fenerbahçe in the 87th minute as Chelsea won 3–2 on aggregate.^[35] On 30 April, Lampard, grieving the loss of his mother a week earlier, decided to play in the second leg of Chelsea's Champions League semi-final against Liverpool, who were eliminated on 4–3 aggregate as he took an emotional penalty in the 98th minute of extra-time, which he scored confidently.^[36] In the final against Manchester United, he scored an equalising goal in the 45th minute, as Michael Essien's deflected shot found him as he went to the box with his late trade-mark run, he scored with a left foot finish. The match ended 1–1 after extra-time and Chelsea lost 6–5 on penalties. He was later named UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year.

On 13 August 2008, Lampard signed a new five-year contract with Chelsea worth £39.2 million, making him the highest-paid Premier League player.^[8]^[37] He started the 2008–09 season by scoring five goals in his first eleven league matches. He scored the 150th goal of his club career with a goal against Manchester City in the Premier League. Then he scored chipped goal against Hull City with his left foot in the Premier League; he unleashed a chip from 20 yards that curled & swerved and fooled the goal-keeper as it went into the net, World Cup winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said after the game: "It was the best goal I have seen, My vote for World Player of the year award will go to him, only a player with his intelligence could have done that".^[38] He scored his hundredth career Premier League goal in a 5–0 victory over Sunderland on 2 November.^[39] Eighteen of Lampard's hundred goals were penalties.^[40] He was named Premier League Player of the Month for the third time in his career in October.^[41]
After a streak of matches without scoring, Lampard scored three goals in the span of two days, the first being against West Bromwich Albion and the latter two against Fulham.^[42]^[43] On 17 January 2009, he made his 400th Chelsea appearance against Stoke City, scoring a stoppage time winner. He again scored a stoppage time winner, this time against Wigan Athletic. Then in the FA cup 4th round, he scored a free-kick from 35 yards against Ipswich Town. He scored twice against Liverpool in the second-leg quarter finals of the Champions League which ended 4–4, but Chelsea won 7–5 on aggregate. Then he provided two assists in the next game against Arsenal in FA Cup Semi-finals which Chelsea won 2–1. Lampard finished the Premier League season with 12 goals and 10 assists, and won the Chelsea player of the Year for 2009. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson heaped praise on Lampard saying: "Frank Lampard is an exceptional player – a huge asset to Chelsea, You pay attention to players who can get goals from midfield and he's been averaging 20 a season.You don't see him getting into stupid tackles or making a habit of becoming involved in silly rows. He remained restrained after Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona and even made a point of swapping shirts with Andrés Iniesta."
Lampard's 20th goal of the season was the winning goal in the FA Cup Final against Everton, with a left-foot shot from long-range. He repeated the corner flag celebration his father had done after scoring the winning goal in the 1979–80 FA Cup semi-final second leg against Everton. It was the fourth consecutive season that he scored 20 or more goals. He was named later named Chelsea's Player of the Year for the third time.

2009–2010

Lampard scored against Manchester United, in the Community Shield, in the 72nd minute, the match ended 2–2, and Lampard scored in its penalty shootout which they won 4–1. On 18 August 2009, Lampard scored Chelsea's second goal in a 3–1 away win against Sunderland. He scored his 133rd goal for Chelsea in a Champions League match against Atletico Madrid on 21 October 2009, which moved him up to 5th among the club's all time goalscorers. He had been struggling to score the amount of goals he had in the past seasons however this soon changed as he scored two goals in the 5–0 defeat of Blackburn Rovers on 24 October 2009. On 30 October, he was nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year award for the sixth straight year.^[44] He then scored a penalty against Bolton as Chelsea ran out 4–0 winners on Halloween. On 5 December, Lampard missed a penalty in 82nd minute against Manchester City, which they lost 2–1. Lampard scored a crucial 79th minute winning goal on 16 December, from a penalty against Portsmouth and on 20 December, Lampard scored a penalty against his former club West Ham United, however he had to take his spot-kick three times due to players running into the box too early, he scored all three and later kissed his fists in front of Hammers fans at the West Stand before kick-off. Lampard scored against Watford in the third round of FA Cup with a wonderful strike. In Chelsea's 7–2 thrashing of Sunderland, Lampard notched up two goals to add to his league tally. On 27 January 2010, Lampard again scored two goals in Chelsea's 3–0 win over Birmingham City in the Premier League. On 27 February Lampard scored twice against Manchester City but despite his contribution Chelsea went on to lose the game 4–2 at home for the first time in 38 games. He scored the opener and set up one for John Terry in a 2–0 win against Stoke City in FA Cup Quarter Final match.
Lampard scored against Portsmouth and made his goal tally for the season 17.^[45] Lampard, for the second time in his career, hit four goals in one match against Aston Villa on 27 March 2010 to bring his goal tally to and then past 20, for the fifth consecutive season. This also brought him his 100th Chelsea Premier League, his 151st Chelsea goal in total, and it put him as the club's third highest scorer in its history, overtaking Peter Osgood's record of 150. Lampard scored in a 3–0 win, again over Aston Villa and in 2–1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.^[46] Lampard reached 20 league goals for the first time in a Premier League season when he scored twice against Stoke City in Chelsea's 7–0 win on 25 April 2010. This milestone also represented the first time Lampard had hit 25 in all competitions in a season. On 2 May, Lampard scored against Liverpool in the second last game of the season to give Chelsea a vital three points that would see them top of the league by a single point. He added another in the final match of the season where Chelsea thrashed Wigan 8–0 at Stamford Bridge to win the 2009–2010 Premiership Title and give him a remarkable 27 goals in the season.^[47]

2010–2011

The 2010–11 season began brightly for Lampard, being an integral part of Chelsea's attacking play as usual. After a match against Stoke City, which Chelsea won 2–0, it was revealed that Lampard was suffering from a hernia, which was successfully operated on. However, he has suffered fresh injuries during training in mid-November,^[48] and remained sidelined for a further three weeks. Manager Carlo Ancelotti said that he injured his abductor muscle in his leg in training on 11 November, and would not be fit until December. He made his comeback in a league match against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday 12 December, as a substitute in the 75th minute.^{[citation needed]} Lampard scored a penalty goal in the 3–3 draw between Chelsea and Aston Villa on 2 January 2011,^[49] the first after returning from injury. On 9 January, Lampard scored two goals and gave one assistance in a 7–0 win against Ipswich Town in the FA Cup Third Round reaching the landmark of 201 career club goals.
On 1 February, Lampard scored a penalty goal against Sunderland, and gave an assist. Chelsea ended up winning the game 4–2.^[50] Lampard scored a goal in the replay against Everton in the fourth round of the FA Cup, but Chelsea lost on penalties by 4–3.
Lampard has an assist for Anelka in Chelsea's victory by 2–0 in the first game of the round of the UEFA Champions League. On 1 March, Lampard scored a penalty goal in the 2–1 victory over Manchester United.^[51]

International career

Lampard was first spotted by England U-21 manager Peter Taylor, and his under-21 debut came on 13 November 1997 in a match against Greece. He played for the under-21 side from November 1997 to June 2000, and scored nine goals, a mark bettered only by Alan Shearer and Francis Jeffers.
Lampard earned his first cap for England on 10 October 1999 in a 2–1 friendly win over Belgium, and scored his first goal on 20 August 2003 in a 3–1 win over Croatia. He was bypassed for Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup, and had to wait until Euro 2004 to participate in his first international competition. England reached the quarter-finals with Lampard netting three goals in four matches, he equalised for England in the 112th minute against Portugal, bringing the scoreline to 2–2 but England lost on penalties. He was named in the team of the tournament by UEFA.^[52] He became a regular in the squad following the retirement of Paul Scholes, and was voted England Player of the Year by fans in 2004 and 2005.^[53]^[54]
Though Lampard played every minute of England's 2006 World Cup matches, he went scoreless as England were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Portugal on penalties.^[55] He scored in a 2–1 loss to Germany in a friendly. He was booed by England supporters while coming on as a second-half substitute during England's Euro 2008 qualifying match against Estonia on 13 October 2007,^[56] and finished with one goal (a 3–2 loss to Croatia on 21 November) as England failed to qualify for the tournament. He scored his first international goal in two years in a 4–0 win over Slovakia in March 2009, and also created another for Wayne Rooney. Lampard's goal was the 500th England goal scored at Wembley.^[57] On 9 September 2009, Lampard struck twice in England's 5–1 win against Croatia which secured their place at 2010 World Cup.^[58] On 8 February 2011, it was announced that Lampard would captain the national team against Denmark in a friendly played the next day after both Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard were absent through injury.^[59]

Disallowed goal

In a 2010 FIFA World Cup match against Germany, in the first half, Lampard had a shot at goal that bounced off the crossbar and from TV pictures was clearly seen to pass the goal line. If counted, it would have tied the game 2–2. However, neither the referee nor the linesman saw it as a goal, and play was continued. The final score was a 4–1 loss, eliminating England from the cup.^[60]
As England exited the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Frank Lampard had already achieved the record of having made 37 shots on goal without scoring in a World Cup tournament, more than any other player since 1966.^[61]

Personal life

Lampard attended Brentwood School between 1989 and 1994, finishing with eleven GCSEs, including an A* in Latin.^[62]
His father is Frank Lampard senior, the former West Ham United player and assistant manager who was still associated with the club when Lampard junior was playing for them. His mother Pat died in April 2008 aged 58 as a result of pneumonia.^[63]
In 2000, Lampard, Ferdinand and Kieron Dyer appeared on a sex video that was filmed at the holiday resort of Ayia Napa in Cyprus. Channel 4 aired a brief clip as part of their 2004 documentary Sex, Footballers and Videotape, claiming it was used to "remind the viewer that this is based on real life."^[64]
On 23 September 2001, Lampard, along with three other Chelsea players was fined two weeks wages by the club for his behaviour whilst on a drinking binge on 12 September. Lampard and the others had abused grieving American tourists at a Heathrow hotel, just 24 hours after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. A hotel manager stated "they were utterly disgusting. They just didn't seem to care about what had happened".^[65]
Lampard lives in Surrey and London. He has two daughters with his former fiancee, Spanish model Elen Rivas, Luna (born 22 August 2005) and Isla (born 20 May 2007).^[66] His autobiography, Totally Frank, was published in August 2006. In mid-February 2009, it was reported that Lampard and Rivas had split in November 2008 after seven years together, with Rivas taking between £1 million to £12.5 million in settlement fees from Lampard's estimated £32 million net worth.^[67]^[68] Since October 2009, Lampard has been in a relationship with Christine Bleakley.
On 24 April 2009, Lampard was involved in a radio confrontation with James O'Brien on the London radio station LBC 97.3.^[69] Newspapers had reported that following Lampard's split from Rivas their children were living with her in a small flat while Lampard had converted their family home into a bachelor pad. Lampard phoned-in, objecting to criticism, and asserting that he had fought "tooth and nail" to keep his family together.^[70]
British media reported that Lampard showed an unusually high IQ score during neurological research carried out by the Chelsea doctor, Bryan English. English stated that "Frank Lampard scored one of the highest set of marks ever recorded by the company doing the tests".^[71]
Lampard has stated in 2007 that he is a supporter of the Conservative Party.^[72]
He was selected by EA Sports as one of the three football stars on the cover of the FIFA 10 football game pack globally, along with Theo Walcott and Wayne Rooney.^[73]
Lampard's uncle is Tottenham Manager Harry Redknapp and his cousin is Redknapp's son Jamie Redknapp.