Frank Lampard

Frank James Lampard, Jr., (born June 20, 1978) is an English football player currently at Chelsea and previously with West Ham United and Swansea City. Lampard is an attacking midfielder known for his powerful long-range shots from midfield.

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 is related to another famous footballing family, the Redknapps. Both of the families have firm East End London roots.

A current 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 11 goals for England.

He has won the FA Community Shield (with Chelsea, 2005), the English Premiership twice (with Chelsea, 2004-05 and 2005-06), the League Cup (with Chelsea, 2005) and the UEFA Intertoto Cup (with West Ham, 1999). He has also been capped 40 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.

Playing career

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.

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.

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 reported interest from ,^* Lampard chose to remain in London by joining Chelsea.

Chelsea

Lampard signed for Chelsea on May 15, 2001 for £11 million, one of the first signings of then Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri. Lampard's improvement at Stamford Bridge has been slow but 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.

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.

Lampard had an impressive start to the next 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.

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.

He has scored 16 goals in the Premiership in the current season, 2005-06, two goals in five Champions League matches, and two more in domestic cup action. His form has continued to impress, and in October 2005, after a Premiership match 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.

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. Also, Lampard's 16 goals in the 2005-2006 season is a record for a midfielder in the English Premier League.

Ability

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 vice captain of the club to John Terry.

England

Early in his career, 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. 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 made his first appearance for the senior England team on October 10, 1999, starting in a friendly against Belgium in Sunderland. However, he was not selected as one of the 23-man squad for the England side for Euro 2000, nor for the World Cup finals in June 2002 in Japan and South Korea. Lampard scored his first goal for the national side on August 20, 2003 in a friendly against Croatia, which England won 3-1. This, along with his improving club form, helped him earn 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 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, scoring five goals during England's successful World Cup qualifying campaign, and wearing the number 8 shirt that Scholes vacated.

At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Lampard failed to repeat his club form, which became a much discussed topic in the English media.He had 24 shots on goal in the tournament, only 10 of which were on target, and none of which went in.[http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/international?id=8941&league=fifa.world&season=2006&cc=5739 England manager Eriksson defended the player, saying “"He is working very hard to be right. He's had more shots than any other player in the tournament, which is very good. I have no concerns about him whatsoever."

Lampard played every minute of England’s five games. He was one of three England players, the others being Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher (both of Liverpool), who had their spot-kicks saved by Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo Pereira in the shoot-out defeat to Portugal in the World Cup quarter-final on 2 July 2006.

Personal

Frank belongs to an illustrious football family. Apart from his father, his uncle Harry Redknapp is also a former West Ham United player. He currently manages Premiership side Portsmouth F.C.. Lampard's cousin, Jamie Redknapp, has played 17 games for the England football team, and has also played club football for Southampton FC, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool F.C. and AFC Bournemouth. Lampard is currently engaged to Elen Rives, who gave birth to the couple's first child, a girl named Luna Coco Patricia Lampard, in August 2005. He is learning Spanish, which has been the partial cause of speculation linking him with a move to the La Liga, until he revealed it was strictly for family reasons, as his partner is Spanish and he wants their daughter to grow up bilingual. Frank featured in a "Super Goals" advertising campaign for The Sun newspaper in England during Sep/Oct 2005.

He is the only current member of the England team to have gone to a private school, having attended the independent, £10,000 a year, Brentwood School in Essex, at which time he was in the same year as model Jodie Marsh and gained an A* in his Latin GCSE.

Statistics

All figures correct as of May 17, 2006

All-time club performance

**All-Time Club Performance**
Club	Season	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Others		Total
Club	Season	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Chelsea FC	2005-06	35	16	5	2	1		9	2	48(2)	20
	2004-05	38	13	2		6	2	12	4	58	19
	2003-04	38	10	4	1	2		14	4	58	14
	2002-03	38	6	5	1	3		2	1	48	8
	2001-02	37	5	8	1	4		4	1	53	7
	Total	177	48	22	5	16	2	40	11	255	66
West Ham	2000-01	30	7	4	1	3	1			37	9
	1999-00	34	7	1		4	3	10	4	48	14
	1998-99	38	5	1		2	1			41	16
	1997-98	31	4	6	1	5	4			42	9
	1996-97	13		1		2				16	0
	1995-96	2								2	0
	Total	148	24	13	2	16	9	10	4	187	39
Swansea City	1995-96	9	1					2		1	1
Swansea City	Total	9	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	11	1
Career Totals		334	73	35	7	32	11	52	15	453	106

All games for West Ham and Chelsea FC in FA Premier League
All games for Swansea City in Football League Second Division
Includes Intertoto Cup, UEFA Cup, Champions League, FA Community Shield

International goals scored

**International Goals**
Sr. No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
11.	3 June, 2006	Old Trafford, Manchester	Jamaica	6-0	Won
10.	12 October, 2005	Old Trafford, Manchester	Poland	2-1	Won
9.	8 October, 2005	Old Trafford, Manchester	Austria	1-0	Won
8.	26 March, 2005	Old Trafford, Manchester	Northern Ireland	4-0	Won
7.	9 October, 2004	Old Trafford, Manchester	Wales	2-0	Won
6.	4 September, 2004	Ernst Happel Stadion, Wien	Austria	2-2	Drew
5.	24 June, 2004	Estadio da Luz, Lisbon	Portugal	2-2	Lost
4.	21 June, 2004	Estadio da Luz, Lisbon	Croatia	4-2	Won
3.	13 June, 2004	Estadio da Luz, Lisbon	France	1-2	Lost
2.	5 June, 2004	City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester	Iceland	6-1	Won
1.	20 August, 2003	Portman Road, Ipswich	Croatia	3-1	Won

lost 5-6 in penalty shootout

Honours

Club:

UEFA Intertoto Cup (1998)
FA Premier Asia Cup (2003)
FA Community Shield (2005)
League Cup (2005)
English Premier League (2004-05, 2005-06)

Personal:

FIFA World Player of the Year runner-up (2005)
FWA Player of the Year (2004/2005)
European Footballer of the Year runner-up (2005)

Awards

External links

Profiles

BBC profile
Profile on official website of Chelsea F.C.
espnsoccer.net
Profile on the FA website
Profile on the UEFA official website

Fansite

franklampard.co.uk Popular UK based Frank Lampard fansite.

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