Frank James Lampard OBE (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional
footballer who plays as a
midfielder for
New York City FC.
[4] He is the all-time leading goalscorer for
Chelsea, where he played for 13 years,
[5] and is considered by a number of journalists and football experts to be one of the best midfielders of his generation,
[6][7][8] in addition to being widely regarded as Chelsea's greatest ever player by fans, spectators and players, such as previous record goal-scorer
Bobby Tambling and long-term teammate
John Terry.
[9][10]
Lampard began his career at
West Ham United, for whom his father
Frank Lampard, Sr. had also played. He 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. In 2014, he was released by Chelsea after 13 years of service. Lampard then joined New York City FC on a two-year deal, in preparation for the club's
Major League Soccer debut in 2015, as a free transfer,
[11] but would play for
Manchester City in the meantime. On 31 December 2014, however,
BBC Sport's David Ornstein revealed Lampard is under contract to Manchester City and not New York City as previously claimed by both clubs.
[5]
From his début, he was ever-present in the Chelsea first team and made 164 consecutive Premier League appearances, a record for an outfield player.
[12] 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,
[13] and scored in his first
Champions League Final that year. He won a second FA Cup winners' medal in
2009, scoring the winning goal in the final. In the 2009–10 season, Lampard helped Chelsea secure their first league and FA Cup
Double, and also had his most prolific season with the club, scoring 22 league goals and 17 league assists.
[14] In 2012, Lampard captained Chelsea to their first
UEFA Champions League success and a year later to their first
UEFA Europa League title.
[15] He was released by the club after the
2013–14 season.
[16][17]
A three-time
Chelsea Player of the Year,
[18][19] Lampard is the club's
all-time top goalscorer with 211 goals in all competitions.
[20] Lampard is one of seven players, and the only midfielder, to have scored
150 or more goals in the Premier League. He is second in the Premier League's all-time assists table, behind
Ryan Giggs.
[21][22] In 2005, Lampard was voted
FWA Footballer of the Year and was runner-up in both the
FIFA World Player of the Year and the
Ballon d'Or. In 2010 he received the
FWA Tribute Award.
Internationally, Lampard was
capped 106 times by England since his debut in October 1999, and scored 29 international 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
2006 World Cup qualifying campaign with five goals, and played at three World Cups. He is England's most prolific penalty taker with nine goals, surpassing the previous record holders,
Ron Flowers and
Alan Shearer.
Since April 2015, Lampard serves as a team captain on ITV sport panel show
Play to the Whistle.
(VIA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lampard)
