Frank Lampard

Frank James Lampard, Jr. is a former football player for Chelsea and England who also moved into management after his playing career. He was an attacking central midfielder and is rated as one of the best in the world in his position.

Playing career

Lampard is the son of Frank Lampard Sr, who won the FA Cup twice with West Ham United and also played for England. Lampard developed at the youth academy of West Ham and made his debut for the senior side in January 1996 against Coventry City and after a couple of seasons, he became a Hammers regular. In the summer of 2001 after his father and his uncle and Harry Redknapp left Upton Park, Lampard too decided to move on. He made 148 league appearances and scored 24 goals.

Lampard was snapped up by Chelsea in the summer of 2001 for 11 million pounds. He started slowly at Stamford Bridge and commenced blossoming from his third season onwards. He was best English player in 2004 and 2005 and prospered under Jose Mourinho, winning the Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006.

Lampard was the runner-up to Ronaldinho in the Ballon D’or and the FIFA World Player of the Year awards in 2005 and was named FWA Footballer of the Year in 2005. He has played over 400 matches in all competitions for Chelsea and has scored over 150 goals in all competitions for the club.

Lampard won the Premier League four times with Chelsea, the FA Cup as many times and the Champions League once.

Lampard left Chelsea for Manchester City in 2014 and had a stint with MLS club New York City, before retiring in 2016.

Lampard made his international debut for England in 1999 and has played over 90 matches for his nation and played at Euro 2004 and the 2006 Germany World Cup finals. He also featured for England in the 2010 World Cup finals and Euro 2012.

Managerial career

He led Derby County from May 2018 and guided them to the Championship playoffs. As a result, Chelsea moved to appoint him as their new head coach in July 2019. He lasted less than two years, sacked in January 2021 after falling out with the club's hierarchy with the side in ninth in the Premier League.

He was hired by Everton in January 2022 and helped them narrowly avoid relegation, before being sacked in January 2023. Chelsea re-appointed him on an interim basis as manager in April 2023 after Graham Potter's sacking.