Frank
Lampard Biography – Preview -
Opinions are divided when it comes to saying
whether Frank Lampard made Chelsea famous, or Chelsea made Frank
Lampard famous.
I can't promise you that you'll find the answer to this in the upcoming
biography, but I can promise that you'll know more about this fabulous
midfielder's career and even if you already formed an opinion
on him, it's subject to change. Trade me 5 minutes of your time in
reading this Frank Lampard biography and you'll not be disappointed.
Frank Lampard
Biography – West Ham United Youth Born in Romford, a suburb of London, Frank
Lampard was surrounded by
soccer during his entire childhood. His father, Frank Lampard Senior
was a full back for West Ham United for many years, having won two FA
Cups with the London-based team. He is also related to another famous
English footballer, namely Harry Redknapp.
Full
name
Frank
James Lampard, Jr.
Date
of birth
June
20, 1978
Place
of birth
Romford,
England
Height
6.0FT
- 1.83M
Playing
position
Midfielder
Therefore, it was only natural
that Frank Lampard junior would be
attracted to soccer and despite taking up on soccer rather late, at age
15, he managed to get in the West Ham United youth squad where he
played for two seasons, before drawing the
attention of the first squad.
Frank
Lampard
Biography – Swansea City Loan Period - Although
valued by both the fans
and the
club's staff as a future first squad player for
West Ham, Lampard went on to Swansea City in the 1995/1996 season, in
order to get some match experience.
Although not being
the first
choice for central midfielder at Swansea either, he grabbed 9 games
that season. He even managed to score a goal, but Lampard was not
satisfied with his reserve status and returned to West Ham in
January 1996.
Season
Club
Games
Goals
1994–2001
West
Ham United
148
24
1995–1996
Swansea
City (loan)
9
1
2001–06/07
Chelsea
223
61
Frank
Lampard Biography – West Ham United - After
the short Premiership
break in January,
Frank Lampard was immediately awarded his first game for West Ham,
against Coventry City, however his reserve status
was still hanging hard across his neck.
As if not
getting enough
matches wasn't enough of a problem for the talented midfielder, when he
did get a chance to play, he suffered a horrible injury
that threatened to end his career, breaking his right leg in a game
against Aston Villa, at the end of the 1996/1997 season.
Despite
recovering from the
injury, the 1997/1998 season was equally harsh for him, although a
moment of joy occurred when he scored his first goal
for West Ham in an away win against Barnsley.
Developing
into a quality
midfielder now, Lampard managed to earn his place in the first
squad and when he was given a chance, he took it with both
hands: he managed to play in all of West Ham's games in the 1998-1999
season, with only a few of these games seeing him enter the pitch off
the bench, as a substitute.
At the end
of the season
however, his father and his uncle, Harry Redknapp, left West Ham and
Frank was set to move on as well. Despite being offered by Aston Villa
or Leeds, he decided to stay closer to home and signed the contract
offered to him by Chelsea London.
Frank Lampard
Biography – Chelsea - Lampard as
lucky enough to
transfer to Chelsea
before billionaire Roman Abramovici bought the team
and started building a squad of star players that would dominate the
English league and Europe.
In his two
seasons prior to
Abramovici, Lampard managed to win a place in Chelsea's first squad and
became a decisive player in the offensive end. This fact and the fans'
support kept him in the team even after the massive transfers that came
with the new club owner and from there on, Frank Lampard started to
slowly, but surely rise to stardom.
Years
National
Team
Games
Goals
1999–06/07
England
54
12
In the
following two seasons,
Frank Lampard managed to be named runner-up European Football Player
of the Year, each time beaten by Brazilian superstar
Ronaldinho.
Besides
winning the league
twice, in 2005 and 2006 (many of Chelsea's wins were decided by Frank
Lampard goals in these two successful years) he was called regularly to
the national side. Having a
solid midfield in
Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, England
was expected to pull off a great 2006 World Cup, but unfortunately none
of the two midfielders were in their best form and England pulled a
disappointing
run.
Since then,
Lampard entered a
mild cone of shadow, But don't worry; he'll get back in full force, as
Chelsea will most likely push on for another Premiership title and a
first
success in Champions League.
