Frank Lampard - Player Profile

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

Lampard was born in Romford, Havering, England. He is the son of Frank Lampard Sr., the former England full back and two-time FA Cup winner with West Ham United. His family is related to another famous footballing family, the Redknapps. Lampard was educated at Brentwood School, a boys' independent school in Brentwood, Essex.

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 has won the English Premiership twice (with Chelsea, 2004-05 and 2005-06), the F.A. Cup (with Chelsea, 2007) twice the League Cup (with Chelsea, 2005 and 2007), the FA Community Shield (with Chelsea, 2005), and the UEFA Intertoto Cup (with West Ham, 1999).

In November 2005 he was named runner-up to Brazilian midfielder Ronaldinho in the European Footballer of the Year awards. A month later he finished in second place, once again behind Ronaldinho, in the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year awards. He was also named FWA Footballer of the Year in 2005.

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, his first in senior football against Brighton & Hove Albion, before returning to West Ham United in January, 1996.

Lampard's debut for West Ham came on 31 January 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 15 March 1997, ending his season prematurely.

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 the 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 had formed the core of a talented young 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 Aston Villa and Leeds United, Lampard chose to remain in London by joining Chelsea for a fee in the region of £11m.

Lampard has scored 90 goals for Chelsea (as of 13 May 2007), making him the top goalscorer currently at the club, and 10th highest in total. He is also the highest-scoring midfielder in Chelsea's history, having passed Dennis Wise's record of 76 goals on 17 December 2006.

Lampard is regularly accused by rival fans and as The Guardian puts it, "Frankophobes", of scoring goals from deflections. However, a report from The Guardian newspaper shows that only six of his goals (6,7%) for Chelsea have been scored in that way.

Lampard is the holder of the 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. Lampard's 16 goals in the 2005-2006 season is a record for a midfielder in the English Premier League, but this record was beaten by Cristiano Ronaldo on 5 May 2007 in a match against Manchester City.

Personal information

Full name : Frank James Lampard, Jr.

Date of birth : June 20, 1978

Place of birth : Romford, England

Height : 183 cm

Playing position : Midfielder

Club information

Current club : Chelsea

Number : 8

Youth clubs
1994–1995 West Ham United

Senior clubs
1994–2001 West Ham United - 148 apps (24 goals)
1995–1996 Swansea City (loan) - 9 apps (1 goals)
2001– ? Chelsea - 223 apps (61 goals)

National team
1997–2000 England U21 - 16 apps (8 goals)
1998 England B - 1 apps (0 goals)
1999–? England - 54 apps (12 goals)