Frank Lampard
Frank James Lampard was born on 20th June, 1978, in Romford, London.
Frank Lampard plays in midfield for Chelsea and England. His father, Frank Lampard senior also played for England. His cousin is Jamie Redknapp and his uncle is the manager, Harry Redknapp.
Redknapp and Frank Lampard senior were on the managerial side of West Ham when Frank was emerging through the Hammers' youth system but in 2001 Frank Lampard left Upton Park after the departure both of his father; and Rio Ferdinand, one of his close friends, to Leeds. He was bought by Chelsea for £11.5m.
During Frank Lampard's first two seasons at Stamford Bridge he seemed bogged down by his huge transfer fee and his good performances were outclassed by Gianfranco Zola's magical play.
However, in his third season there he shined for Chelsea and was the only outfield player to play every single league match in the 2003-04 season.
Frank Lampard became vice-captain of Chelsea and a firm favourite with the fans with his high scoring rate as a midfielder.
Lampard has become known for his pin-point shooting from the edge of the box and his wide range of passing.
In 2004-05 he was voted English Player of the Year after guiding Chelsea to the Premiership crown and the League Cup.
On the international scene, Frank Lampard didn't play a part in the 2002 World Cup despite making his England debut in 1999 against Belgium.
However, with Paul Scholes's retirement, Lampard was called up after good form for his club and played a major part in Euro 2004 scoring 3 goals and he became a regular starter for England.
In August 2005, Frank Lampard's fiancee, Elen Rives, gave birth to their first child, Luna.
In the run-up to Lampard's record-breaking 160th consecutive Premiership match when Chelsea played Portsmouth in November 2005, Jose Mourinho said he would not swap Frank Lampard for Ronaldinho "or any other player". Remarkably, Lampard had not missed a Premiership game since Oct 13, 2001.
Also in November 2005, Lampard came second to Ronaldinho in the European Footballer of the Year - the award known as the Ballon D'Or - voted for by European football journalists selected by French magazine France Football.
Frank Lampard was part of England's 2006 World Cup squad, but did not perform to his best and along with Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher missed his penalty in the losing shoot-out against Portugal.
On 30 April 2008, six days after his mother's death, Frank Lampard scored an extra-time penalty, which helped Chelsea to a 4-3 aggregate victory over Liverpool in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Frank Lampard biography by Ben Rosenbaum
Help us to keep Biogs free, please fill out this quick anonymous survey.
