Frank Lampard

West Ham United

Lampard began his career at West Ham United, his father's former club, joining the youth team in 1994, his schoolboy hero being West Ham striker Frank McAvennie. Lampard joined West Ham when his father was the assistant coach, entering as an apprentice in the youth team in 1994 and signing a professional contract the following year. He went on loan to Second Division club Swansea City in October 1995, debuting in his team's victory 2–0 over Bradford City and scoring his first career goal in a match against Brighton & Hove Albion. Lampard played nine times for Swansea before returning to West Ham in January 1996.

1995–97: Development

Lampard made his debut for West Ham on 31 January 1996 against Coventry City coming on as a substitute for John Moncur. His only other game of the season was the season's last, on 5 May 1996, a 1–1 home draw with Sheffield Wednesday when Lampard was used as a substitute for Keith Rowland. The following season Lampard made his first start for West Ham, on 17 August 1996, in a 2–0 away defeat to Arsenal before being substituted for Robbie Slater. Lampard's season ended on 15 March 1997 when he sustained a broken leg during an away, 0–0 draw, against Aston Villa. Carried from the pitch on a stretcher, his 31st-minute substitute was Rio Ferdinand. The game also saw his first booking as a West Ham player. Lampard claims to have been jeered from the pitch by West Ham United supporters, an action which made him…

Youth and early career

Lampard was capped by England at youth level before making his under-21 debut on 13 November 1997 in a match against Greece. He played for the under-21 side from November 1997 to June 2000, and scored nine goals in 19 appearances, a mark bettered only by Alan Shearer and Francis Jeffers. He was capped once by England B, playing in a 2–1 home defeat against Chile on 10 February 1998. On 10 October 1999, Lampard debuted for the England senior squad in a 2–1 friendly win over Belgium. He scored his first goal on 20 August 2003 in a 3–1 win over Croatia. He was part of the team at the FA Summer Tournament (Manchester) 2004, which England won. He was overlooked for Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup, and had to wait until Euro 2004 to take part in his first international competition. England reached the quarter-finals with Lampard scoring three goals in four matches. He scored against France and Croatia in the group stages. In the quarter-final, he equalised for England in the 112th minute against Portugal, bringing the scoreline to 2–2 but England lost on penalties. He was named in the team of the tournament by UEFA.

2004–10: UEFA Euro 2004 and 2006 FIFA World Cup

He became a regular in the squad following the retirement of Paul Scholes, and was voted England Player of the Year by fans in 2004 and 2005. He was England's top-scorer in their 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign, with five goals. He scored two crucial goals in the qualifiers,…

Regarded by some pundits, managers, and teammates as one of the greatest players of his generation, Lampard was an all-round and versatile box-to-box player, who was capable of playing anywhere in midfield; throughout his career he was deployed as a central midfielder, as an attacking midfielder, as a defensive midfielder, and even as a supporting striker on occasion. He was also deployed as a deep-lying playmaker on occasion, in particular in his later career, due to his ability to build attacks with his passing. A hard-working player, with notable stamina and an ability to read the game, Lampard was also capable of functioning creatively and starting attacking plays or providing assists for teammates after winning back possession, due to his technique, vision, and passing range. In addition to his creative and defensive midfield duties, Lampard also possessed a keen eye for goal, due to his ability to get forward and make late attacking runs from behind into the penalty area, or produce accurate and powerful shots from distance. These attributes enabled him to maintain a prolific goalscoring record throughout his career, despite his deep playing position. Moreover, Lampard was also an accurate set-piece and penalty kick taker, who was known for scoring with powerful, low driving shots from free kicks. Beyond his qualities as a footballer, he also stood out for his leadership throughout his career. In 2017, Gareth Southgate labelled Lampard as one of the group of England's…

Derby County

On 31 May 2018, Lampard was appointed as manager of Championship club Derby County on a three-year contract. His first game in charge, on 3 August, resulted in a 2–1 away win for Derby at Reading, with Tom Lawrence scoring a last-minute winner. His first loss as a manager came on 11 August in a 4–1 loss against Leeds United, in his second match in charge. On 25 September, in just his 12th game as a manager, Lampard's Derby County knocked Premier League club Manchester United out of the EFL Cup on penalties, following a 2–2 draw at Old Trafford. After a 2–0 defeat in the return fixture against Leeds United at Elland Road on 11 January 2019 to further Leeds' lead at the top of the Championship table, Lampard was critical of Leeds head coach Marcelo Bielsa, as in the pre-match build-up Bielsa admitted he had sent a spy to the Derby training ground, after reports emerged in the press that a man was spotted the previous day outside the Derby training ground. On 12 January, Leeds United released a statement in response to the incident. Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino described the incident as 'not a big deal' and commonplace in Argentina. In his first season in charge of Derby, Lampard guided the club to the Championship play-offs after helping them finish 6th in the 2018–19 Championship season. In the semi-finals of the play-offs, Derby overturned a 0–1 home loss to win 4–2 away against Leeds United and claim the tie 4–3 on aggregate, setting up…

Lampard started for the youth team of West Ham United in 1964. He debuted for West Ham United in November 1967 in a 3–2 home defeat by Manchester City, and quickly established himself in his preferred left-back position. Lampard was awarded a testimonial game by West Ham on 2 November 1976; a West Ham XI playing Fulham at the Boleyn Ground resulting in a 3–1 win for West Ham. At club level, he won two FA Cups with West Ham, in 1975 and 1980, and the old second division title in 1981. By the time he left the club on a free transfer at the end of the 1984–85 season, Lampard had played 660 games, scored 22 goals and become one of the most celebrated players to pull on the claret and blue shirt. He wore the number 3. He moved to Southend United for the 1985–86 season, then managed by another ex-West Ham star Bobby Moore and made 38 appearances for the Essex club before retiring.

At international level, Lampard won four England Under-23 caps and debuted for the England senior national team against Yugoslavia in October 1972.

From 1994 to 2001, he returned to West Ham to serve as assistant manager under Harry Redknapp, his brother-in-law.

On 24 November 2008, Lampard was appointed as a football consultant to new Watford manager Brendan Rodgers. and then followed Rodgers to Reading in June 2009 to take up a similar role at the Madejski Stadium in June 2009. Lampard left Reading when Rodgers departed by mutual consent on 17 December 2009.

Lampard was born in East Ham, in 1948 to Frank Richard Lampard (1920–1953) and Hilda Drucilla (or Drusilla) Stiles (1928–2014). He has a sister, Gwendoline (born 1950), who is two years younger than him. He was only five years old when his father died in 1953, aged 33.