Frank James Lampard, Jr., (born June 20, 1978) is an English football player currently at Chelsea and previously with West Ham United and Swansea City. Lampard is well known for the dynamic way he plays and for his powerful long-range scoring threat from midfield. He is also considered one of the best midfielders of his generation in world football.

Lampard was born in Romford, Havering, England. He is the son of Frank Lampard Sr., former England fullback and two-time FA Cup winner with West Ham United. His family are related to another famous footballing family, the Redknapps. Both of the families have firm East End London roots.

An England national team regular, Lampard is acknowledged as one of the most improved players in English football over the past three years. He is most renowned for his goal scoring; as of 3 December 2005 he has scored 129 career goals, including 60 goals for Chelsea and 10 goals for England. However, Lampard is more than a goal-scorer; he is a complete midfielder with excellent box to box qualities.

He has won the FA Community Shield (with Chelsea, 2005), the English Premiership twice (with Chelsea, 2004-05 and 2005-06), the League Cup (with Chelsea, 2005) and the UEFA Intertoto Cup (with West Ham, 1999). He has also been capped 38 times for England.

In November 2005 he was named the second best player in Europe, losing out in the European Footballer of the Year awards to the Brazilian midfielder Ronaldinho. A month later he finished in second place, once again behind Ronaldinho, in the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year awards.

Playing career

West Ham United and Swansea City

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, before returning to West Ham in January, 1996. Lampard's debut for West Ham came on January 31, 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 March 15, 1997, which ended his season. 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.

Around this time, Lampard was spotted by Peter Taylor, the England Under-21 manager, and selected for the team. His U21 debut came on November 13, 1997, in Crete against Greece.

The 1998-99 season was a prolific one for 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. He made his first appearance for the senior England team, starting in a friendly against Belgium, in Sunderland, on October 10, 1999.

Although Lampard was not selected in the England side for EURO 2000, he captained the England U21 side in the 2000 U21 European Championship. His final appearance for the U21 team was in June 2000 in an away match against Slovakia. Lampard was a fixture in the West Ham first team, making 187 appearances and scoring a total 39 goals in all competitions in his 6 years at the club. But this regularity in appearance was not appreciated by everyone at the club. Lampard's father, Frank Lampard Sr, was the first team coach and there were accusations of nepotism.

Lampard had formed the core of a successful 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 interest from Aston Villa, Lampard chose to remain in London by joining Chelsea. He later revealed he had no compassion left for West Ham and its fans.

Chelsea

Lampard signed for Chelsea on May 15, 2001 for £11 million, one of the first signings of then Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri. Lampard's improvement at Stamford Bridge has been spectacular. His first two seasons were sometimes bogged down by his massive transfer fee and later eclipsed by the scintillating form of Gianfranco Zola, but in his third season there, with the arrival of Roman Abramovich, he fully blossomed, establishing himself as a regular of the multi-million pound Chelsea squad, and a fans' favourite.

Lampard made his debut for Chelsea in a pre-season game against Leyton Orient on July 26, 2001, and scored his first goal for the club in another pre-season match, against Northampton Town, a 7-1 away victory, on August 1, 2001. His Premiership debut for Chelsea came on August 19, 2001, in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle United. Despite being sent off in only his fourth Premiership game for Chelsea, against Tottenham Hotspur on September 16, 2001, the only dismissal of his career, he had a fruitful first season, missing only one match and scoring seven goals in all competitions.

Lampard again failed to make the England squad for a major competition, as he was left out of the 23-member squad for the World Cup finals in June 2002 in Japan and South Korea. In the 2002-03 season for Chelsea, Lampard was at his regular best again, not missing a match throughout the campaign. He scored eight goals in all competitions as Chelsea finished fourth in the Premiership, giving Lampard the chance to play in the UEFA Champions League for the first time in his career.

The next season turned out to be extremely productive for Lampard. He was selected in the England squad for a friendly against Croatia on August 20, 2003, and scored his first goal for the country as England won 3-1. He also had an impressive start to the season with his club, being selected as the Barclays Player of the Month in September 2003 and the PFA Fans' Player of the Month in October. Chelsea reached the semi-final of the Champions League before being eliminated by AS Monaco, with Lampard scoring four goals in fourteen games. They also finished second in the Premiership behind Arsenal. This display for the club earned Lampard a place in the England team for the match against Iceland in the FA's Summer Tournament before EURO 2004, and he scored his second international goal as England won 6-1.

He was then selected in the squad for EURO 2004 in Portugal. England reached the quarter-finals with Lampard having an exceptional tournament. He scored three goals in four matches and was named in the official EURO 2004 All-Star squad by the UEFA technical study group. With Paul Scholes's retirement from international football, Lampard finally became a fixture in Sven-Göran Eriksson's squad.

The 2004-05 season was one of the most successful in Chelsea's history, and Lampard was at its centre. He played in all 38 of the club's Premiership matches, scoring thirteen goals, remarkable for a midfielder, helping Chelsea to win their first title for 50 years by a 12-point margin. He scored another four goals in the Champions League as Chelsea made the semi-finals for the second successive year. His two goals in six matches were also instrumental in his club's League Cup victory. So impressive was his form during the Champions League and league run that former Brazilian captain Carlos Alberto and Dutch footballer Johann Cruyff both referred to him as one of Europe's best midfielders. Lampard was voted English Footballer of the Year and earned the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year in 2005.

Despite being a midfielder, Lampard has an impressive scoring ratio since signing for Chelsea, and a keen eye for goal. His ability to time his runs into the box as well as his accuracy from long range have made him one of the most prolific midfielders in Europe. Lampard also has an impressive passing range, and contributes heavily to the Chelsea side through his goal assists. He is usually Chelsea's first choice penalty and free-kick taker as well. He is also second choice captain of the club, behind John Terry.

He has scored 16 goals in the Premiership in the current season, 2005-06, two goals in five Champions League matches, and two more in domestic cup action. His form has continued to impress, and in October 2005, after a Premiership match against Blackburn at Stamford Bridge, manager José Mourinho declared him the "best player in the world", a sentiment echoed days earlier by Matthias Sammer in a Kicker interview.

His goal from the penalty spot against Austria in the October 8, 2005 World Cup qualifier helped England qualify for the World Cup finals to be held in Germany in 2006.

In September 2005 Lampard was selected as a member of the World XI at the FIFPro awards. The team was chosen by a vote of professional footballers in 40 countries. In Winter 2005 he was voted runner-up twice to Ronaldinho, firstly in the European Footballer of the Year award, and secondly in the Fifa World Player of the Year Award.

Lampard is the holder of the all-time 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 Premier League.

Personal

Frank belongs to an illustrious football family. Apart from his father, his uncle Harry Redknapp is also a former England international. He currently manages premiership side Portsmouth F.C.. Lampard's cousin, Jamie Redknapp, has played 17 games for the England football team, and has also played club football for Southampton FC, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool F.C. and AFC Bournemouth. Lampard is currently engaged to Elen Rives, who gave birth to the couple's first child, a girl called Luna Patricia Lampard, in August 2005. He is learning Spanish, which has been the partial cause of speculation linking him with a move to the Primera Liga, until he revealed it was to ensure Luna became bilingual. Frank featured in a "Super Goals" advertising campaign for The Sun newspaper in England during Sep/Oct 2005.

He is the only current member of the England team to have gone to a private school, having attended the independent, £10,000 a year, Brentwood School in Essex.

Honours

• English Premier League (2005-06)
• FA Community Shield (2005)
• English Premier League (2004-05)
• League Cup (2005)
• FA Premier Asia Cup (2003)
• UEFA Intertoto Cup (1998)