One of English football s greatest midfielders, Frank Lampard announced his retirement on Thursday, ending a 21-year career in which he fulfilled his potential and experienced much success.
The Chelsea and England
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legend brings the curtain down on a career that saw him win the Premier League three times and the Champions League in 2011-12.
Lampard tasted success in the FA Cup four times, the League Cup twice as well as lifting the Europa League in 2012-13.
He never managed international glory, but with 177 goals and 102 assists in 609 Premier League appearances and 29 goals from 106 England caps, Lampard has much to look back on with fondness.
Here we reflect on some of the highs – and lows – from his glittering career.
HIGHS
BOLTON DOUBLE CLINCHES TITLE
Lampard made the switch from West Ham to Chelsea in 2001 and the arrival of Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge prompted the first major trophies of his career in 2005.
Mourinho, having joined Chelsea after guiding Porto to improbable Champions League glory, masterminded a dominant campaign as the Blues lifted the
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League Cup and finished 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League.
And Lampard played a pivotal role in Chelsea s first Premier League title, scoring 13 league goals, and his double in a 2-0 win at Bolton Wanderers wrapped up the championship.
SECOND IN BALLON D OR AND WORLD PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Lampard received international recognition after helping Chelsea to that maiden Premier League crown.
He was second behind only Ronaldinho, the Barcelona superstar widely regarded as the best in the world at the time, in both the Ballon d Or and FIFA World Player of the Year voting.
If Lampard was disappointed by not winning either award, he could take solace in the fact he finished above Liverpool contemporary Steven Gerrard in the Ballon d Or voting.
A CHAMPIONS LEAGUE MIRACLE IN MUNICH
Chelsea s stunning semi-final victory over Barcelona in the 2011-12 Champions League had come despite captain John Terry being sent off in the second leg.
His dismissal meant Lampard was the stand-in skipper for the most famous night in the history of the club.
Chelsea were once again the underdogs against Bayern Munich – playing in their home stadium – but, after Thomas Muller and Didier Drogba traded late goals, Roberto Di Matteo s men prevailed on penalties.
Lampard scored from the spot and Drogba converted the winning kick after misses from Ivica Olic and Bastian Schweinsteiger to secure European glory.
TAMBLING S RECORD SENT TUMBLING
The season after skippering Chelsea to Champions League success, Lampard further etched his name into the record books.
A left-foot finish at Aston Villa saw him equal Bobby Tambling s club goalscoring record, and he promptly surpassed that mark with a close-range winner in a 2-1 success.
A week later Lampard was the captain as Chelsea lifted another European trophy, Branislav Ivanovic s stoppage-time header sealing a 2-1 defeat of Benfica in the Europa League final.
250 UP AGAINST STOKE
In what proved his final season at Stamford Bridge, Lampard reached another milestone in a 3-0 win over Stoke City.
A rebound from a rare missed penalty saw Lampard net the 250th goal of his club career in an otherwise uneventful first season of Mourinho s second spell.
Soon afterwards, the end of a Stamford Bridge career that lasted 13 years was confirmed.
WARM RECEPTION DESPITE DENYING CHELSEA AT THE ETIHAD
Lampard signed for New York City following his Chelsea exit, but moved to Manchester City for the start of the 2014-15 season.
And he promptly came back to haunt his former club in a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium in September 2014.
Lampard s late volley denied Chelsea all three points, and he predictably refused to celebrate upon finding the net.
The goal did not leave a sour taste for Chelsea fans, though, the travelling supporters giving Lampard a standing ovation at the final whistle.
LOWS
TEMPESTUOUS WEST HAM EXIT
Having established himself as a West Ham regular a few years earlier, Lampard ended his West Ham career in acrimonious circumstances.
The Hammers form slumped in 2000-01 and manager Harry Redknapp – Lampard s uncle left the club in May.
Lampard s father, who had been serving as Redknapp s assistant, also parted company with the club.
Having previously received criticism for being Redknapp s nephew and the son of the assistant, Lampard opted to end his time at Upton Park, much to Chelsea s benefit.
THE GHOST GOAL
Chelsea s bid to make it a Premier League, League Cup and Champions League treble in 2004-05 was derailed in infamous circumstances.
Lampard scored four goals to help Chelsea to the semis of the continental competition, only for Luis Garcia to send Liverpool through to the final at their expense.
Replays suggested Garcia s effort did not cross the line, and Chelsea s frustration will only have be increased by Liverpool s memorable comeback win over AC Milan in the final.
GERMANY S REVENGE FOR 66
The debate over Geoff Hurst s goal in England s 1966 World Cup final win over West Germany continues to rage on to this day.
But there was no argument over whether Lampard s effort in the last 16 of the 2010 World Cup had crossed the line.
Trailing Germany 2-1, Lampard volleyed in off the bar from the edge of the area, but the goal was not awarded.
Germany went on to win 4-1 and, though goal-line technology was introduced by the next World Cup in 2014, Lampard and England exited in the group stage the midfielder announcing his international retirement soon afterwards.
WHERE S FRANK LAMPARD?
After leaving Chelsea, it was announced Lampard had signed a two-year contract with MLS side New York City FC.
He joined Manchester City in August in what was initially reported as a loan, but what actually turned out to be a six-month contract.
In December 2014, Lampard s stay at the Etihad Stadium was extended until the end of the season, meaning he would miss the start of the 2015 MLS campaign in a move that prompted an angry reaction from New York City fans.
It was later revealed Lampard had never signed a contract with New York but rather a non-binding commitment to join the team.
And, though Lampard confirmed he would move to the MLS at the end of the Premier League season, New York received hundreds of season ticket refund requests and a chant of Where s Frank Lampard was started at the MLS SuperDraft.
SHOOT-OUT WOE IN MOSCOW
Just a month after the loss of his mother, Lampard lined up to play in the 2008 Champions League final for Chelsea against Manchester United.
In the week following his mother s death, Lampard scored a penalty in extra time to knock out Liverpool in the semi-finals and he made an impact in the final, cancelling out Cristiano Ronaldo s opener.
But his efforts would prove in vain as Chelsea were beaten on penalties, Terry slipping as he took his spot-kick amid heavy rain, while Nicolas Anelka also missed to hand United the trophy.
A WASTED GOLDEN GENERATION
With the likes of Lampard, Gerrard, Terry, Ashley Cole and Michael Owen all emerging at the same time and David Beckham and Paul Scholes reaching their prime, Sven-Goran Eriksson s England team of the mid 2000s was dubbed the golden generation .
Lampard had not been present at the 2002 World Cup as England were denied a semi-final place by Ronaldinho s looping free-kick, but both he and a teenage Wayne Rooney were in the squad for Euro 2004.
Rooney scored four times and Lampard found the net on three occasions but England suffered another quarter-final exit, this time at the hands of Portugal, who went on to beat them on penalties again at the 2006 World Cup at the same stage.
Lampard scored in the 2004 shoot-out but missed in 2006 and, after failing to qualify for Euro 2008, by the time England arrived at the 2010 World Cup their window for international success had all but evaporated.
