Lampard inducted into Premier League Hall of Fame

Chelsea legend Frank Lampard is the latest player to be inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame.

Three-time league winner Lampard, 42, who also played for West Ham and Manchester City, scored 177 goals in 609 games – a record for a midfielder – and registered 102 assists.

The former Chelsea boss joins Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Eric Cantona and Roy Keane as an inductee.

Lampard is also Chelsea’s all-time leading goalscorer.

“As a young lad I remember just wanting to make it in to the West Ham team, and looking up to players like Roy Keane, Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry, so to be mentioned in the same bracket as them is a real honour,” said Lampard, who retired in 2017.

Lampard began his career at West Ham before leaving for Chelsea in 2001, winning back-to-back Premier League titles in 2004-05 and 2005-06 and again in 2009-10. He was also named Premier League Player of the Season for 2004-05.

Lampard joined Manchester City for one season in 2014-15 before closing out his career playing for New York City.

He joined Derby County as manager in 2018 and returned to Chelsea in 2019 as head coach, replacing Maurizio Sarri. He guided his old club to fourth in the Premier League and reached the FA Cup final in his first season, before he was sacked in January 2021.

Lampard, Cantona and Keane are among the six inductees to the Hall of Fame being announced this week. They have been selected from a 23-man shortlist based on the most combined votes from the public and a Premier League panel.

Full 23-man shortlist

Tony Adams, David Beckham, Dennis Bergkamp, Sol Campbell, Eric Cantona, Andrew Cole, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba, Les Ferdinand, Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard, Matt Le Tissier, Michael Owen, Peter Schmeichel, Paul Scholes, John Terry, Robin van Persie, Nemanja Vidic, Patrick Viera, Ian Wright.

Source: BBC