Thursday 14th June 2001, the BBC announced the signing of Frank Lampard from West Ham to Chelsea Football Club.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/1388696.stm

...and he soon settled into his new surroundings.

The rest? Well, how long have you got? He was with us before Roman came rolling in, here when it looked like Chelsea FC may not last for very much longer and here when we had no real chance at any sort of a trophy (damn you Ray Parlor). From 2001 - 2004 Frank ran our midfield but with little to show for it, oh how things change...

To come: Champions, champions again, champions thrice, fan love, penalties, celebrations, badge kisses, away days, hattricks, adverts, FA cups, training shots, with JT, with Mourinho, early years, Carling cups, England, record breaker, Europa, Shields, the holy grail and much more.

Feel free to add your own as we go on.

Anyone care to cast their mind back to 30th April 2005, Reebok stadium?

 

Frank scored both goals to give us the 2-0 win and subsequently clinch our fist ever Premier League trophy and the 2nd championship in our History. Pretty sure well all know where we were watching that game, what we did when we scored, at the final whistle...

 

They were some goal celebrations...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And with those goals we were able to sit through this a week or so later, imagine the pain... 

 

 

 

 

203

 

The fans love him & have always showed their support, as stated by the man himself. Some visual loving' from the fans

 

 

 

 

 

She tried bless her...

 

 

 

 

 

 

And when flags, signs & banners aren't enough there is always a full on smacker.

 

N1 Gem & ors.

Fantastic player!

'i've got a drug problem! i need to talk to frank!' was the words uttered by my brummie mate in san an bay last year! cracked him up and he had a few beers with him and christine. pity i wasn't there! apparently he loves going down to ibiza!

The pic of a male fan giving him a big wet kiss in Munich while the bloke just to their left looks in total ecstacy is fantastic

Thankks Gem. You particularly must feel the loss and the love :-)

I know this had to be hard for you Gem, in fact I can envision you posting while tears fill your eyes.

 

Thanks 

Thank you Gem for this. Fantastic as always.

 

Frank will certainly be missed, but never forgotten.

The Carling Cup is considered 'the Mickey Mouse' by some but it started something that none of us thought would happen, trophy after trophy after trophy... Good memories... Frank's scuffle with Fabregas being a highlight of course, but I won't post pictures to sour the celebrations. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amsterdam. Frank's last trophy with us and, like Munich, was the captain. Never let any opposition fan, or indeed some of our own, say that this isn't a major trophy. Just because English teams seem to snub their noses to it isn't our problem - Frank has won it all and looks pretty chuffed with it too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loving your work.

 

 A Magnus Hedman sighting too.

Not enough was ever made of this moment.

2009 FA Cup Final - I was there, Frank scored, it was lovely weather (I'm English, I must comment in the weather) & we lost our quickest goal record... but hey-ho, it's all about the trophy at the end of the day. Our first FA cup in changed stripped?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Captain & vice captain, England colleagues, spine of the most successful CFC team ever, best buds by the looks of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thank you so much for uploading these images Gem. It brings back so many happy memories!

 

I love reflecting on Frank's brilliant career at the club! Makes me so proud that he was associated with Chelsea and we were blessed to have him in our squad for the past 13 years. 

Edited June 3, 201412 yr by Jezz

Cracking pictures, Gem. Thanks for posting. Was a joy to see Frank play for Chelsea.

And a few more, nicked from the official site:

 

Shortly after signing for the club from West Ham United in 2001, Lampard took a seat in the East Stand at Stamford Bridge to be snapped by the assembled photographers.

 

His Chelsea debut came on the opening day of the 2001/02 campaign in a 1-1 draw against Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge. His fellow debutant Boudewijn Zenden had opened the scoring for the Blues before we were pegged back.

 

The first of many. Lampard opened his Chelsea account with a close-range finish in a 3-0 win against Levski Sofia in the UEFA Cup. Here, he is congratulated by team-mates Zenden, Gianfranco Zola and Jody Morris.

 

Lampard's first taste of the Champions League group stage came at the start of the 2003/04 campaign away at Sparta Prague. It was a competition which, in the years to come, would be littered with highs and lows.

 

Lampard scored the first of two goals in a 2-0 win away at Tottenham in January 2005. It was an important victory as we chased a first Premier League title in 50 years

 

It was another Lampard brace, this time at Bolton Wanderers, which secured the title. Here he celebrates after scoring his second, with the Chelsea bench in the background on their feet.

 

So often team-mates on the international stage, Lampard shook hands with Liverpool's Steven Gerrard in October 2005 after we'd beaten the Merseyside outfit 4-1 at Anfield. Lampard had opened the scoring from the penalty spot.

 

Lampard was rewarded for his impressive performances over the course of 2005 when he was runner up to Ronaldinho in the FIFA World Player of the Year awards, with future Chelsea team-mate Samuel Eto'o voted into third place.

 

In the photo above, Lampard celebrates on an open-top bus after the Blues secured a second consecutive League title in 2005/06.

 

During his time as a Chelsea player Lampard had a knack of scoring against West Ham, his former employers. Here, he nets from the penalty spot at Upton Park on our way to a 4-0 victory in 2008.

 

The 2009/10 season will go down in history as we clinched a Premier League and FA Cup double for the very first time. Lampard scored the second goal in a 2-0 win at Liverpool, a result which all but secured the championship.

 

In the absence of John Terry, Lampard skippered the side in the 2012 Champions League final against Bayern Munich. After 120 minutes of football had failed to separate the sides it was down to penalties, and the midfielder made no mistake with his strike in the triumphant shoot-out.

 

The following season he surpassed Bobby Tambling's record to become the club's all-time highest goalscorer. It was a brace at Villa Park which took him past the former Chelsea striker and here he salutes the travelling Blues faithful at the final whistle.

 

Lampard poses with Tambling at the 2012/13 Player of the Year ceremony after being handed a special recognition award.

 

Goal number 211. His last in a Chelsea shirt came in a 3-0 win against Stoke City back in April. Lampard's penalty had been saved by Asmir Begovic but he reacted quickest to fire home the rebound in front of the Matthew Harding Stand, the scene of so many of his memorable strikes for the club.

 

 

 

Edited June 3, 201412 yr by FLYMJ

One from the 2005 parade:

 

 

4 legends