Player Profiles
Frank Lampard
Frank James Lampard was born on 20 June 1978 in Romford, London. He plays in the midfield position for Chelsea and International Football for England.
Lampards father Frank Lampard senior played for West Ham which is were Frank Lampard junior started his career. His senior debut came in the 1997-98 season, which saw West Ham finish fifth in the league, their best Premier League positioning to date (not including the old first division).
It was in 2001 that Lampard transferred to Chelsea for a staggering £11 million. Lampard is a great influence and key part for Chelsea by helping them win two Premier League titles and domestic double cup winners in 2007. He has also developed in becoming a great goal scorer for club and country.
In 2009, Lampard was named as the Premier League’s Player of the decade, this was also a good year as it saw him score 22 league goals and helping Chelsea win the 2009-10 Premier League title and the F.A Cup.
He is in the clubs and premier league history by becoming the midfielder scoring the most league goals, he has also been awarded as being chosen as Player of the Year on three occasions.
In 2005 Lampard was voted second as the FIFA World Player of the Year and also England’s Player of the year in 2004 and 2005.
In 1997 Lampard made his debut for the England under 21′s, he has been capped on 82 occasions, his first cap game was in 1999 and he has now scored 20 goals for them. He has played in two World Cups for England, 2006 in which he scored five goals and was Englands top goal scorer, and four goals helped England qualify in 2010 in which he played in all games.
Individual Achievements
2005 FIFA World Player of the Year – Silver Award
2005 Ballon d’Or – Silver Award
2005 FWA Footballer of the year
2008 UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year
2005 PFA Fans Player of the Year
2005 England Player of the Year
2004 England Player of the Year
September 2003, April 2005, October 2005 and October 2008
Premier League Player of the Month
2006, 2006
Barclays Player of the Season
2004, 2005, 2009
Chelsea Player of the Year
His autobiography, Totally Frank, was published in August 2006.
Joe Hart
Charles Joseph John Hart was born 19 April 1987 in Shrewsbury. He now plays for Manchester City and he is also the England’s first choice goal keeper.
Whilst he was a student at the Meole Brace Science College in Shrewsbury, he played for Shrewsbury Towns first team. His debut came on 20 April 2004 against Gravesend and Northfleet in the Conference League. He was then not the teams first choice goal keeper until the start of the 2005-06 with Shrewsbury now being in the Football League two. He did not miss one match that season. In October 2005, he received his first England cap as a playing substitute in the under nineteen side.
The Premier teams had started to notice Hart, Everton, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City had been to watch him play. He received the best goal keeper of League Two by the players and it was Manchester City who paid out for Hart on 22 May 2006.
His debut in the Premier League came in October 2006, whilst City had their number one goal keeper injured. He kept a clean sheet for them against Sheffield United.
Hart was then put on loan and went to Tranmere Rovers for a month and then on loan to Blackpool to cover their first team goal keeper who was injured. He made a good impression with the Seasiders, they won all the games that Hart played in.
Hart then returned to Manchester City and was then named as their number one goal keeper. The City manager Sven Eriksson said Hart was one of the biggest talents in England. It was not long after that his first senior International came in June 2008 against Trinidad and Tobago.
The arrival of Shay Given at Manchester City saw Hart as second choice in 2009 and he did not play any more games, this followed a loan to Birmingham City for the 2009-10 season, his performance and sharpness improved and helped Birmingham City to a club record of twelve unbeaten matches. This was a excellent year for Hart as he was voted as Player of the Year and was nominated as PFA Young Player of the Year.
Hart has now returned to Manchester City and has been chosen above Shay Given as the number one for his club and country. Hart will have his first England start and earn Shrewsbury Town a bonus of £500.00 as part of his transfer contract he signed in 2006.
Paul Scholes
Paul Scholes was born in Salford, Manchester on the 16th November 1974 (now aged 35). He plays in a midfield position for Manchester United and also has played for England but is now retired, most people would think this is unfortunate. He has spent his entire career with Manchester United, and he has been described by Zinedine Zidane as one of the greatest midfielders of this generation.
Scholes was spotted by a scout in his school at the age of 14 and then made his debut in 1994 with 17 league appearances that season. He has played a key role with Manchester United by winning nine Premier League medals. He also had England Caps from 1997 to 2004, which he was involved in two world cups with his country. Scholes has now made over 600 appearances for Manchester United, with 150 goals, 100 bookings and 7 sending offs.
Scholes turned professional in July 1993 along side future team mates David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Gary and Phil Neville and also the likes of Nicky Butt. He then made his breakthrough to the senior team in the 1994-95 season. His debut was in a game in which he scored twice, a 2-1 victory over Port Vale in the League Cup. That same season he came on as a substitute in the 1995 FA Cup Final but Manchester United lost 1-0 against Everton.The next season turned out to be a good year for Scholes having won his first Premier League medal and scoring fourteen goals in all the competitions that year. In 1998-99 season Scholes was a key player for that season as Manchester United picked up the treble, winning the Premier League Title, FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League. Another good season was 2002-03 in which Scholes scored twenty goals in all competitions but this dipped to fourteen the year after.
In 2005-06 campaign there were fears that he could end his career with blurred vision, it is still uncertain what the cause was and whether he still has this problem. He came back to play in the final game of that season with no problem. In October 2006 Scholes played his five hundredth game for Manchester United.
He was short listed to become in the English Football Hall of Fame in 2007 but this finally went to Dennis Bergkemp, the next year this was awarded to him. Unfortunately the 2007-2008 season see him suffer a damaged knee ligament which made him out of action until February. That same year he made his hundredth Champions League appearance, a goal for Scholes in the semi and then Manchester United went to win in the final.
The 600th appearance came in April 2009 with a win for Manchester United against Portsmouth. There were some important goals for Scholes and his team in the 2009-10 season. He scored a goal against Besiktas in the Champions League, two goals against CSKA Moscow in that same competition, a goal came in the league cup against rivals Manchester City and also another goal in the big Champion League Competition against the big giants of Milan. Manchester United won this 3-2. This year he announced he may retire after this season, but the contributions and performances he has made so far may well make him continue beyond 2010-11.
