Frank Lampard played almost 200 times for West Ham United, but his relationship with the club’s supporters during his career was strained to say the least.
Lampard’s father, Frank senior, was a West Ham legend, who made 660 appearances for the London club and won two FA Cups. Frank junior came through the youth team at the club and made his first-team debut in January 1996. He was a key player for a few seasons, before crossing the capital to join Chelsea in 2001.
During his time at Upton Park, Frank’s father was the assistant manager to Harry Redknapp, who was Frank’s uncle, and suggestions of nepotism were commonplace amongst some Hammers.
Lampard’s subsequent career, which saw him win three Premier League titles, the Champions League, four FA Cups and become Chelsea’s record goalscorer with 211 goals from midfield, as well as play over 100 times for England, proved that such claims were completely unfounded. He was good enough to play, regardless of who the manager was, but it’s fair to say relations between the midfielder and some West Ham fans was tense from the get-go.
They certainly got worse as Lampard’s career progressed, and the midfielder regularly faced a hostile reception when he returned to Upton Park with Chelsea.
“I was so tense for that game, I was either useless or the opposite and I scored,” Lampard said on BT Sport’s show Premier League Tonight.
“I used to get tense and up for it because they always used to hammer me. My first years going back there, I wanted to do so well to try prove them wrong, ’cause they were giving me so much stick. And then I scored a few years in, and I sort of lost the shackles and started scoring regularly.”
Rio Ferdinand, another former Hammer who came through the ranks with Lampard, appeared alongside the former England midfielder and Martin Keown on the show, and said that he “always felt the West Ham fans were bang out of order” for their treatment of their former player.
“You don’t do that to one of your own,” Rio said. Then Lampard revealed that, even when he played for the club, some of the supporters would give him stick.
“I used to get told to sit down when I was warming up,” he said.
“Go and sit down fat boy!”
You can watch Lampard, Ferdinand and Keown here:
