Chelsea's record goalscorer Frank Lampard has today announced his retirement from football.
The 38 year-old has been without a club since leaving MLS side New York City at the end of last year. Despite receiving several "exciting" offers to continue his careeer, including from Premier League clubs, the former England international has decided to call it a day. He has confirmed he will now concentrate on his coaching badges. He announced his decision to retire in a post on Instagram.
Major honours
"Super Frank", as he was affectionately known by Chelsea supporters, started his career across London at West Ham where he played under his uncle, Harry Redknapp, and his dad, Frank Sr.
He made his debut in 1995, scoring 39 goals in a six-year spell where he also spent time on loan at Swansea City.
He moved to Chelsea for £11m in the summer transfer window of 2001 where he became a regular in Claudio Ranieri's side that reached the 2002 FA Cup final, where they eventually lost 2-0 to Arsenal. After briefly thanking his other clubs West Ham, Manchester City and New York City FC in his statement, Lampard went on to pay tribute to the club where he won 11 major honours, including three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and the Champions League.
'Eternally grateful'
"Of course, the largest part of my heart belongs to Chelsea, a club which has given me so many great memories", he said.
"I will never forget the opportunity they gave me and the success we managed to achieve together. I'm eternally grateful for everything."
After being released by Chelsea in 2014, Lampard joined new MLS side New York City FC but was loaned immediately to their parent club Manchester City. Coincidentally, he scored his first goal for them against Chelsea.
At the end of the 2014-2015 season he finally moved to New York where he spent two seasons, scoring 21 goals including the club's first ever hat-trick.
What a career. Thank you, Frank. #SuperFrank pic.twitter.com/IjolD8EtWp
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) February 2, 2017
Lampard retires having scored 211 goals for Chelsea, beating the previous record held by Bobby Tambling, and 274 throughout his club career. He represented England 106 times, part of the so-called "Golden Generation", including at three World Cups and two European Championships. He scored 29 goals for the Three Lions.