Chelsea: John Terry’s speech about Frank Lampard will always be spine-tingling | OneFootball

When it comes to the debate about Chelsea’s greatest ever player, Frank Lampard is unquestionably part of the conversation.

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The legendary midfielder is the Blues’ all-time leading goalscorer, despite not being a forward, and played a key role in the club’s success during his time at Stamford Bridge.

Between 2001-2014, Lampard won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups, two Community Shields, the Europa League and the Champions League.

He scored 211 goals in 648 appearances and even went on to manage the club twice (2019-2021 and again in 2023).

In 2018, Lampard was inducted into a Legends of Football Hall of Fame. Previous inductees include Sir Stanley Matthews (1998), Sir Bobby Charlton (2002), Sir Alex Ferguson (2005) and Pele (2013).

And at the ceremony, John Terry paid the ultimate tribute to his former Chelsea teammate in front of an audience.

What did John Terry say in his tribute to Frank Lampard?

All those in attendance fell silent as Terry explained why Lampard is Chelsea’s greatest ever player and a role model for every aspiring young footballer.

Terry said: “Frank would be out there doing doggies, a bag of balls on his shoulder, get a goalkeeper practicing for 40, 50, 60 minutes every single day.

“As a player that made you go ‘I should be doing that’. All of a sudden Didier [Drogba] was out there with Lamps, I was out there with Lamps and the whole squad was out there.

“He just pushed everyone to a different dimension. That comes from within as a boy, to be the very best. For me, I believe he’s the best player we’ve ever had at Chelsea, without a shadow of a doubt, and one of the best in world football.

“I mean at one stage he came second to Ronaldinho, who was probably one of the best ever, and Frank just got pipped by him in World Footballer of the Year.

“I have to say it was an absolute pleasure to play and work with him and get an insight into what it takes to be the best.

“I know a lot of young players nowadays would be looking at [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo to be the best and to be the role models, but any young player striving to make it to the very top should look no further than Frank Lampard.”

Spine-tingling stuff from the former Chelsea captain.

And a fitting tribute to one of the greatest players the Premier League has ever seen.