Frank Lampard – Open up about the tragedy:

Frank Lampard has had a difficult few years in charge after he finished his football boots in 2017. His extremely rich sporting career with over 300 goals from his midfield position has earned him the status of an English legend in his home country.

Since his playing career, the 45-year-old has tried his luck in a coaching career, without affecting English football as much as he did as a player.

He has visited clubs such as Derby, Chelsea and Everton, and at the end of the 2022/23 season he was given the role of interim coach at Chelsea as a result of the dismissal of Graham Potter.

There was no success either. It was a bad season for “The Blues”, which ended with Chelsea in a poor 12th place.

But perhaps the legend’s toughest year came in 2008 when life was suddenly turned upside down.

Opens

In a recent interview with YouTube channel “Diary of a CEO”Lampard opens up about his coaching career and the very difficult period after losing his mother, Patricia, who passed away a week before the second leg of the Champions League, to Liverpool.

After Patricia’s death, Frank states that he felt empty and weak, a bit like a zombie, for the next year. He does not hide the fact that he has been born to a mummy all his life, and the news of his mother’s sudden illness came when Chelsea were preparing for a league match against Wigan.

The message affected the 29-year-old Lampard, who was sleepless all night.

On the way to the field, the star midfielder received another phone call that his mother was getting worse in the hospital. This message causes him to crash on the bus.

I stood to fight

After a discussion with coach Avram Grant, Lampard went to the hospital to meet his mother, who was lying with an oxygen mask on a hospital bench. The 45-year-old opens up about the experience as something he will never forget.

My mom saw Chelsea in full gear. Then she took off her oxygen mask and said, “What are you doing here?” I didn’t know what to say. “I’m just here to see you.” Then she put the mask back on before holding my hand, while I was taken to intensive care. That moment is something I will never forget.

Patricia remained in intensive care for just over a week, before she was on the road to recovery. Then the phone call came to Lampard and the family got scared even more.

This was during the period when Chelsea reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, with Liverpool having more than two games to wait. The Chelsea legend played his first away game against Merseyside, and when Lampard returned to hospital his mother was still on the way to recovery. But then they got a call that she had suffered a brain hemorrhage.

– About the same time she got better and the family got excited, she died. This was the biggest downfall, which I can’t explain. I lost the person closest to me, I lost my best friend.

Less than a week later, the second leg of the Champions League semi-final was to be played, the first match ending 1-1 in Liverpool.

At Stamford Bridge in London, both teams had to play extra time after the score was 1-1 after 90 minutes. There, Chelsea pulled the tallest straw and won 3-2 after a penalty kick scored by Lampard and Didier Drogba made it 3-1.

Chelsea prepared for their first Champions League final in the club’s history.

– I remember sitting in the dressing room after that match, I had a huge feeling of exhaustion. I was mentally and physically exhausted. I was in a lot of pain after I got home. I still have the phone number on the phone and some voice messages stored. I still get sad from time to time.

You will continue as a coach

At the end of the interview, the English football legend said that it is difficult to know what is next on his life agenda, but he does not hide the fact that he has not given up on his coaching career.

So far, he doesn’t feel the urgency to get a new coaching job.