Open letter to Chelsea's greatest - Frank Lampard
Dear Frank,
It is probably cliched of me to say this – but you made me love football and I regret the years I spent watching cricket in my childhood because I didn’t get to see more of you in your prime.
You’ve always been a source of constant motivation for me. As someone who wasn’t as gifted naturally as other golden superstars from a dream England generation – you still stood out amongst most through sheer hard work and commitment.
Though we’ve always been thousand miles apart – I have always sensed there is a connection between us. When teardrops fell from John Terry’s eyes after he missed the penalty in Moscow, you consoled him; you were the big brother to the whole Chelsea fanbase.
As far as emotions go, there’ll be no moment more poignant than that night in Stamford Bridge. We were in sorrow together when your mother passed away and there has hardly ever been a more touching goodbye gift than the penalty that you scored that put us through our first Champions League final. I wish we’d won that final for Pat.
The big games seemed comfortable when you were around. Your perfect timing to arrive at the goal helped us grab victories one after the other. You’re one of a kind and while we are currently top of the league, we’d still love to have a player like you but we probably never will.
You captained us in the biggest night of Chelsea Football Club – and the calmness and charisma you showed on the night helped settle our nerves in what was a stern test for all of us. There was no player more deserving than you to hold that trophy in Munich.
For me, Frank Lampard is synonymous to Chelsea Football Club and when you wore that Manchester City shirt playing against us, it was gut-wrenching, to say the least. The fact that you scored against us made it even worse and there were times when I was angry with you.
You deserved a life-time contract at Chelsea but football has gone a different path now. People talk about a lack of loyalty from players, but loyalty from clubs is seldom spoken about.
I’ve always detested people who have short memories when it comes to football but it was unfair of me to show my anger towards you for the faults of my football club.
Mourinho diverged all our affections for you by mentioning that love stories are over once a player joins a rival club. But Mourinho had never been more wrong. The love story between a club legend – someone who gave the best years of his footballing career to win trophies and rewrite the history of football club – and the club will never end.
You are Mr. Chelsea and will always be.
“Tigers never get old” – is a phrase that perfectly defines you as a player. Though you’ve decided to hang up your boots now, I’m sure you still have years of football left in you.
My wishes of watching you play for the Chelsea crest once game will now never come true – but I hope I’ll book a flight to London one day to watch you managing Chelsea from the stands.
Your commitment and loyalty towards the club is all a football fan can ask for. I can’t thank you enough for making me love Chelsea. Once a blue, always a blue!
Take care, old man!
To Chelsea’s greatest,
From The Himalayas