Frank Lampard and the 5 Best Players to Have Played for Chelsea and West Ham
Chelsea supporters are rather conflicted by Frank Lampard at the moment. He has scored four goals for Manchester City this Premier League campaign after leaving Stamford Bridge this summer, securing four points for the club in direct competition with Chelsea for league supremacy.
Were he a passing player in the team's annals, his move and performances might be less painful. However, as the Englishman's name is scattered across the Chelsea record books like new year's confetti, every goal he scores for the Citizens is tantamount to torture for those in west London.
Memories of triumphant Stamford Bridge conquests, Wembley glory and European nights seem to fade when witnessing the Chelsea legend don sky blue—it could make one's stomach convulse.
Nonetheless, as Jose Mourinho and Co. get ready for their Boxing Day clash with West Ham United—Lampard's club of origin—we are taking a look back at those who have starred for both the Hammers and the Blues.
5. Joe Cole
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In two West Ham stints, Joe Cole made 187 appearances, scoring 18 goals with 10 assists. His first spell at Upton Park saw him called up to the England squad and earn a move away from the east London side.
Indeed, two years after taking Frank Lampard, Chelsea acquired Cole from the club in 2003 for £6.6 million.
Making 280 Chelsea appearances, his two most famous sequences came against Manchester United.
The first occurred in April 2006.
Cole escaped three United defenders and beat Edwin van der Sar in a one-on-one situation. The goal put Chelsea up by two goals at the hour, when one point was enough to secure back-to-back Premier League titles. The Blues won 3-0.
The second was a flicked goal at Old Trafford in April 2010 with the Premier League title on a knife-edge. Didier Drogba added a second goal, allowing Chelsea to win 2-1, beating the Red Devils in 2009/10's final EPL standings by one point.
As the only player to win both the Hammer of the Year and Chelsea Player of the Year awards, Cole's trophy cabinet and bank account should match the indelible mark he left on both clubs.
4. George Hilsdon
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Established in 1905, Chelsea were blessed with the signing of George Hilsdon from West Ham United in 1906.
Signed on a free transfer, on a £4 weekly salary, "Gatling Gun" Hilsdon is Chelsea's ninth all-time scorer. He netted 108 times in 164 appearances.
Scoring five goals in his debut, and holding the team's record for most goals in one match with six vs. Worksop Town in the 1908 FA Cup, there is no doubt the aptly nicknamed striker was class.
After his six-season stint at Stamford Bridge, Hilsdon returned to West Ham, scoring 24 league goals in 69 matches. Deployed to the Western Front during World War I, however, his playing career was cut short due to mustard gas exposure.
Though probably undervalued in Chelsea folklore, Hilsdon does have a lasting imprint on the west London side. Were one to locate Stamford Bridge's weathervane, the footballer modelled was crafted in his image.
3. John Terry
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While Chelsea's long-serving captain never played a second of first-team football for West Ham United, it is worth mentioning John Terry was an Academy of Football product from 1991 to 1995.
Born in Barking—the same as Hammers and England legend Bobby Moore—the fact the prodigious footballer found himself at West Ham's famed academy seems no real surprise.
Choosing Chelsea at the age of 14, though, Terry has been in west London since 1995.
Much of the player's on-ball quality can be attributed to his midfield upbringing. Transitioned to centre-back in the Blues' youth system, the former England captain took to the role like a fish to water, carving arguably the greatest Chelsea career of all time.
2. Frank Lampard
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Frank James Lampard was born to be a Hammer.
His father, Frank Richard George Lampard, played at the Boleyn Ground for 18 seasons—amassing over 650 appearances in claret and blue.
His uncle, Harry Redknapp, was his only manager at the east London club.
It's safe to say West Ham was in his blood.
However, when Redknapp and his father left Upton Park in 2001, Lampard sought greener pastures elsewhere. Blues boss Claudio Ranieri had an £11 million bid accepted for the England international, and Chelsea were essentially given a goldmine.
Chelsea's all-time leading scorer with 211 goals to his name, officially appearing in 648 games for the west London side, Lampard is considered—in many unbiased circles—the Premier League era's greatest midfielder.
Born a Hammer, forever a Blue.
1. Jimmy Greaves
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Jimmy Greaves, by all accounts, was the most gifted scorer in English football history.
Playing four years with Chelsea, from 1957 to 1961, Greaves found the net 132 times in 169 appearances.
In his last year at Stamford Bridge, the Chelsea youth product scored 43 goals in 43 games—a Blues record for most goals scored in one season.
Leaving west London for AC Milan in June 1961, Greaves came back to England in December of the same year, signing for Tottenham Hotspur—where he scored 268 times in 381 games.
Ending his First Division career at West Ham United, Greaves, slowed by time and bodily abuse, managed 13 goals in 38 league appearances for the Hammers.
In total, from 1957 to 1971, Greaves scored 466 goals—for club and country—in 659 appearances.
With six would-be Golden Boot awards and topping the list of combined First Division/Premier League scorers, there appears no other option than placing Greaves at No. 1.
*Stats via WhoScored.com; transfer fees via Soccerbase.com where not noted.
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