Ranking Frank Lampard's Top 10 Moments in Football

Chelsea legend Frank Lampard has retired from football.

A player very much in the traditional mould of an English midfielder, he used the modern platform of Instagram to make his announcement on February 2.

It brings down the curtain on one of the finest careers in European football. Lampard won every major trophy possible to win with Chelsea, including being crowned a European champion with the Blues in 2012.

Alongside that night in Munich, he lifted three Premier League trophies, four FA Cups, two League Cups and won the Europa League.

With England, he featured at three World Cups and two European Championships, earning 106 caps for his country.

Lampard was an exceptional player, but how do you summarise a career that delivered so much?

Well, Bleacher Report will have a crack at doing just that, as we rank Lampard's top 10 moments.

10. The Curious Case of Scott Canham

"He is good enough and he definitely will be good enough," was the assessment former West Ham United manager Harry Redknapp gave to a Hammers fan who questioned his judgement when it came to Frank Lampard in 1996.

The fan in question raised doubts over Lampard's ability compared to another up-and-coming midfielder, Scott Canham, who had been allowed to leave Upton Park.

In short, it was a claim of nepotism, as not only was Redknapp Lampard's uncle, but Frank Lampard Sr. was also assistant manager at West Ham at the time.

Thanks to the power of YouTube, it was close to 20 years later when the above clip surfaced online, by which time Lampard had enjoyed a career that had seen him win everything in football. By contrast, Canham's career had never taken off, with him spending time with the likes of Brentford and Leyton Orient, unable to break into English football's top flight.

Canham wasn't the issue, though. It was the fact that Lampard had to prove himself in ways other players around him didn't thanks to his family tree.

"He will go to the very top; he will go right to the very top," Redknapp predicted. He wasn't wrong. Lampard went on to defy his critics and enjoy an illustrious career.

9. Last Goal in English Football

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After leaving Chelsea to join New York City FC in the summer of 2014, Lampard was later loaned out to sister club Manchester City in a bid to maintain fitness ahead of the 2015 Major League Soccer season.

Lampard's impact for Manuel Pellegrini's side was that impressive that City would extend his loan agreement until the conclusion of 2014/15, meaning he spent a year in Manchester.

He scored eight goals that season, with his last coming on the final day of the campaign in a 2-0 victory against Southampton.

Lampard would've preferred his last-ever game and goal in English football to have come in a darker shade of blue, but the fact it came while at City and not Chelsea doesn't disguise what was a fine landmark.

Lampard's strike that day was his 177th Premier League goal, ranking him fourth in the all-time list behind Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney and Andrew Cole.

8. Europa League Victory in 2013

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From winning the Champions League a season earlier, Lampard found himself in the unusual position of captaining Chelsea in another European final in 2013.

John Terry had been suspended for the Champions League final, but this time it was injury that ruled him out against Benfica in the Europa League final in Amsterdam.

Just like a year previously, Lampard was the captain who guided the Blues to victory, although they didn't need a penalty shootout, as Branislav Ivanovic scored a last-minute header to seal a 2-1 victory.

Lampard remains the only Chelsea player to captain the club to two European trophies.

7. Lampard's Bayern Golazo

Chelsea were still a club in the ascendancy when they faced Bayern Munich in the 2004/05 Champions League. It was the first season for manager Jose Mourinho, and the Blues were attempting to make a name for themselves among the elite.

Defeating Barcelona 4-2 in the last 16 of the Champions League helped, as did this wondergoal from Lampard to record the same scoreline against Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals.

This was Lampard beginning to enter his peak at Chelsea. He was transforming himself from a box-to-box midfielder to a prolific goalscorer.

And when he was smashing them in like this, all of Europe sat up and took notice.

It ranks among his finest strikes for club or country.

6. That Victor Valdes Lob

If that Bayern goal was about instinct, Lampard's finish against Barcelona two years later was about his craft.

After facing Barca in the knockout rounds for two years running, Chelsea were drawn with their newest rival in the group stages for the 2006/07 campaign.

Being early in the competition, these games are not exactly remembered for the spite and controversy that defined the previous outings. Instead, they are remembered for purer reasons, such as this moment of magic from Lampard.

Barca were 1-0 up thanks to a Deco goal, but for all the flair on show at the Camp Nou that night, nothing could match Lampard's lob of Valdes.

It was audacity defined. The angle said he couldn't do it; his positioning and posture reinforced that thinking. But out of nowhere, he pulled Chelsea back into the game.

5. Getting His England Ton

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Just nine English players have won 100 caps or more for their country, and Frank Lampard is one of them.

He reached the magic number in September 2013, although the game wasn't as exciting an occasion as he may have hoped, as England drew 0-0 with Ukraine.

He was subsequently presented with a gold cap to mark the achievement at England's next home game in October 2013 against Montenegro. This time England won, 4-1, although Lampard didn't find himself on the scoresheet.

As it stands, Lampard is England's all-time leading goalscorer from midfield, with 29 to his name.

4. Lampard Honours His Mum's Memory

We shouldn't say too much here; we should let the pictures do the talking.

It was the Champions League semi-final, and Chelsea were facing their fiercest rivals in the competition, Liverpool. The tie was balanced at 1-1 after the first leg at Anfield, but in between that and the return at Stamford Bridge, Lampard's mum had died.

He didn't shirk his desire to play, though. Still grieving, he turned up in front of over 40,000 fans to play on against Liverpool and inspire his side through to the Champions League final.

That Lampard was playing at all was impressive enough; that he scored a penalty to put Chelsea 2-1 ahead at Stamford Bridge in extra time was even more so.

It said so much about the character that inspired the player.

Pure emotion.

3. Breaking Bobby Tambling's Scoring Record

When Kerry Dixon fell nine goals short of breaking Bobby Tambling's goalscoring record, Chelsea fans were left wondering who would ever match their hero from the 1960s and '70s.

Dixon had spent nine years at Chelsea, scoring 193 goals in that time to become second only to Tambling—who had 202—in the scoring charts. When he left the club in 1992, there was no sign of another player capable of coming close.

Indeed, when Lampard arrived in 2001, few would have predicted him to be the man to eventually surpass Tambling. He was a midfielder, for one, and in the modern game, the longevity required to scale such heights is a rare thing.

On May 11, 2013 against Aston Villa, Lampard broke a record that had stood for more than 40 years, scoring twice to record a 2-1 victory and write his name in history.

He wasn't done there, either. Lampard would add a further eight goals to his Chelsea record to extend his tally to 211 for the club.

2. Winning Chelsea the Premier League Title

Lampard scored 19 goals for Chelsea in the 2004/05 campaign. None of them were as vital as the brace he picked up against Bolton Wanderers on April 30 that season.

Lampard's two goals that afternoon sealed a 2-0 victory and with it the title—the first time in 50 years that Chelsea were champions of England.

We'll stop there and leave you to enjoy the video.

1. Becoming a European Champion

Who are we to judge what Lampard's finest moment in football is?

We'll leave it up to the man himself, who once explained why winning the Champions League in 2012 tops everything he did throughout his career.

"The Reebok has a special place in my heart and a lot of Chelsea fans' hearts, as it was the first time in so long that the club had won the title. For me personally, I scored the goals that afternoon, too, so it's special.

"But the group feeling of Munich was incredible. The fans behind the goal, being on the pitch for an hour afterwards; it was amazing. All the years of nearly getting there, they all added to the size of the achievement.

"I didn't think we'd do it. When we lost away to Napoli that season, I thought that was it. But then we won it at the death, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

Quotes obtained firsthand.