THERE are many privileges which come with being a professional footballer and then there are those which are particular to playing for Chelsea. I don’t take anything in my life for granted. Whether it’s on the pitch or off, I appreciate the value of everything because I was brought up in a family where we were taught to equate good things with a reward for hard work.
I look back on the training regime Dad put me through from a very young age – the endless ball practice, my spikes, doggies, agility and stamina routines and with every exercise he reminded me that this was what I had to do if I wanted to become a professional footballer. Now, I don’t need Dad to tell me what I need to practise (though he still does). I know myself.
Having won the league for the first time though, I found myself in unchartered territory. The elation of having achieved it quickly gave way to the question of how I could take myself and Chelsea to another level. I’m familiar with setting new targets but now I needed the experience of others to help me understand how to use success to ensure more. Thankfully, I could not have had better mentors than Jose Mourinho and Roman Abramovich.
Mourinho has become a very public figure but I understand Roman is and remains something of an enigma to most people. He’s a very private man who doesn’t give interviews and who is content to remain in the background at Chelsea. His relationships with people at the club, however, are very different. He is open, inquisitive and very visible with the manager and the players and I feel privileged to have got to know him and understand something of the man behind the myth.
The great thing about Roman is that he gets involved. Despite the fact that he has numerous and more pressing business interests which demand his attention all over the world he makes a point of being with us regularly. Whenever he’s in London he comes to the training ground and makes a point of chatting with the lads – making sure everything is just right. Even when the rain is pouring down he turns up and watches us go through our routines. At games he will wish us luck beforehand and always comes to see us afterwards, regardless of the result. He shares our joy when we win and our disappointment in defeat.
When he first arrived most of us weren’t quite sure what to make of him or how we should behave around him. Over the years, however, Roman has become an integral part of the club and has earned the respect of everyone for the way in which he has demonstrated his commitment to Chelsea and loyalty to those who are loyal to him.
Outside the manager, John and I have probably the closest relationship with Roman. We speak to him sometimes just minutes after a game to discuss how it went and at other times when he wants to gauge our view on specific subjects. I was nervous about voicing too strong an opinion at first. I grew up in a football environment where you listen to the people in charge – the manager, the chairman, your uncle and Dad. I didn’t want to be seen to be putting my oar in where it wasn’t required. I’m a footballer and I’m paid to play and win games.
But Roman has encouraged me to develop my voice on everything from the way we have played or can play to where the squad needs to be strengthened and how that should happen. I appreciate his candour and he listens to what I have to say. I would never cross the line though and that comes from the amount of respect I have for him and what he has achieved in his life and with Chelsea.
People perceive him to be a reclusive and distant man but my experience is very much the opposite. Elen and Roman’s wife Irina get on very well and they are as normal as any couple despite the security which surrounds them and the fact that they have a few billion in the bank. Their lifestyle may differ greatly from most people’s but the Abramoviches are very much like the rest of us. They laugh at the same jokes and relate with ease to people around them. I have rarely seen someone as excited as Roman was before the parade around west London after we won our first title, and when he celebrates a goal his reaction is as natural as any of the other 40,000 fans in the stadium. It’s actually quite beautiful because it’s so simple.
I have never had the relationship with a chairman that I enjoy with him. I also have a lot of time for Ken Bates. He would take me out for dinner and we still have a good friendship but he was a different kind of owner. Roman, though, has made me feel that I am more than just a well paid and valued employee. He sees Chelsea as his family and John and I are senior members who have a part to play off the pitch as well as on it. I am not just his number 8: to Roman I am part of the Chelsea DNA.
I suppose it was partly because I’m comfortable around him that I felt I could push my luck a little when I had heard a whisper that the Chelsea Player of the Year would get to go on his boat. No one had confirmed the reward at the club but I was in the running to win the accolade and had done so the previous year. I spoke to Elen about it and she reckoned I had nothing to lose and might as well ask if it was true. Nothing ventured nothing gained and all that. Egged on by a curious girlfriend I got up the courage and gave it a shot.
‘Boss, is it true that the Player of the Year gets to go on your boat?’ I asked him one day at The Bridge. Roman laughed. Shit. I’d put my foot in it.
‘No, no, I read somewhere that was going to happen.’ I knew I shouldn’t have brought it up. Eugene tried to take the edge off my embarrassment by intervening.
‘Do you mean one of the dinghies, Frank? he said.
I laughed with them. I was digging myself in deeper and deeper here. I couldn’t believe I’d brought it up now. Roman stopped laughing just as I was about to kill myself.
‘Okay. Let’s see what we can do,’ Roman said.
‘Oh. Okay, then. Cheers, boss.’
I never mentioned it again. I figured one humiliation in front of your billionaire boss is enough to last a lifetime. Anyway, as it turned out I won the club accolade as well as the Football Writer’s Player of the Year, while JT won the PFA award. A few days later I bumped into Roman and Eugene at the training ground. Eugene called me over.
‘Find out how many days you want on the boat and we will arrange everything for you,’ he said.
‘Really? Ehm. Just a week would be great,’ I stuttered.
‘No. Just let us know how many days. It’s fine,’ he replied. At this point Roman was nodding his approval and smiling. F*** it, I thought. I’d got this far.
‘All right, I’ll have two weeks then!’
I rushed home to tell Elen and we looked at dates. Roman’s secretary arranged everything else and sent through the details of the boat and where we should meet it. It all seemed too good to be true. Me? The lad who struggled to get into the West Ham team? Won the League and then voted Player of the Year and now about to holiday on Susurro, one of the most expensive private boats at sea? Are you sure?
Elen and I flew to Antibes and joined Susurro there. It was more like a floating palace. We walked from one spacious room to another. Everything was beautifully decorated and neatly appointed. We were offered some champagne and introduced to the crew – only the ten staff plus two chefs then.
We enjoyed that first day on our own and relaxed. There were five bedrooms – enough to invite the whole family and we wanted to share it with them. They would arrive the next day so we made the most of the solitude. We were woken the following morning by the low hum of the engines, looked out of the windows and saw we were pulling out of port. I wandered out on deck where one of the staff brought me fresh coffee and fruit. Yes. This is the life.
Mum rang: ‘Where are you darlin’?’ she asked. She and Dad had arrived at the port with my sisters and the children. They were looking for the boat.
‘Don’t worry,’ I said. ‘I’ll send a tender to get you.’ I couldn’t quite believe I had just said the words ‘I’ll send a tender to get you.’
We went up on deck and waited for them to arrive and I’ll never forget the look on their faces as they were helped aboard. All except Dad, that is, who played it cool with his sunglasses on and doing his best to pretend that staying on a £40 million yacht was an everyday occurrence in the life of Frank Lampard snr. Not bad for a boy from Romford!
We sailed to Cannes and then on to St Tropez. It’s quite a tight little port there and we had to navigate our way in very slowly. As we did, a crowd gathered in the marina. Having clocked the size of the boat they were clearly expecting to catch a glimpse of royalty or at the very least a Hollywood film star. At first we slunk down on our chairs a bit embarrassed but in the end thought ‘sod it’. We donned our shades and decided there was no escape. No one was expecting a family from Essex to disembark.
Thankfully Roman was in the vicinity on his main yacht Pelorus and invited us all for breakfast. He sent his tender to get us (I was getting used to the jargon by now) though the boat which picked us up was like a yacht itself. As we approached we could see a helicopter on the top as well as a mini-submarine.
Roman met us and we spent a couple of hours on board chatting about football, the season just passed, and what was to come. Dad is never shy of voicing his opinion and he enjoyed getting to speak one to one with the main man. Meanwhile, Milly and Mia were running around Roman’s feet and nicking the food from the buffet while he joked with them. I smiled at the fact that my two little nieces had absolutely no idea who Roman was or that they were having a laugh with one of the most powerful men in the world.
It had only been a couple of days and I was trying hard to get used to the high life but every time I found my bearings something else unexpected happened – like Eddie Jordan, the Formula One tycoon, pulling up beside our boat and inviting the whole family over for drinks. Surreal, totally surreal. He’s a really nice guy though and made us very welcome. We headed back to ours and had a barbecue when Eddie called.
‘Frank. Have you and Elen got plans for tonight?’ he said.
‘No. Not in particular,’ I replied.
‘Good! Then your coming out with me. There’s someone I’d like you to meet.’
‘Who?’
‘Bono.’
Oh, okay then. It was a great night, one I’ll never forget. Thankfully I have some pictures to help convince me that it was actually real. I am not a huge music fan but Bono is a person who I’m in awe of for what he has achieved in his own profession but also because he has devoted so much time and energy to charitable causes with the desire to improve the lives of others. He’s also a very down-to-earth and genuine guy. We talked football and had a laugh.
The next day we sailed on to Portofino and then Sardinia where Jamie and his wife Louise met us. We chilled out and I was very happy that I was able to share such a remarkable experience with my family. I guess people imagine that as a Premiership footballer my life is quite special and I would agree but those two weeks opened my eyes to another world.
John had a week after we left and enjoyed it just as much and though the whole episode started off a little clumsily with my question, I realize what a generous gesture it was by Roman. I think he wanted to show his appreciation for what John and I had given to Chelsea that season. More than that, he is generous of spirit – someone who enjoys sharing the benefits of his hard work – and I respect him all the more for that.
It would be impossible to know Roman, however, unless you understand the part which has driven him to be such a successful businessman. He is affable, charming and light-hearted but he is also determined, ambitious and ruthless – qualities I admire greatly. He hides that side well from most people but once you get to know him and he trusts you, windows begin to open which shed light on how he has achieved such remarkable success.
He is similar in that way to Mourinho. Both are clear on what they want and single minded in their pursuit of it. More than anything, they want to win. My experience of Roman reminds me of time spent with Jose. My relationship with the manager grew very quickly because of our football connection but I realize that it’s the mutual recognition of what drives us as people which is the true bond. So it is with Roman.
I don’t know the exact details of his background but from what I have read Mr Abramovich had a very humble start in life and has made his own luck. In his career there has been no second place and no room for failure so when we play a match I feel it’s almost that we have to win because that’s what he does. There’s no option.
That’s how Mourinho is and that’s why he is very much Roman’s commander-in-chief. If you play for Chelsea now you can’t settle for being runner-up. If you want to coast or you can’t be bothered pushing yourself to the limit then you will be found out. You must go the extra yard to ensure victory and if someone else takes your place in the team you fight to get it back like it’s life or death. You have to be ruthless because that’s the way Roman is.
I’ve had one-to-one conversations with him and in those moments I have looked in his eyes and seen only unyielding determination. I can sense that his hunger for success will never be satisfied and I appreciate that. It’s how I am. Almost as soon as we won the first league title Roman asked me how we would win it again. He has asked me why we lost a certain game even though the result had no bearing on the outcome of the championship. He doesn’t miss a single thing. He wants everything to be just right. Not almost perfect. Perfect.
It would be easy to say he doesn’t really understand football and that you will always lose some games but this would be a simplistic reading of Abramovich. He may be relatively new to the game but he learns at a phenomenal rate and the reason he asks why we conceded a certain goal or why a certain player isn’t doing as well as he should is because he wants to know everything. Knowledge is power, not money.
Abramovich is also very like Mourinho in his thirst to discover the reasons behind a certain event or result. We might have played poorly and still won 1-0 but he is not satisfied with that kind of victory. He wants to understand why we didn’t perform better, and more importantly, what can be done to remedy the situation. I see the manager talk with Roman frequently after games and while their professional backgrounds may be very different there is clearly a meeting of minds and kindred spirits.
Together with Eugene, Peter Kenyon and the chairman Bruce Buck, Chelsea have a unity of purpose which is not typical of every football club. They share the same ambition and none of them hide the fact that they want the same thing and will do everything possible to attain it. That philosophy runs right from the owner through the officials and the players.
It’s a great strength in people to ask questions about things they don’t understand. It would be easy for Roman to rest on his laurels – take credit for what has been achieved and pretend he knows everything just because it happens to be working well. That is not his personality though. I have been too shy in the past to ask about things I don’t fully understand for fear of looking stupid or incompetent whereas now I am inquisitive about any subject which I want to comprehend fully. Part of the reason I have become more confident in this respect is Roman’s example. If he can sit and ask basic questions about football – he who is a billionaire and has made a huge success of his life – then why shouldn’t I do so with others? Roman, and not just Mourinho, has been an inspiration to me.