Lampard lands FWA award
Chelsea Frank Lampard has beaten off the challenge of team-mate John Terry to land the the Football Writers’ Association vote as Footballer of the Year.
The Chelsea and England midfielder becomes only the second Englishman since Alan Shearer in 1994 to win football’s oldest and most prestigious individual award Teddy Sheringham was the other in 2001.
Lampard and Terry polled more than 90 per cent of the votes, with Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher finishing a distant third.
Gerry Cox, chairman of the FWA, said: “It was a close-run thing between the two Chelsea team-mates until a fortnight ago, but Frank Lampard ended up winning by a substantial margin.
“John Terry has been a huge player for Chelsea in what has been a fantastic season for the Blues, but Lampard has clearly convinced our members that he is the best player in the country and right up there with the world’s leading players.
“His all-round game is superb, his fitness phenomenal and the fact that he has weighed in with 18 goals this season makes him something special for any team.”
Lampard was runner-up to Thierry Henry in last year’s Footballer of the Year award, as well as coming second for two years running in the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Player of the Year award, which was won by Terry last month.
He becomes only the second Chelsea player to win Footballer of the Year, after Gianfranco Zola in 1997.
Lampard will collect his award at the Footballer of the Year dinner in London on May 19.
