title: RM (rapper)

text: For his 25th birthday, RM donated ₩100 million to the Seoul Samsun School to help hearing-impaired students receive music education. In December 2020, the Arts Council of Korea named him one of its ten 2020 Patrons of the Arts in recognition of his ₩100 million donation to the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art for the printing and distribution of various rare art books to schools and libraries in rural and mountainous regions. In September 2022, RM donated ₩100 million for two consecutive years to preserve and restore cultural assets overseas, through the Office of Cultural Heritage Administration and the Overseas Cultural Heritage Foundation.


title: Michael Shannon

text: Michael Corbett Shannon (born August 7, 1974) is an American actor, producer, musician, and theater director. He has been nominated twice for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his roles in the Sam Mendes period drama "Revolutionary Road" (2008) and the Tom Ford psychological thriller "Nocturnal Animals" (2016). He earned Screen Actors Guild Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for his role in "99 Homes" (2014), and a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play for the Broadway revival of Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey into Night" (2016).


title: Michael Shannon

text: Shannon made his film debut in 1993 with "Groundhog Day" and received widespread attention for his performance in "8 Mile" (2002). He is known for his on-screen versatility, performing in both comedies and dramas such as "Pearl Harbor" (2001), "Bad Boys II" (2003), "Bug" (2006), "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" (2007), "" (2009), "The Iceman" (2012), "Premium Rush" (2012), "The Night Before" (2015), "The Shape of Water" (2017), "Knives Out" (2019), and "Bullet Train" (2022). He played Superman's Kryptonian adversary General Zod in "Man of Steel" (2013) and "" (2016), and is set to reprise the role in "The Flash" (2023). Shannon is a frequent collaborator of Jeff Nichols, appearing in all of his films: "Shotgun Stories" (2007), "Take Shelter" (2011), "Mud" (2012), "Midnight Special", and "Loving" (both 2016). He is also known for his role as Nelson Van Alden in the HBO period drama series "Boardwalk Empire" (2010–2014), for which he was nominated for three Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2021, he had a main role in the Hulu drama miniseries "Nine Perfect Strangers".


title: Michael Shannon

text: In December of 2022, Shannon and Jessica Chastain take on the roles of country singers George Jones and Tammy Wynette with a Showtime series called George & Tammy portraying their relationship.


title: Michael Shannon

text: Shannon was born in Lexington, Kentucky, to Donald Sutherlin Shannon, an accounting professor at DePaul University, and Geraldine Hine, a lawyer. His paternal grandfather was entomologist Raymond Corbett Shannon.


title: Michael Shannon

text: After Shannon's parents divorced, he alternated time with them, living with his mother in Lexington, Kentucky, and in Chicago, Illinois, with his father. He even attended high schools in both states: New Trier Township High School in Winnetka, Illinois, for two years; then in Kentucky for his junior year; returning to Chicago for his senior year, where he attended Evanston Township High School for a semester before dropping out.


title: Michael Shannon

text: Shannon's first film role was as the main character in the music video for the Every Mother's Nightmare song "House of Pain", in which he played a troubled teenager who was running away from his abusive home. He later became a stage actor in Chicago. He helped fund A Red Orchid Theatre, where he still regularly performs. He has since worked with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Northlight Theatre, and other acting companies. Shannon originated the role of Peter Evans in "Bug" in 1996 and also starred in the 2006 film adaptation with Ashley Judd and Harry Connick Jr., directed by William Friedkin. His roles in "Bug" and "Killer Joe" were written by Steppenwolf ensemble member Tracy Letts.


title: Michael Shannon

text: Shannon made his film debut with a small role in "Groundhog Day" in 1993 as a wedding groom. Later, he had roles in "Jesus' Son", "Pearl Harbor", "8 Mile" and "Vanilla Sky". He played the villain in "Kangaroo Jack". After a role in "Bad Boys II", he had a major role in "Grand Theft Parsons" as the hippie, Larry Oster-Berg. In 2006, he played Lynard, the leader of a prison white supremacist group, in "Let's Go to Prison". Shannon has appeared in several shows in the West End in London, including a production of "Woyzeck" directed by Sarah Kane. In 2008, Shannon was featured in the off-Broadway production of Stephen Adly Guirgis's "The Little Flower of East Orange", presented by LAByrinth Theater Company and The Public Theater, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman and also featuring Ellen Burstyn.


title: Michael Shannon

text: In 2008, he starred in the romantic drama film "Revolutionary Road", alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. His performance as the clinically insane son earned him universal acclaim, and won the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In 2010, he portrayed Doc Cross Williams in the film adaptation of "Jonah Hex". Shannon played Federal Prohibition agent Nelson Van Alden in the HBO television show "Boardwalk Empire", which began in 2010. In November of that year, he began starring in the one man play "Mistakes Were Made" at the Barrow Street Theatre in New York City, with performances having run through February 27, 2012. Shannon had previously performed the show in 2009 at A Red Orchid Theatre in Chicago.


title: Michael Shannon

text: In 2011, Shannon starred in the drama film "Take Shelter". He received rave reviews for his performance, and a Saturn Award for Best Actor. In 2012, he played a corrupt cop in the film "Premium Rush", written and directed by David Koepp, and appeared on Broadway along with Paul Rudd and Ed Asner in "Grace" written by Craig Wright. In 2013, he starred as legendary mob hitman Richard Kuklinski in "The Iceman", which was distributed in May 2013. His performance received much acclaim from critics. Also that year, Shannon portrayed General Zod, the main antagonist in Zack Snyder's film "Man of Steel". Shannon portrayed music icon Elvis Presley alongside Kevin Spacey as President Richard Nixon in "Elvis & Nixon".


title: Michael Shannon

text: In 2015, he was seen in the biographical drama film "Freeheld", as well as the independent drama film "99 Homes" as housing agent Rick Carver, a role that earned him widespread critical acclaim, and nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role. 2015 was also the release year for "The Night Before" where Shannon played Mr. Green alongside Seth Rogen, Anthony Mackie, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.


title: Michael Shannon

text: The following year, he starred in the psychological thriller film "Nocturnal Animals", alongside Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal. His performance as a detective investigating a double homicide garnered him critical acclaim, and he received his second nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.


title: Michael Shannon

text: In 2017, Shannon played Col. Richard Strickland in Guillermo del Toro's romantic fantasy film "The Shape of Water", co-starring with Sally Hawkins, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Octavia Spencer. The film had its world premiere at the 74th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion. In 2018, he played the lead role as Gary Noesner in "Waco" on Paramount Network. He also featured in the short film "Long Way Back Home", which serves as an extended film-clip for the song of the same name by Memphis country-punk rock band, Lucero from their album "Among The Ghosts". Lucero's frontman, Ben Nichols, is the older brother of frequent Shannon collaborator, Jeff Nichols. Shannon also contributed spoken world vocals to Lucero's "Back To The Night", also from "Among The Ghosts".


title: Michael Shannon

text: In 2019, Shannon portrayed Walt Thrombey in Rian Johnson's mystery film "Knives Out", which featured an ensemble cast starring Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, and Christopher Plummer.


title: Michael Shannon

text: In 2021, Shannon played Napoleon Marconi in the Hulu miniseries "Nine Perfect Strangers", based on the novel of the same name by Liane Moriarty, which features Nicole Kidman in the lead role, alongside Melissa McCarthy, Luke Evans, Samara Weaving, Asher Keddie, and Bobby Cannavale.


title: Michael Shannon

text: In December 2021, Warner Bros. announced that Shannon would be reprising his role as General Zod in the upcoming "Flash" film.


title: Michael Shannon

text: In 2002, Shannon formed the indie rock band Corporal, along with Ray Rizzo and Rob Beitzel. Shannon sings and writes lyrics for the band. In 2010, Corporal released their self-titled debut album. Following the album's release two MP3 tracks have been released for download. The first track "Glory" was released in 2011 and the second song titled "Obama" was released in June 2012 as the band's way of endorsing President Obama's run for reelection.


title: Michael Shannon

text: Shannon married actress Kate Arrington in 2018, whom he had dated since 2002. They have two daughters born 2008 and born 2011. They live in the neighborhood of Red Hook located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn.


title: Anunnaki

text: The Anunnaki (Sumerian: , also transcribed as Anunaki, Annunaki, Anunna, Ananaki and other variations) are a group of deities of the ancient Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians and Babylonians. In the earliest Sumerian writings about them, which come from the Post-Akkadian period, the Anunnaki are deities in the pantheon, descendants of An and Ki, the god of the heavens and the goddess of earth, and their primary function was to decree the fates of humanity.


title: Anunnaki

text: The name "Anunnaki" is derived from An, the Sumerian god of the sky. The name is variously written "a-nuna", "a-nuna-ke-ne", or "a-nun-na", meaning "princely offspring" or "offspring of An".


title: Anunnaki

text: The Anunnaki were believed to be the offspring of An and his consort, the earth goddess Ki. Samuel Noah Kramer identifies Ki with the Sumerian mother goddess Ninhursag, stating that they were originally the same figure. The oldest of the Anunnaki was Enlil, the god of air and chief god of the Sumerian pantheon. The Sumerians believed that, until Enlil was born, heaven and earth were inseparable. Then, Enlil cleft heaven and earth in two and carried away the earth while his father An carried away the sky.


title: Anunnaki

text: The Anunnaki are chiefly mentioned in literary texts and very little evidence to support the existence of any cult of them has yet been unearthed. This is likely due to the fact that each member of the Anunnaki had his or her own individual cult, separate from the others. Similarly, no representations of the Anunnaki as a complete group have yet been discovered, although a few depictions of two or three individual members together have been identified. Deities in ancient Mesopotamia were almost exclusively anthropomorphic. They were thought to possess extraordinary powers and were often envisioned as being of tremendous physical size. The deities typically wore "melam", an ambiguous substance which "covered them in terrifying splendor". "Melam" could also be worn by heroes, kings, giants, and even demons. The effect that seeing a deity's "melam" has on a human is described as "ni", a word for the physical tingling of the flesh. Deities were almost always depicted wearing horned caps, consisting of up to seven superimposed pairs of ox-horns. They were also sometimes depicted wearing clothes with elaborate decorative gold and silver ornaments sewn into them.


title: Anunnaki

text: The ancient Mesopotamians believed that their deities lived in Heaven, after an earlier history of visiting earth in the mythological texts, and that a god's statue was a physical embodiment of the god himself. As such, cult statues were given constant care and attention and a set of priests was assigned to tend to them. These priests would clothe the statues and place feasts before them so they could "eat". A deity's temple was believed to be that deity's literal place of residence. The gods had boats, full-sized barges which were normally stored inside their temples and were used to transport their cult statues along waterways during various religious festivals. The gods also had chariots, which were used for transporting their cult statues by land. Sometimes a deity's cult statue would be transported to the location of a battle so that the deity could watch the battle unfold. The major deities of the Mesopotamian pantheon, which included the Anunnaki, were believed to participate in the "assembly of the gods", through which the gods made all of their decisions. This assembly was seen as a divine counterpart to the semi-democratic legislative system that existed during the Third Dynasty of Ur ( 2112 BC– 2004 BC).


title: Anunnaki

text: The earliest known usages of the term "Anunnaki" come from inscriptions written during the reign of Gudea ( 2144–2124 BC) and the Third Dynasty of Ur. In the earliest texts, the term is applied to the most powerful and important deities in the Sumerian pantheon: the descendants of the sky-god An.This group of deities probably included the "seven gods who decree": An, Enlil, Enki, Ninhursag, Nanna, Utu, and Inanna.


title: Anunnaki

text: Although certain deities are described as members of the Anunnaki, no complete list of the names of all the Anunnaki has survived and they are usually only referred to as a cohesive group in literary texts. Furthermore, Sumerian texts describe the Anunnaki inconsistently and do not agree on how many Anunnaki there were, or what their divine function was. Originally, the Anunnaki appear to have been heavenly deities with immense powers. In the poem "Enki and the World Order", the Anunnaki "do homage" to Enki, sing hymns of praise in his honor, and "take up their dwellings" among the people of Sumer. The same composition twice states that the Anunnaki "decree the fates of mankind".


title: Anunnaki

text: Virtually every major deity in the Sumerian pantheon was regarded as the patron of a specific city and was expected to protect that city's interests. The deity was believed to permanently reside within that city's temple. One text mentions as many as fifty Anunnaki associated with the city of Eridu. In "Inanna's Descent into the Netherworld", there are only seven Anunnaki, who reside within the Underworld and serve as judges. Inanna stands trial before them for her attempt to take over the Underworld; they deem her guilty of hubris and condemn her to death.


title: Anunnaki

text: Major deities in Sumerian mythology were associated with specific celestial bodies. Inanna was believed to be the planet Venus. Utu was believed to be the sun. Nanna was the moon. An was identified with all the stars of the equatorial sky, Enlil with those of the northern sky, and Enki with those of the southern sky. The path of Enlil's celestial orbit was a continuous, symmetrical circle around the north celestial pole, but those of An and Enki were believed to intersect at various points.


title: Anunnaki

text: Akkadian texts of the second millennium BC follow similar portrayals of the Anunnaki from "Inanna's Descent into the Netherworld", depicting them as chthonic Underworld deities. In an abbreviated Akkadian version of "Inanna's Descent" written in the early second millennium, Ereshkigal, the queen of the Underworld, comments that she "drink[s] water with the Anunnaki". Later in the same poem, Ereshkigal orders her servant Namtar to fetch the Anunnaki from Egalgina, to "decorate the threshold steps with coral", and to "seat them on golden thrones".


title: Anunnaki

text: During the Old Babylonian Period ( 1830 BC – c. 1531 BC), a new set of deities known as the Igigi are introduced. The relationship between the Anunnaki and the Igigi is unclear. On some occasions, the categories appear to be used synonymously, but in other writings, such as "The Poem of Erra", there is a clear distinction between the two. In the late Akkadian "Atra-Hasis" epic, the Igigi are the sixth generation of the gods who are forced to perform labor for the Anunnaki. After forty days, the Igigi rebel and the god Enki, one of the Anunnaki, creates humans to replace them.


title: Anunnaki

text: From the Middle Babylonian Period ( 1592 – 1155 BC) onward, the name "Anunnaki" was applied generally to the deities of the underworld; whereas the name "Igigi" was applied to the heavenly deities. During this period, the underworld deities Damkina, Nergal, and Madānu are listed as the most powerful among the Anunnaki, alongside Marduk, the national god of ancient Babylon.


title: Anunnaki

text: In the standard Akkadian "Epic of Gilgamesh" ( 1200 BC) Utnapishtim, the immortal survivor of the Great Flood, describes the Anunnaki as seven judges of the Underworld, who set the land aflame as the storm approaches. Later, when the flood comes, Ishtar (the East Semitic equivalent to Inanna) and the Anunnaki mourn over the destruction of humanity.


title: Anunnaki

text: In the Babylonian "Enûma Eliš", Marduk assigns the Anunnaki their positions. A late Babylonian version of the epic mentions 600 Anunnaki of the underworld, but only 300 Anunnaki of heaven, indicating the existence of a complex underworld cosmology. In gratitude, the Anunnaki, the "Great Gods", build Esagila, a "splendid" temple dedicated to Marduk, Ea, and Ellil. In the eighth-century BC "Poem of Erra", the Anunnaki are described as the brothers of the god Nergal and are depicted as antagonistic towards humanity.


title: Anunnaki

text: A badly damaged text from the Neo-Assyrian Period (911 – 612 BC) describes Marduk leading his army of Anunnaki into the sacred city of Nippur and causing a disturbance. The disturbance causes a flood, which forces the resident gods of Nippur to take shelter in the Eshumesha temple to Ninurta. Enlil is enraged at Marduk's transgression and orders the gods of Eshumesha to take Marduk and the other Anunnaki as prisoners. The Anunnaki are captured, but Marduk appoints his front-runner Mushteshirhablim to lead a revolt against the gods of Eshumesha and sends his messenger Neretagmil to alert Nabu, the god of literacy. When the Eshumesha gods hear Nabu speak, they come out of their temple to search for him. Marduk defeats the Eshumesha gods and takes 360 of them as prisoners of war, including Enlil himself. Enlil protests that the Eshumesha gods are innocent, so Marduk puts them on trial before the Anunnaki. The text ends with a warning from Damkianna (another name for Ninhursag) to the gods and to humanity, pleading them not to repeat the war between the Anunnaki and the gods of Eshumesha.


title: Anunnaki

text: In the mythologies of the Hurrians and Hittites (which flourished in the mid to late second millennium BC), the oldest generation of gods was believed to have been banished by the younger gods to the Underworld, where they were ruled by the goddess Lelwani. Hittite scribes identified these deities with the Anunnaki. In ancient Hurrian, the Anunnaki are referred to as "karuileš šiuneš", which means "former ancient gods", or "kattereš šiuneš", which means "gods of the earth". Hittite and Hurrian treaties were often sworn by the old gods in order to ensure that the oaths would be kept. In one myth, the gods are threatened by the stone giant Ullikummi, so Ea (the later name for Enki) commands the Former Gods to find the weapon that was used to separate the heavens from the earth. They find it and use it to cut off Ullikummi's feet.


title: Anunnaki

text: Although the names of the Anunnaki in Hurrian and Hittite texts frequently vary, they are always eight in number. In one Hittite ritual, the names of the old gods are listed as: "Aduntarri the diviner, Zulki the dream interpretess, Irpitia Lord of the Earth, Narā, Namšarā, Minki, Amunki, and Āpi." The old gods had no identifiable cult in the Hurrio-Hittite religion; instead, the Hurrians and Hittites sought to communicate with the old gods through the ritual sacrifice of a piglet in a pit dug in the ground. The old gods were often invoked to perform ritual purifications.


title: Anunnaki

text: The Hittite account of the old gods' banishment to the Underworld is closely related with the Greek poet Hesiod's narrative of the overthrow of the Titans by the Olympians in his "Theogony". The Greek sky-god Ouranos (whose name means "Heaven") is the father of the Titans and is derived from the Hittite version of Anu. In Hesiod's account, Ouranos is castrated by his son Cronus, just as Anu was castrated by his son Kumarbi in the Hittite story.


title: Anunnaki

text: Over a series of published books (starting with "Chariots of the Gods?" in 1968), pseudoarcheologist Erich von Däniken claimed that extraterrestrial "ancient astronauts" had visited a prehistoric Earth. Däniken explains the origins of religions as reactions to contact with an alien race, and offers interpretations of Sumerian texts and the Old Testament as evidence.


title: Anunnaki

text: In his 1976 book "The Twelfth Planet", author Zecharia Sitchin claimed that the Anunnaki were actually an advanced humanoid extraterrestrial species from the undiscovered planet Nibiru, who came to Earth around 500,000 years ago and constructed a base of operations in order to mine gold after discovering that the planet was rich in the precious metal. According to Sitchin, the Anunnaki hybridized their species and "Homo erectus" via in vitro fertilization in order to create humans as a slave species of miners. Sitchin claimed that the Anunnaki were forced to temporarily leave Earth's surface and orbit the planet when Antarctic glaciers melted, causing the Great Flood, which also destroyed the Anunnaki's bases on Earth. These had to be rebuilt, and the Anunnaki, needing more humans to help in this massive effort, taught mankind agriculture.


title: Anunnaki

text: Ronald H. Fritze writes that, according to Sitchin, "the Annunaki built the pyramids and all the other monumental structures from around the ancient world that ancient astronaut theorists consider so impossible to build without highly advanced technologies." Sitchin expanded on this mythology in later works, including "The Stairway to Heaven" (1980) and "The Wars of Gods and Men" (1985). In "The End of Days: Armageddon and the Prophecy of the Return" (2007), Sitchin predicted that the Anunnaki would return to earth, possibly as soon as 2012, corresponding to the end of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. Sitchin's writings have been universally rejected by mainstream historians, who have labelled his books as pseudoarchaeology, asserting that Sitchin seems to deliberately misrepresent Sumerian texts by quoting them out of context, truncating quotations, and mistranslating Sumerian words to give them radically different meanings from their accepted definitions.


title: Anunnaki

text: David Icke, the British conspiracy theorist who popularised the reptilian conspiracy theory, has claimed that the reptilian overlords of his theory are in fact the Anunnaki. Clearly influenced by Sitchin's writings, Icke adapts them "in favor of his own New Age and conspiratorial agenda". Icke's speculation on the Anunnaki incorporates far-right views on history, positing an Aryan master race descended by blood from the Anunnaki. It also incorporates dragons, Dracula, and draconian laws, these three elements apparently linked only by superficial linguistic similarity. He formulated his views on the Anunnaki in the 1990s and has written several books about his theory. In his 2001 documentary about Icke, Jon Ronson cited a cartoon, "Rothschild" (1898), by Charles Léandre, arguing that Jews have long been depicted as lizard-like creatures who are out to control the world.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfielders of his generation. He has the record of the most goals by a midfielder in the Premier League and of scoring the highest number of goals from outside the box (41). He ranked highly on a number of statistics for Premier League players for the ten years from 1st December 2000, including most games and most wins.


title: Frank Lampard

text: A creative and technically gifted box-to-box midfielder, Lampard began his career in 1995 at West Ham United, the club where his father, Frank Lampard Sr., also played. He is best known for his time at London rivals Chelsea, whom he signed for in 2001 for £11 million. In his thirteen years with the club, Lampard established himself as a prolific scorer from midfield, becoming Chelsea's all-time leading goalscorer, with 211 goals scored in all competitions. Lampard won three Premier League titles, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, four FA Cups, and two Football League Cups. In 2005, he was named FWA Footballer of the Year, and finished runner-up for both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year. After leaving Chelsea, Lampard played for league rivals Manchester City and Major League Soccer (MLS) club New York City FC before retiring in 2017.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard is one of 10 players, and the only midfielder, to have scored 150 or more goals in the Premier League. He is fourth in the Premier League's all-time assists ranking, with 102 assists. Lampard holds a number of additional Chelsea and Premier League records, and has won PFA Fans' Player of the Year and the FWA Tribute Award. During his career, he was named in the PFA Team of the Year three times, Premier League Player of the Month 4 times, Premier League Player of the Season once and finished as the Premier League's top assist provider three times, and was named in the FIFPro World XI and a MLS All-Star. After departing, Lampard was named in the Chelsea Team of the Decade as voted for by Chelsea fans, and into the Premier League Hall of Fame.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard played 106 matches for the England national team, after making his debut in 1999. He represented his country at three FIFA World Cups – in 2006, 2010 and 2014 – and in UEFA Euro 2004, where he was named in the Team of the Tournament. Lampard scored 29 goals for England, and was voted England Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005. After retiring from international football, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2015 for services to football. After retiring, Lampard served as a team captain on the ITV sport panel show "Play to the Whistle" from 2015 until 2017. He has also written a number of children's books.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard began his managerial career with Derby County in 2018, leading the club to the final of that season's Championship play-offs. He was appointed as Chelsea's head coach a year later, guiding them to fourth place and the FA Cup Final in his first season. However, after a poor run of results, Lampard was dismissed in 2021. He was appointed Everton manager in 2022.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard began his career at West Ham United, his father's former club, joining the youth team in 1994, his schoolboy hero being West Ham striker, Frank McAvennie. Lampard joined West Ham when his father was the assistant coach, entering as an apprentice in the youth team in 1994 and signing a professional contract the following year. He went on loan to Second Division club Swansea City in October 1995, debuting in his team's victory 2–0 over Bradford City and scoring his first career goal in a match against Brighton & Hove Albion. Lampard played nine times for Swansea before returning to West Ham in January 1996.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard made his debut for West Ham on 31 January 1996 against Coventry City coming on as a substitute for John Moncur. His only other game of the season was the season's last, on 5 May 1996, a 1–1 home draw with Sheffield Wednesday when Lampard was used as a substitute for Keith Rowland.


title: Frank Lampard

text: The following season Lampard made his first start for West Ham, on 17 August 1996, in a 2–0 away defeat to Arsenal before being substituted for Robbie Slater. Lampard's season ended on 15 March 1997 when he sustained a broken leg during an away, 0–0 draw, against Aston Villa. Carried from the pitch on a stretcher, his 31st-minute substitute was Rio Ferdinand. The game also saw his first booking as a West Ham player. Lampard claims to have been jeered from the pitch by West Ham United supporters, an action which made him consider leaving football. He had made 16 appearances in all competitions for The Hammers.


title: Frank Lampard

text: From this season Lampard took the number 18 squad number having previously held the number 26 spot. On the first day of the 1997–98 season, West Ham opened their fixtures with an away game against Barnsley who were playing in the top tier of English football for the first time in 110 years. Lampard came on as a 76th-minute substitute for Eyal Berkovic. Barely a minute later he scored what was the winning goal in a 2–1 win for The Hammers having received the ball from Michael Hughes and flicking it past Barnsley goalkeeper David Watson. The season also saw his first hat-trick. On 19 November 1997, West Ham played Walsall in a League Cup, fourth-round game. Lampard's three goals plus another from John Hartson were enough to beat Walsall who responded via a goal from Andy Watson. Lampard made 42 appearances for the 1997–98 season in all competitions scoring nine goals.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard was an ever-present for West Ham in the 1998–99 season, helping his team to fifth place in the 1998–99 Premier League and qualification for the UEFA Intertoto Cup. This is the highest West Ham have ever come in the league.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Before the start of the 1999–2000 FA Premier League season, Lampard signed an extension to his contract which would have kept him with the club until 2005. Having qualified for the Intertoto Cup, West Ham's season started early, in July 1999. On 24 July 1999, Lampard scored his first goal in European football in a 1–1 away draw with Finnish side Jokerit. Another goal in the semi-final against Heerenveen put West Ham into the final against Metz. Despite losing the first leg 1–0 in London, West Ham won 3–1 in France on 24 August 1999 with goals from Trevor Sinclair, Paulo Wanchope and Lampard. Winning the competition saw West Ham in the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup. Lampard scored his first goal in this competition on 16 September 1999, in a 3–0 home win against Osijek, a tie which they won 6–1 on aggregate.


title: Frank Lampard

text: This season also saw West Ham beat Bradford City 5–4 at Upton Park in February 2000. The game received notoriety for Lampard's fight over the ball with Paolo Di Canio. With West Ham 4–2 down they gained a penalty. Lampard was West Ham's regular penalty taker. Di Canio, however, wanted to take the kick and the two tussled over the ball with Di Canio winning and scoring to make the game 4–3 to West Ham. In the 1999–2000, season he finished as the club's third top scorer, behind Di Canio and Paulo Wanchope, with a total of 14 goals.


title: Frank Lampard

text: In the 2000–01 season, West Ham's form suffered. They spent most of the season in the bottom half of the Premier League table. From fifth place the previous season they finished 15th. Despite this Lampard scored 9 goals in 37 games, behind only Frédéric Kanouté and Di Canio. In May 2001, his uncle Harry Redknapp left the club by mutual consent after seven years in the role. His father Frank also left the club and Lampard, under the pressure of being known as "Frank Lampard's son" and the poor treatment of his father by West Ham, decided to move to another club. He left West Ham for Chelsea for £11 million in June 2001, the Hammers having previously declined a £15 million joint bid from Aston Villa for Lampard and Frédéric Kanouté.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard's Premier League debut with Chelsea came on 19 August 2001 in a 1–1 draw with Newcastle United on the opening day of the 2001-02 season, while his first red card came in a match against Tottenham Hotspur on 16 September 2001. He appeared in all of Chelsea's league matches and scored eight goals in the 2001–02 season. He netted the match-winner in Chelsea's 2002–03 season-opener against Charlton Athletic.


title: Frank Lampard

text: The following season, he was selected as the Premier League Player of the Month in September 2003, and the PFA Fans' Player of the Month in October. Chelsea finished second in the 2003–04 Premier League behind unbeaten Arsenal and he was named in the 2004 PFA Team of the Year as he reached double figures in league goals (10) for the first time in his career, in addition to four goals in fourteen UEFA Champions League matches, as Chelsea advanced to the semi-finals. In the semi-final against Monaco he scored, but Chelsea lost 5–3 on aggregate. At the end of the season, he came second behind Thierry Henry for the 2004 FWA Footballer of the Year award.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard played in all 38 Premier League matches for the third consecutive season in 2004–05. He finished with 13 goals (19 in all competitions), in addition to leading the league in assists with 16.


title: Frank Lampard

text: In August 2004, he scored the winning goal against Southampton in the Premier League, and continued scoring important goals as he scored both in a 2–0 win against Tottenham. In March 2005 he scored a long-range goal from 30 yards against Crystal Palace in the Premier League which Chelsea won 4–1. Lampard continued his season strongly, and his brilliant performances for Chelsea in the Premier League and Champions League further increased his reputation as one of the best midfielders in the world. In the 2004–05 Champions League, he scored one of the goals in Chelsea's famous 4–2 win over Barcelona, helping Chelsea to progress to the quarter-finals. In the quarter-finals, he scored three goals in two legs against Bayern Munich as Chelsea won 6–5 on aggregate. His second goal in the first leg was a spectacular one; he controlled Claude Makélélé's cross with his chest then turned and swivelled and sent the ball inside the far post with a left-foot half volley.


title: Frank Lampard

text: In April 2005, Lampard scored both goals against Bolton Wanderers in a 2–0 win which was the Premier League title-winning match for Chelsea, which also won the first major trophy of his career as Chelsea bagged their first top-flight title in 50 years, by a 12-point margin. He was named as Barclays Player of the Season for 2004–05. Though Chelsea were eliminated in the Champions League semi-finals by league rivals Liverpool, they took home the Football League Cup, in which Lampard scored twice in six matches, which included the opening goal against Manchester United in the League Cup semi-final, which Chelsea won 2–1. He landed his first personal award by being named the 2005 Footballer of the Year.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard netted a career-high 16 league goals in 2005–06. In September 2005 he was selected as a member of the inaugural World XI. He finished as runner-up to Ronaldinho for both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards. His record of consecutive Premier League appearances ended at 164 (five better than previous record-holder David James) on 28 December 2005, when he sat out a match against Manchester City due to illness. Lampard scored 12 goals in his first four months of the 2005–06 season. He scored twice in three separate matches from August to November, including both in a 2–1 win over Aston Villa, making Chelsea the first team to win their first seven matches in the Premier League. He scored twice again, this time against Blackburn Rovers in a 4–2 win, which included a free-kick from 25 yards. After the match, manager José Mourinho hailed Lampard as the "best player in the world". Chelsea eventually won the Premier League for the second time, in which Lampard was Chelsea's topscorer with 16 league goals. In the Champions League group stage, he scored a free-kick against Anderlecht. Chelsea progressed to the first knock-out round to face Barcelona, with Lampard scoring a goal in the second leg, but Chelsea were eliminated 3–2 on aggregate.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Due to a back injury sustained by John Terry, Lampard spent much of the 2006–07 campaign as team captain in his absence. He enjoyed a streak of seven goals in eight games. He scored both goals in a 2–0 win over Fulham and scored his 77th goal for Chelsea from a long range strike in a 3–2 win over Everton on 17 December, overtaking Dennis Wise as Chelsea's highest scoring midfielder. Then in the UEFA Champions League group stage he scored a goal from an extremely tight angle against Barcelona, at the Camp Nou, the match ended 2–2. Lampard finished with 21 goals in all competitions, including a career-high six FA Cup goals. He scored his first Chelsea hat-trick in the third-round tie against Macclesfield Town on 6 January 2007. He scored two goals to help Chelsea to a quarter-final draw with Tottenham Hotspur after having trailed 3–1, and he was named the FA Cup player-of-the-round for his performance. He gave the assist to Didier Drogba in the 2007 FA Cup Final which was the winning goal in extra-time, as Chelsea won it 1–0. In a post-match interview following Chelsea's FA Cup Final victory over Manchester United, Lampard said he wanted to stay at the club "forever".


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard's 2007–08 season was hampered by injury. He managed to play 40 matches, 24 of them in the Premier League. This was the fewest league games he had played in a season since 1996–97. On 16 February 2008, Lampard became the eighth Chelsea player to score 100 goals for the club in a 3–1 FA Cup fifth-round win over Huddersfield Town. After the final whistle, Lampard removed his jersey and flashed a T-shirt to the Chelsea fans with "100 Not Out, They Are All For You, Thanks" printed across the front. On 12 March 2008, Lampard scored four goals in a 6–1 rout of Derby County. Then in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final, he scored the winning goal against Fenerbahçe in the 87th minute as Chelsea won 3–2 on aggregate.


title: Frank Lampard

text: On 30 April, Lampard, grieving the loss of his mother a week earlier, decided to play in the second leg of Chelsea's Champions League semi-final against Liverpool, who were eliminated on 4–3 aggregate as he took an emotional penalty in the 98th minute of extra-time, which he scored confidently. In the final against Manchester United, he scored an equalising goal in the 45th minute, as Michael Essien's deflected shot found him as he went to the box with his trade-mark late run, and he scored with a left foot finish. The match ended 1–1 after extra-time and Chelsea eventually lost 6–5 on penalties. He was later named UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year.


title: Frank Lampard

text: On 13 August 2008, Lampard signed a new five-year contract with Chelsea worth £39.2 million, making him the highest-paid Premier League player. He started the 2008–09 season by scoring five goals in his first eleven league matches. He scored the 150th goal of his club career with a goal against Manchester City in the Premier League. In October 2008, in the Premier League he scored a chipped goal against Hull City with his left foot; he unleashed a chip from 20 yards that curled and swerved and fooled the goalkeeper as it went into the net. FIFA World Cup-winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said after the game, "It was the best goal I have seen, my vote for World Player of the year award will go to him, only a player with his intelligence could have done that." Lampard scored his hundredth career Premier League goal in a 5–0 victory over Sunderland on 2 November. Eighteen of Lampard's hundred goals were penalties. He was named Premier League Player of the Month for the third time in his career in October.


title: Frank Lampard

text: After a streak of matches without scoring, Lampard scored three goals in two games, the first being against West Bromwich Albion and the latter two against Fulham. On 17 January 2009, he made his 400th Chelsea appearance against Stoke City, scoring a stoppage time winner. He again scored a stoppage time winner, this time against Wigan Athletic. Then in the fourth round of the FA Cup, he scored a free-kick from 35 yards against Ipswich Town. He scored twice against Liverpool in the second-leg quarter finals of the Champions League which ended 4–4, but Chelsea won 7–5 on aggregate. Then he provided two assists in the next game against Arsenal in FA Cup semi-finals which Chelsea won 2–1. Lampard finished the season with 20 goals and 19 assists. Lampard's 20th goal of the season was the winning goal in the FA Cup Final against Everton, with a left-foot shot from long-range. He repeated the corner flag celebration his father had done after scoring the winning goal in the 1979–80 FA Cup semi-final second leg against Everton. It was the fourth consecutive season that he scored 20 or more goals. He was later named Chelsea's Player of the Year for the third time.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard started the 2009–10 season by scoring against Manchester United, in the 2009 Community Shield, in the 72nd minute. The match ended 2–2, and Lampard scored in its penalty shootout which they won 4–1. He scored his 133rd goal for Chelsea in a Champions League match against Atlético Madrid on 21 October 2009, which moved him up to fifth among the club's all-time goalscorers. He had been struggling to score the number of goals he had in the past seasons, however this soon changed as he scored two goals in the 5–0 defeat of Blackburn on 24 October 2009. On 30 October, he was nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year award for the sixth-straight year.


title: Frank Lampard

text: On 16 December, Lampard scored a crucial 79th minute winning goal against Portsmouth and on 20 December, Lampard scored a penalty against his former club West Ham in a 1–1 draw, however he had to take his spot-kick three times due to players running into the box too early, he nonetheless scored all three. In Chelsea's 7–2 thrashing of Sunderland in January 2010, Lampard scored twice to add to his league tally. On 27 January 2010, Lampard again scored two goals, in Chelsea's 3–0 win over Birmingham City in the Premier League. On 27 February, Lampard yet again scored twice against Manchester City but despite his contribution Chelsea went on to lose the game 4–2 at home, for the first time in 38 games.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard, for the second time in his career, hit four goals in one match against Aston Villa on 27 March 2010 to bring his goal tally past 20, for the fifth-consecutive season. This also brought him his 151st Chelsea goal, and it put him as the club's third highest scorer ever, overtaking Peter Osgood's record of 150. Lampard scored in a 3–0 win, again over Aston Villa, in the 2010 FA Cup semi-final. Lampard reached 20 Premier League goals for the first time when he scored twice against Stoke City in Chelsea's 7–0 win on 25 April 2010. This milestone also represented the first time he had hit 25 in all competitions in a season. On 2 May, Lampard scored against Liverpool in the second last game of the season to give Chelsea a vital three points that took them to the top of the league by a single point. He scored one and assisted two other goals in the final match of the season where Chelsea thrashed Wigan Athletic 8–0 at Stamford Bridge to win the 2009–10 Premier League title and give him a remarkable 27 goals in the season. Lampard ended his season lifting the 2010 FA Cup as Chelsea beat Portsmouth 1–0 in the final.


title: Frank Lampard

text: The 2010–11 season began brightly for Lampard, being an integral part of Chelsea's system as usual. After a match against Stoke in August 2010, which Chelsea won 2–0, it was revealed that Lampard was suffering from a hernia, which was successfully operated on. However, he suffered fresh injuries during training in mid-November, and remained sidelined for a further three weeks. Manager Carlo Ancelotti said that he injured his abductor muscle in his leg in training on 11 November, and would not be fit until December. He finally made his comeback after four months out injured against Tottenham on 12 December, as a substitute in the 75th minute. Lampard scored a penalty in the 3–3 draw between Chelsea and Aston Villa on 2 January 2011, the first after returning from injury. On 9 January, Lampard scored twice and gave one assist in a 7–0 win against Ipswich Town in the FA Cup reaching the landmark of 201 career club goals.


title: Frank Lampard

text: On 1 February, Lampard scored a penalty against Sunderland, then produced an assist, with Chelsea ending up winning the game 4–2.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard then assisted for Nicolas Anelka in Chelsea's 2–0 victory against Copenhagen, in the Round of 16 match in the Champions League. On 1 March, Lampard scored the winning goal in a crucial 2–1 victory over Manchester United, keeping Chelsea's Premier League title hopes alive. Then in the next game, he scored two goals in Chelsea's 3–1 victory over Blackpool, and also contributed with an assist for John Terry to score.


title: Frank Lampard

text: In April 2011, Lampard scored his 11th goal of the season in a 3–0 victory against former club West Ham. Lampard scored again against Manchester United, but it proved to be only a consolation, as Chelsea lost 2–1 at Old Trafford, thus ending Chelsea's title hopes.


title: Frank Lampard

text: In Chelsea's third Premier League match of the season, Lampard scored his first goal of the season and also provided an assist for José Bosingwa's opening goal, as Chelsea beat Norwich City 3–1.


title: Frank Lampard

text: After not featuring in Chelsea's 4–1 win against Swansea City on 24 September, Lampard returned to the starting line-up for their Champions League group stage game against Valencia netting an important opening goal in their 1–1 draw. Lampard continued his fine form by netting his fifth Chelsea hat-trick on 2 October, in a 5–1 thrashing of Bolton Wanderers.


title: Frank Lampard

text: In the eleventh round of the Premier League, Lampard scored the only goal of the match against Blackburn Rovers with a diving header, giving Chelsea a win after two consecutive defeats. After starting the game against Manchester City on the bench, Lampard came on in the second half to score the winning goal from the penalty spot in the 82nd minute. Lampard again proved to be the match-winner again as he scored in the 89th minute against Wolverhampton Wanderers, with the match finishing 2–1 to Chelsea.


title: Frank Lampard

text: On 25 February 2012, Lampard scored his tenth Premier League goal of the season in Chelsea's 3–0 win against Bolton, becoming the only player to score at least ten goals in nine consecutive seasons in the Premier League and his 149th all-time league goal.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Eleven days after the dismissal of manager André Villas-Boas, Chelsea hosted Napoli in the 2011–12 Champions League round of 16-second leg, trailing the Naples side 3–1 from the first leg. Lampard helped Chelsea make a remarkable comeback, assisting John Terry from a corner for the second goal and then equalising the aggregate score from the penalty spot with a powerful shot to the left of the goal. Branislav Ivanović sealed Chelsea's victory in extra-time. In the second leg of the quarter-finals of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League against Benfica, Lampard converted a crucial penalty to give Chelsea a 2–1 win at Stamford Bridge, and helping them advance with an aggregate score of 3–1. He scored the 150th Premier League goal of his career against Fulham in a 1–1 draw on 9 April 2012. In the semi-final of the FA Cup Chelsea defeated Tottenham Hotspur 5–1, in a match that would be remembered for an infamous "goal that never was" awarded to Chelsea's Juan Mata. Lampard assisted Didier Drogba for the first goal, and also scored the fourth goal for the Blues from a free-kick 35 yards from goal.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard was pivotal in the semi-finals of the 2011–12 Champions League against the heavily favoured defending champions Barcelona. Bookmakers had Barcelona on the shortest odds to win a second consecutive Champions League title, and various commentators opined that Chelsea would have to produce their best two games of the season – and hope that Barca played their worst two – to upset the Catalan giants. In the first leg at Stamford Bridge, Lampard stripped Lionel Messi off the ball then played a cross-field pass to Ramires, who set up Drogba for the only goal of the game, giving Chelsea a 1–0 advantage. In the second leg at the Camp Nou, Lampard assumed the captaincy after Terry was sent off early in the game. Down 2–0 to Barça just before half-time, Lampard assisted Ramires' goal with a through-pass which levelled the aggregate score at 2–2 while putting Chelsea ahead on away goals. Chelsea teammate Fernando Torres added another goal in stoppage time to give Chelsea a 3–2 victory overall and produce one of the greatest upsets in the history of European football. This set up Chelsea's match with Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in the Champions League final.


title: Frank Lampard

text: In the 2012 FA Cup Final, Lampard assisted Didier Drogba's winning goal in 2–1 win over Liverpool, the seventh FA Cup in Chelsea's history as well as the fourth of his career. Lampard captained Chelsea in the 2012 Champions League final against Bayern Munich due to Terry's suspension. It was a match where Chelsea were considered to be the underdogs. After finishing 1–1 in normal time, the game went to a penalty shootout with Lampard successfully converting his team's third spot-kick, helping Chelsea win 4–3 on penalties. As Chelsea's captain for the match, Lampard lifted the trophy with club captain Terry. Lampard ended the 2011–12 season as Chelsea's top scorer with 16 goals in all competitions, along with 10 assists.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard missed Euro 2012 with a thigh injury, but did play all of Chelsea's pre-season games, scoring against the MLS All-Stars and Brighton & Hove Albion. In Chelsea's first game of the new Premier League campaign, Lampard converted a penalty won by Eden Hazard as Chelsea brushed aside Wigan 2–0. In Chelsea's second game of the season, three days later against newly promoted Reading, he again converted a penalty won by Hazard as Chelsea cruised to a 4–2 win. On 6 October, he scored his third league goal of the season in a 4–1 win against Norwich City. After six weeks out injured, on 16 December Lampard appeared in the final of the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup with Chelsea losing 1–0 to Brazilian club Corinthians. He marked his 500th appearance in the Premier League by scoring in an 8–0 win against Aston Villa on 23 December. On 30 December 2012, Lampard scored a brace as Chelsea came from a goal down in the game against Everton to win 2–1.


title: Frank Lampard

text: In the third round of the FA Cup, Lampard entered in the second half and scored a penalty in Chelsea's victory over Southampton. On 6 January 2013, Lampard's agent Steve Kutner announced that Lampard would not be offered a new contract with Chelsea and would leave when his contract expired in June 2013. On 12 January 2013, Lampard scored a penalty in the 4–0 win over Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium. This goal made Lampard Chelsea's second-highest goalscorer of all-time with 194 goals and moved him clear of Kerry Dixon and putting him eight goals behind Bobby Tambling in first. He scored his 199th goal for Chelsea in a 4–0 FA Cup victory over Brentford on 17 February, becoming Chelsea's all-time leading FA Cup goalscorer with 26 goals. Lampard's 200th Chelsea goal came against his former club West Ham on 17 March 2013, heading home an Eden Hazard cross.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard equalled Bobby Tambling's record with a long-range goal into the top left corner from just outside the box in the 61st minute in a league match against Aston Villa on 11 May. Then, later on in the 88th minute, he scored a second goal, breaking the record and securing a 2–1 victory for Chelsea. In the UEFA Europa League final on 15 May, Lampard captained the London club to a 2–1 victory over Benfica, securing the 11th major trophy of the Roman Abramovich era.


title: Frank Lampard

text: On 16 May 2013, Lampard signed a one-year extension to his contract with Chelsea, stating "I always maintained the dream was to stay at Chelsea."


title: Frank Lampard

text: On the opening day of the 2013–14 Premier League season, Lampard scored a free-kick in a 2–0 win against newly promoted Hull City. On 1 October, he scored his 205th goal for Chelsea in a 4–0 win away to Steaua București in the Champions League. On 23 November 2013, Lampard scored his 206th and 207th goals for Chelsea against his former club West Ham in a 3–0 win. Lampard moved to fourth on the all-time Premier League goal-scoring list on 2 December by beating Robbie Fowler's number of 164 goals. On 22 February 2014, Lampard scored a stoppage-time winner against Everton, initially credited to John Terry but awarded to Lampard by the Dubious Goals Committee, keeping Chelsea in first place. On 2 April, he played his 100th Champions League match, losing 3–1 to Paris Saint-Germain. On 5 April 2014, Lampard scored the 250th goal of his club career in a 3–0 win against Stoke.


title: Frank Lampard

text: On 23 May 2014, Lampard was included on the list of players released by Chelsea. Lampard, however, said that any contract talks with Chelsea would be decided after the 2014 World Cup, with a statement saying "he will meet with Chelsea before any consideration of a move elsewhere". On 3 June 2014, Chelsea confirmed Lampard would leave the club.


title: Frank Lampard

text: On 24 July 2014, Lampard, as a free agent, signed a two-year contract with New York City FC to commence ahead of the 2015 MLS season. It was announced at a live press conference in Brooklyn that he would be joining the club, which would be entering Major League Soccer (MLS) for the 2015 season. Sporting director Claudio Reyna hailed him as "one of the greatest players in world history". New York City's parent club, Manchester City, announced on 3 August 2014 that Lampard would join the club on a six-month deal ending in January 2015. Initially reported as a loan, reports emerged on 31 December 2014 that Lampard had signed a short-term contract with the club as a free agent with his MLS contract not to start until the end of his stay in Manchester. The same day, it was announced Lampard would extend his contract with Manchester City until the end of the English season, missing the start of the 2015 MLS season and it was confirmed that Lampard had never been an MLS player with his arrival date in MLS unclear.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard extending his stay in Manchester prompted an angry response from fans in New York, with New York City being accused of dishonesty for using the player in their promotional material and MLS Commissioner Don Garber being accused of poor leadership and a lack of transparency in handling the affair. On 1 January 2015, Manchester City head coach Manuel Pellegrini hinted that Lampard could extend his stay at Manchester City to a second season. On 9 January, Manchester City admitted that Lampard had never signed a two-year contract with New York City, having instead originally signed a non-binding "commitment" to join the team. The same day, Lampard confirmed his intention to join New York City at the end of the 2014–15 Premier League season. Around 300 people asked for season ticket refunds in response to the affair, while the 2015 MLS SuperDraft started a chant of "Where's Frank Lampard?" from the crowd.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard made his Manchester City debut on 13 September in a 2–2 away draw against Arsenal; he received a yellow card and was substituted at half-time for Samir Nasri. He scored his first goal for the club on 21 September with a volley from inside the box against former club Chelsea, having only been on the field for seven minutes as a substitute. Lampard's equalising goal ended Chelsea's perfect winning streak in the season, but it was a goal which he did not celebrate, and he described it as a very emotional day. In Lampard's first League Cup match for City three days later, he scored the first and last goals as the side defeated Sheffield Wednesday 7–0 at home in the third round. On 27 September, Lampard came on in the 71st minute, only to score another goal to make it four goals in four matches and his fourth that week. He made his first Champions League appearance on 30 September in Manchester City's 1–1 draw with Roma.


title: Frank Lampard

text: On 1 January 2015, the day after extending his stay with the club, Lampard scored the winner for City in a Premier League encounter against Sunderland. On 14 March 2015, Lampard made his 600th Premier League appearance, becoming the second player to do so after Ryan Giggs, coming on as a substitute during City's 1–0 defeat to Burnley. On 24 May, Lampard captained Manchester City in their final match of the season and the last of his spell with the club. He scored his 177th Premier League goal to give City the lead in an eventual 2–0 win over Southampton at the City of Manchester Stadium and was substituted for Jesús Navas in the 77th minute.


title: Frank Lampard

text: On 10 January 2015, Lampard signed a pre-contract to play for New York City FC in MLS, beginning on 1 July. Injury delayed his debut until 1 August, when he came on as a 69th-minute substitute for Andrew Jacobson in a 3–2 defeat to the Montreal Impact at Yankee Stadium. In July, Lampard was one of the 22 players to be named to the 2015 MLS All-Star Game roster. On 16 September, he scored his first MLS goal as his team beat Toronto 2–0 to end a three-game losing streak. Eleven days later, Lampard scored the opening goal in a 2–1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps in the 29th minute of play; he was later also fouled in the area in the final minute of stoppage time, which allowed David Villa to convert the match-winning goal from the resulting penalty. On 2 October, he scored New York City's fastest ever goal in MLS history in a 2–1 away defeat to D.C. United. The team finished its debut season outside a place for the MLS Cup Playoffs, which drew criticism from some in the media, who expected more from the club's trio of designated players composed of former Champions League winners Lampard, David Villa and Andrea Pirlo.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Having missed the beginning of the season with a calf injury, Lampard made his first appearance in 2016 on 22 May in the New York derby, playing the final 15 minutes; New York City lost the game 7–0, while Lampard was jeered by his side's own fans. However, he then scored in his first start of the season against Philadelphia Union on 18 June and was cheered by the New York fans once again. In his second start, he managed to make it back-to-back goals against Seattle Sounders on 20 June. His fourth goal in five matches came against Sporting Kansas City in a 3–1 defeat on 11 July. Lampard then took his goal tally for the season to five with the third goal in a 3–1 victory over the Montreal Impact on 17 July.


title: Frank Lampard

text: On 31 July 2016, Lampard became the first New York City player to score a hat-trick, achieving this feat in a 5–1 win over the Colorado Rapids. Lampard finished his second MLS season with the club with 13 goals and 3 assists in 19 appearances, as New York City finished in second place in the Eastern Conference, and qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time ever, clinching a spot in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. He featured in both legs of the Conference semi-final against Toronto, as New York were eliminated from the Playoffs 7–0 on aggregate. On 14 November 2016, New York City announced that Lampard would leave as soon as his contract expired.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard announced his retirement on 2 February 2017 after turning down several offers, and said that he would look to obtain his coaching qualifications after retiring.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard was capped by England at youth level before making his under-21 debut on 13 November 1997 in a match against Greece. He played for the under-21 side from November 1997 to June 2000, and scored nine goals in 19 appearances, a mark bettered only by Alan Shearer and Francis Jeffers. He was capped once by England B, playing in a 2–1 home defeat to Chile on 10 February 1998.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard earned his first cap for England on 10 October 1999 in a 2–1 friendly win over Belgium, and scored his first goal on 20 August 2003 in a 3–1 win over Croatia.


title: Frank Lampard

text: He was overlooked for Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup, and had to wait until Euro 2004 to take part in his first international competition. England reached the quarter-finals with Lampard scoring three goals in four matches. He scored against France and Croatia in the group stages, and in the quarter-final he equalised for England in the 112th minute against Portugal, bringing the scoreline to 2–2 but England lost on penalties. He was named in the team of the tournament by UEFA.


title: Frank Lampard

text: He became a regular in the squad following the retirement of Paul Scholes, and was voted England Player of the Year by fans in 2004 and 2005. He was England's top-scorer in their 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign, with five goals. He scored two crucial goals in the qualifiers, the first against Austria in a 1–0 win, and the second being the winning goal against Poland.


title: Frank Lampard

text: In England's first game of the tournament against Paraguay, Lampard was named man of the match as England won 1–0. Though Lampard played every minute of England's 2006 World Cup matches, he went scoreless as England were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Portugal on penalties, and he was one of the three England players whose penalty was saved alongside Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.


title: Frank Lampard

text: He scored in a 2–1 loss to Germany in a friendly at the new Wembley in 2007. He was very disappointing during qualifying for Euro 2008. He was booed by England supporters while coming on as a second-half substitute during England's Euro 2008 qualifying match against Estonia on 13 October 2007. Lampard sent Stipe Pletikosa the wrong way from the spot and finished with one goal (in a 3–2 loss to Croatia on 21 November) as England failed to qualify for the tournament. He scored his first international goal in two years in a 4–0 win over Slovakia in March 2009, and also created another for Wayne Rooney. Lampard's goal was the 500th England goal scored at Wembley. On 9 September 2009, Lampard struck twice in England's 5–1 win against Croatia which secured their place at 2010 World Cup.


title: Frank Lampard

text: In the round-of-16 match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup against rivals Germany, Lampard had a first-half shot at goal that bounced off the crossbar and from TV replays was clearly seen to cross the goal line. If counted, it would have tied the game 2–2. However, neither the referee nor the linesman saw it as a goal, and play was continued. In the second-half, Lampard hit the cross-bar again, with a 30-yard free-kick. The final score was a 4–1 win for Germany, eliminating England from the tournament.


title: Frank Lampard

text: As England exited the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Lampard had already achieved the record of having made 37 shots on goal without scoring in a World Cup tournament, more than any other player since 1966.


title: Frank Lampard

text: On 8 February 2011, it was announced that Lampard would captain the national team against Denmark in a friendly played the next day after both Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard were absent through injury. In the Euro 2012 qualifiers, Lampard netted two goals for England, both penalties. The first against Wales in a 2–0 win, and the latter vs Switzerland in a 2–2 draw. In November 2011, Lampard captained England to a 1–0 friendly victory over current World Champions Spain, a game in which he scored the only goal.


title: Frank Lampard

text: On 31 May 2012, he was ruled out of the Euro 2012 due to a thigh injury. He was subsequently replaced by Jordan Henderson.


title: Frank Lampard

text: On 14 August 2012, manager Roy Hodgson announced that Lampard would captain the Three Lions in their upcoming friendly against Italy the following day, which England won 2–1. Lampard started England's first game in qualification and starred as England thrashed Moldova 5–0, with Lampard scoring his 24th and 25th England goals. His first goal was England's 100th ever penalty and his second was a header from a cross from Glen Johnson, after Steven Gerrard was substituted he captained the side. On 22 March 2013, he surpassed David Platt as England's highest scoring midfielder when he scored his 28th international goal in a 0–8 win over San Marino. Lampard became only the eighth English player to earn his 100th England cap, doing so in a World Cup qualifier against Ukraine, on 10 September 2013.


title: Frank Lampard

text: On 12 May 2014, Lampard was named in the 23-man England squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and a week later he was named vice-captain. On 24 June, for the last game of the group stage, Lampard captained his England side to draw with Costa Rica 0–0. On 26 August 2014, Lampard announced that he had retired from international football. He earned 106 caps, scoring 29 goals.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Regarded by some pundits, managers, and teammates as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation, Lampard was an all-round and versatile box-to-box player, who was capable of playing anywhere in midfield; throughout his career he was deployed as a central midfielder, as an attacking midfielder, as a defensive midfielder, and even as a supporting striker on occasion. He was also deployed as a deep-lying playmaker on occasion, in particular in his later career, due to his ability to build attacks with his passing.


title: Frank Lampard

text: A hard-working player, with notable stamina and an ability to read the game, Lampard was also capable of functioning creatively and starting attacking plays or providing assists for teammates after winning back possession, due to his technique, vision, and passing range. In addition to his creative and defensive midfield duties, Lampard also possessed a keen eye for goal, due to his ability to get forward and make late attacking runs from behind into the penalty area, or produce accurate and powerful shots from distance. These attributes enabled him to maintain a prolific goalscoring record throughout his career, despite his deep playing position. Moreover, Lampard was also an accurate set-piece and penalty kick taker, who was known for scoring with powerful, low driving shots from free kicks.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Beyond his qualities as a footballer, he also stood out for his leadership throughout his career. In 2017, Gareth Southgate labelled Lampard as one of the group of England's past players who were "very good," but below the likes of the nation's past "top players," such as Gascoigne, Scholes, and Rooney, commenting: "You've got very good players and then there are top players. In my time in the England setup, Paul Gascoigne, Paul Scholes and Rooney just had that little bit more than all the others. And we are talking high‑level people there, players like Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and David Beckham."


title: Frank Lampard

text: On 31 May 2018, Lampard was appointed as manager of Championship club Derby County on a three-year contract. His first game in charge, on 3 August, resulted in a 2–1 away win for Derby at Reading, with Tom Lawrence scoring a last-minute winner. His first loss as a manager came on 11 August in a 4–1 loss against Leeds United, in his second match in charge. On 25 September, in just his 12th game as a manager, Lampard's Derby County knocked Premier League club Manchester United out of the EFL Cup on penalties, following a 2–2 draw at Old Trafford.


title: Frank Lampard

text: After a 2–0 defeat in the return fixture against Leeds United at Elland Road on 11 January 2019 to further Leeds' lead at the top of the Championship table, Lampard was critical of Leeds head coach Marcelo Bielsa, as in the pre-match build-up Bielsa admitted he had sent a spy to the Derby training ground, after reports emerged in the press that a man was spotted the previous day outside the Derby training ground. On 12 January, Leeds United released a statement in response to the incident. Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino described the incident as 'not a big deal' and commonplace in Argentina.


title: Frank Lampard

text: In his first season in charge of Derby, Lampard guided the club to the Championship play-offs after helping them finish 6th in the 2018–19 Championship season. In the semi-finals of the play-offs, Derby overturned a 0–1 home loss to win 4–2 away against Leeds United and claim the tie 4–3 on aggregate, setting up an appearance against Aston Villa in the final. Derby lost the play-off final to Aston Villa 2–1.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Upon the conclusion of the season, Lampard was heavily linked with the vacant managerial spot at former club Chelsea. On 25 June 2019, Derby granted Lampard permission to hold talks with the Chelsea bosses over said position.


title: Frank Lampard

text: On 4 July 2019, Lampard was appointed as the new head coach at former club Chelsea on a three-year contract, making him the first English manager to manage the side in over two decades. In Lampard's first competitive game with Chelsea, the club lost 4–0 to Manchester United on the opening day of the 2019–20 Premier League. It was the biggest defeat for a Chelsea manager in their first game since Danny Blanchflower's team was beaten 7–2 by Middlesbrough in December 1978. In Lampard's second competitive game, they lost to Liverpool on penalties in the 2019 UEFA Super Cup.


title: Frank Lampard

text: On 24 August 2019, Lampard obtained his first Premier League victory as Chelsea manager, beating Norwich City 2–3 away from home. On 25 September, Chelsea picked up their first home win under Lampard, beating League Two side Grimsby Town 7–1 in the EFL Cup. Lampard's matchday squad against Grimsby featured ten academy graduates, including Reece James and Billy Gilmour, making their first-team debuts. Lampard won Premier League Manager of the Month for October 2019 after Chelsea recorded a perfect record in the league for the month. By doing so, he became the third manager to win Premier League Player of the Month and Manager of the Month, after Gareth Southgate and Stuart Pearce. Lampard eventually guided Chelsea to 4th in the Premier League and the FA Cup Final, where they lost to Arsenal.


title: Frank Lampard

text: In the following season, Chelsea made five major acquisitions in the summer transfer window in Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Kai Havertz and Édouard Mendy. Chelsea initially started strongly, topping their Champions League group and the Premier League in early December. However, after a run of two wins in eight Premier League matches, Chelsea dropped to ninth and Lampard was dismissed on 25 January 2021. His dismissal came just 24 hours after Chelsea's 3–1 win over Luton Town in the FA Cup. On 26 January, German coach Thomas Tuchel was announced as his replacement.


title: Frank Lampard

text: It was reported Lampard's departure was also influenced by disagreements with the club's transfer policy; Lampard is said to have requested the acquisitions of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Declan Rice, and James Tarkowski, with these moves being blocked by Chelsea's co-director Marina Granovskaia. Lampard also reportedly fell out with or had limited communication with some players, causing former teammate and club advisor Petr Čech to have to serve as an intermediary.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Having been out of work for a year, Lampard was appointed manager of Premier League club Everton on 31 January 2022, after the dismissal of Rafael Benítez due to poor results. At the time of his appointment, the club was positioned in 16th place, four points above the relegation zone. With one game remaining in the 2021–22 season, on 19 May Lampard guided Everton to Premier League safety maintaining their 68-year top flight status. Having been 2–0 down at half-time to Crystal Palace Lampard brought on Dele Alli and played a more attacking formation resulting in a 3–2 win for the Merseyside team. Lampard described the night as "one of the greatest nights of my career".


title: Frank Lampard

text: From 2015 until 2017, Lampard served as a team captain on the ITV comedy panel show "Play to the Whistle" alongside Bradley Walsh. He was a regular pundit for football on BT Sport. For the 2018 World Cup, Lampard was among the BBC's list of pundits as he insisted that it would not affect his managerial duties.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard features in EA Sports' "FIFA" video game series; he was on the cover for the International edition of "FIFA 10", alongside Wayne Rooney and Theo Walcott. In 2018, Lampard was added as an icon to the Ultimate Team in "FIFA 19".


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard was born in Romford, London; he has two sisters, Natalie and Claire. He attended Brentwood School between 1989 and 1994, finishing with eleven GCSEs, including an A* in Latin.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard belongs to a family of footballers; his father is Frank Lampard, Sr., the former West Ham United player and assistant manager who was still associated with the club when Lampard junior was playing for them. Lampard's uncle is Harry Redknapp and his cousin is Redknapp's son Jamie Redknapp. His mother Pat, a librarian, died in April 2008 aged 58 as a result of pneumonia.


title: Frank Lampard

text: In 2000, Lampard, Rio Ferdinand and Kieron Dyer appeared on a sex video that was filmed at the holiday resort of Ayia Napa in Cyprus. Channel 4 aired a brief clip as part of their 2004 documentary "Sex, Footballers and Videotape", claiming it was used to "remind the viewer that this is based on real life." On 23 September 2001, Lampard, along with three other Chelsea players, was fined two weeks wages by the club for his behaviour whilst on a drinking binge on 12 September. Lampard and the others had abused American tourists at a Heathrow hotel, just 24 hours after the 11 September attacks. A hotel manager stated: "they were utterly disgusting. They just didn't seem to care about what had happened".


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard is a supporter of the Conservative Party and was rumoured to run as a candidate for Kensington upon Malcolm Rifkind's retirement at the 2015 general election. He subsequently denied that he was running to be an MP.


title: Frank Lampard

text: He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 Birthday Honours. Lampard published his autobiography, "Totally Frank", in 2006. He has written a series of children's novels, inspired by his mother and children, related to football.


title: Frank Lampard

text: In 2021, Lampard was charged with using a mobile phone while driving after being filmed by CyclingMikey driving while holding a takeaway cup in one hand and a mobile phone in the other. The case was later dropped.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard formerly owned The Pig's Ear, Chelsea's oldest pub, with his father. They sold the business in 2018 but Lampard still owns the Old Church Street property.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard lives in Surrey and London. He has two daughters with his former fiancée, Spanish model Elen Rivas.


title: Frank Lampard

text: On 24 April 2009, Lampard was involved in a radio confrontation with James O'Brien on the London radio station LBC 97.3. Newspapers had reported that following Lampard's split from Rivas their children were living with her in a small flat while Lampard had converted their family home into a bachelor pad. Lampard phoned in, objecting to criticism and asserting that he had fought "tooth and nail" to keep his family together.


title: Frank Lampard

text: Lampard married Christine Bleakley, a Northern Irish broadcaster, on 20 December 2015. On 21 September 2018, they had a baby girl. On 15 March 2021, it was announced that they had a baby boy.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (as transliterated from Russian; also transliterated from Belarusian as Alyaksand(a)r Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the establishment of the office on 20 July 1994, making him the longest-sitting European president.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: Before his political career, Lukashenko worked as director of a state farm ("sovkhoz"), and served in the Soviet Border Troops and in the Soviet Army.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: Lukashenko continued state ownership of key industries in Belarus after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and retained important Soviet-era symbolism, which can be seen in the coat of arms and national flag of Belarus, adopted following a controversial 1995 referendum, which were based on those of the Byelorussian SSR. Following the same referendum, Lukashenko was given more power with the ability to dismiss the Supreme Soviet of Belarus and another referendum in 1996 allowed Lukashenko to further consolidate power. The Russian language was also given the same status as Belarusian, and economic ties with Russia were strengthened, which furthermore led to the creation of the Union State with Russia, which allows Belarusians to freely travel to, work, and study in Russia, and vice versa. However, relations with Russia have not always run smoothly under his tenure, such as during the Milk War.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: Lukashenko heads an authoritarian government and has referred to himself as the "last dictator" in Europe. Elections are not considered to be free and fair by international monitors, opponents of the regime are repressed, and the media is not free, leading to sanctions on Lukashenko and other Belarusian officials being imposed. His disputed victory in the country's 2020 presidential election led to widespread allegations of vote rigging, which strongly amplified anti-government protests, the largest during his rule. Following the contested election, Lukashenko is not recognized by the United Kingdom, the European Union, or the United States as the legitimate president of Belarus.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: Lukashenko was born on 30 August 1954 in the settlement of Kopys in the Vitebsk Oblast of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. Starting with an interview given in 2009 Lukashenko has said that his actual birthday is 31 August, the same as his son's Nikolai's. This caused some confusion as all official sources had said 30 August 1954 up until then. An explanation was later given that his mother had entered the hospital on the 30th in labor but not given birth until after midnight.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: His maternal grandfather, Trokhym Ivanovich Lukashenko, had been born in the Sumy Oblast of Ukraine near Shostka (today village of Sobycheve). Lukashenko grew up without a father in his childhood, leading him to be taunted by his schoolmates for having an unmarried mother. Due to this, the origin of his patronymic "Grigorevich" is unknown and there are various rumors about who Lukashenko's father might have been with the most popular version being that he was a Roma passing through the region. His mother, Ekaterina Trofimovna Lukashenko (1924–2015), gave birth to another son, Alexander's older brother who died. Ekaterina worked unskilled jobs on a railway, at a construction site, at a flax factory in Orsha and finally as a milkmaid in Alexandria, a small village in the east of Belarus, close to the Russian border.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: Lukashenko went to Alexandria secondary school. He graduated from the Mogilev Pedagogical Institute (now Mogilev State A. Kuleshov University) in 1975, after 4 years studying there and the Belarusian Agricultural Academy in Horki in 1985.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: He served in the Soviet Border Troops from 1975 to 1977, where he was an instructor of the political department of military unit No. 2187 of the Western Frontier District in Brest and in the Soviet Army from 1980 to 1982. In addition, he led an All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (Komsomol) chapter in Mogilev from 1977 to 1978. While in the Soviet Army, Lukashenko was a deputy political officer of the 120th Guards Motor Rifle Division, which was based in Minsk.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: In 1979, he joined the ranks of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of Byelorussia. After leaving the military, he became the deputy chairman of a collective farm in 1982 and in 1985, he was promoted to the post of director of the Gorodets state farm and construction materials plant in the Shklow district. In 1987, he was appointed as the director of the Gorodets state farm in Shklow district and in early 1988, was one of the first in Mogilev Region to introduce a leasing contract to a state farm.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: In 1990, Lukashenko was elected Deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR. Having acquired a reputation as an eloquent opponent of corruption, Lukashenko was elected in April 1993 to serve as the interim chairman of the anti-corruption committee of the Belarusian parliament. In late 1993 he accused 70 senior government officials, including the Supreme Soviet chairman Stanislav Shushkevich and prime minister Vyacheslav Kebich, of corruption including stealing state funds for personal purposes. While the charges ultimately proved to be without merit, Shushkevich resigned his chairmanship due to the embarrassment of this series of events and losing a vote of no-confidence. He served in that position until July 1994.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: A new Belarusian constitution enacted in early 1994 paved the way for the first democratic presidential election on 23 June and 10 July. Six candidates stood in the first round, including Lukashenko, who campaigned as an independent on a populist platform. In an interview with "The New York Times", he declared: "I am neither with the leftists nor the rightists. But with the people against those who rob and deceive them". Stanislav Shushkevich and Vyacheslav Kebich also ran, with the latter regarded as the clear favorite. Lukashenko won 45.1% of the vote while Kebich received 17.4%, Zianon Pazniak received 12.9% and Shushkevich, along with two other candidates, received less than 10% of votes.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: Lukashenko won the second round of the election on 10 July with 80.1% of the vote. The presidential inauguration was held in the halls of the Government House, on 20 July 1994, exactly ten days after the election, during a special meeting of the parliament, the Supreme Council. Shortly after his inauguration, he addressed the State Duma of the Russian Federation in Moscow proposing a new Union of Slavic states, which would culminate in the creation of the Union of Russia and Belarus in 1999.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: In February 1995, Lukashenko announced his intention to hold a referendum. For the young democratic republic this raised the controversial issue of the Russification of Belarus. Lukashenko said he would press ahead with the referendum regardless of opposition in the Supreme Council and threatened to suspend its activities if it did not agree to hold the referendum. On 11 April 1995, a vote was held in parliament on calling a referendum on four issues proposed by Lukashenko: 1) granting Russian the status of a state language, 2) changing state symbols, 3) on economic integration with Russia and 4) on giving the president the right to dissolve parliament. The deputies rejected all issues, except for the issue of economic integration with Russia. It is unclear whether the president had legal power independently to call referendums, and if so, if they would be binding. Lukashenko stated that the referendum would be held despite the rejection by the deputies.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: In protest, 19 out of a total of 238 deputies of the Belarusian Popular Front led by Zianon Pazniak and the Belarusian Social Democratic Assembly led by Oleg Trusov (b. Алег Анатолевіч Трусаў) began a hunger strike in the parliamentary meeting room and stayed there overnight on the night of 11–12 April. At night, under the pretext of a bomb threat, unidentified law enforcement personnel attacked and forcibly expelled the deputies. Lukashenko stated that he personally ordered the evacuation for security purposes. The Supreme Council accepted to hold the referendum on 13 April and in May 1995, Belarusian authorities held a referendum on the four issues. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly found neither the referendum nor the 1995 Belarusian parliamentary election which took place in the same month to have met conditions for free and fair elections.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: In the summer of 1996, deputies of the 199-member Belarusian parliament signed a petition to impeach Lukashenko on charges of violating the Constitution. Shortly after that, a referendum was held on 24 November 1996 in which four questions were offered by Lukashenko and three offered by a group of Parliament members. The questions ranged from social issues (changing the independence day to 3 July (the date of the liberation of Minsk from Nazi forces in 1944), abolition of the death penalty) to the national constitution. As a result of the referendum, the constitution that was amended by Lukashenko was accepted and the one amended by the Supreme Council was voided. On 25 November, it was announced that 70.5% of voters, of an 84% turnout, had approved the amended constitution. The US and the EU, however, refused to accept the legitimacy of the referendum.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: After the referendum, Lukashenko convened a new parliamentary assembly from those members of the parliament who were loyal to him. After between ten and twelve deputies withdrew their signature from the impeachment petition, only about forty deputies of the old parliament were left and the Supreme Council was dismissed by Lukashenko. Nevertheless, international organizations and many Western countries do not recognize the current parliament given the way it was formed. Lukashenko was elected chairman of the Belarusian Olympic Committee in 1997. At the start of 1998, the Central Bank of Russia suspended trading in the Belarusian rubel, which led to a collapse in the value of the currency. Lukashenko responded by taking control of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus, sacking the entire bank leadership and blaming the West for the free fall of the currency.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: Lukashenko blamed foreign governments for conspiring against him and, in April 1998, expelled ambassadors from the Drazdy complex near Minsk and moved them to another building. The Drazdy conflict caused an international outcry and resulted in a travel ban on Lukashenko from the EU and the US. Although the ambassadors eventually returned after the controversy died down, Lukashenko stepped up his rhetorical attacks against the West. He stated that Western governments were trying to undermine Belarus at all levels, even sports, during the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: Upon the outbreak of the Kosovo War in 1999, Lukashenko suggested to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević that Yugoslavia join the Union of Russia and Belarus.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: Under the original constitution, Lukashenko should have been up for reelection in 1999. However, the 1996 referendum extended Lukashenko's term for two additional years. In the 9 September 2001 election, Lukashenko faced Vladimir Goncharik and Sergei Gaidukevich. During the campaign, Lukashenko promised to raise the standards of farming, social benefits and increase industrial output of Belarus. Lukashenko won in the first round with 75.65% of the vote. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said the process "failed to meet international standards".


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: "Jane's Intelligence Digest" surmised that the price of Russian support for Lukashenko ahead of the 2001 presidential election was the surrender of Minsk's control over its section of the Yamal–Europe gas pipeline. After the results were announced declaring Lukashenko the winner, Russia publicly welcomed Lukashenko's re-election; the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, telephoned Lukashenko and offered a message of congratulations and support.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, American intelligence agencies reported that aides of Saddam Hussein managed to acquire Belarusian passports while in Syria, but that it was unlikely that Belarus would offer a safe haven for Saddam and his two sons. This action, along with arms deals with Iraq and Iran, prompted Western governments to take a tougher stance against Lukashenko. The US was particularly angered by the arms sales, and American political leaders increasingly began to refer to Belarus as "Europe's last dictatorship". The EU was concerned for the security of its gas supplies from Russia, which are piped through Belarus, and took an active interest in Belarusian affairs. With the accession of Poland, Latvia and Lithuania, the EU's border with Belarus has grown to more than 1000 kilometers.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: During a televised address to the nation on 7 September 2004, Lukashenko announced plans for a referendum to eliminate presidential term limits. This was held on 17 October 2004, the same day as parliamentary elections, and, according to official results, was approved by 79.42% of voters. Previously, Lukashenko had been limited to two terms and thus would have been constitutionally required to step down after the presidential elections in 2006. Opposition groups, the OSCE, the European Union, and the US State Department stated that the vote fell short of international standards. Belarus grew economically under Lukashenko, but much of this growth was due to Russian crude oil which was imported at below-market prices, refined, and sold to other European countries at a profit.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: After Lukashenko confirmed he was running for re-election in 2005, opposition groups began to seek a single candidate. On 16 October 2005, on the Day of Solidarity with Belarus, the political groups Zubr and Third Way Belarus encouraged all opposition parties to rally behind one candidate to oppose Lukashenko in the 2006 election. Their chosen candidate was Alexander Milinkevich. Lukashenko reacted by saying that anyone going to opposition protests would have their necks wrung "as one might a duck". On 19 March 2006, exit polls showed Lukashenko winning a third term in a landslide, amid opposition reports of vote-rigging and fear of violence. The Belarusian Republican Youth Union gave Lukashenko 84.2% and Milinkevich 3.1%. The Gallup Organisation noted that the Belarusian Republican Youth Union are government-controlled and released the exit poll results before noon on election day even though voting stations did not close until 8 pm.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: Belarusian authorities vowed to prevent any large-scale demonstrations following the election (such as those that marked the Orange Revolution in Ukraine). Despite their efforts, the opposition had the largest number of demonstrators in years, with nightly protests in Minsk continuing for a number of days after the election. The largest protest occurred on election night; reporters for the Associated Press estimated that approximately 10,000 people turned out. Election observers from the Russia-led Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) differed on the Belarusian election.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: The OSCE declared on 20 March 2006 that the "presidential election failed to meet OSCE commitments for democratic elections." Lukashenko "permitted State authority to be used in a manner which did not allow citizens to freely and fairly express their will at the ballot box... a pattern of intimidation and the suppression of independent voices... was evident throughout the campaign." The heads of all 25 EU countries declared that the election was "fundamentally flawed". In contrast, the Russian minister of foreign affairs declared, "Long before the elections, the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights had declared that they [the elections] would be illegitimate and it was pretty biased in its commentaries on their progress and results, thus playing an instigating role." Lukashenko later stated that he had rigged the election results, but against himself, in order to obtain a majority more typical of European countries. Although he had won 93.5% of the vote, he said, he had directed the government to announce a result of 86%.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: Some Russian nationalists, such as Dmitry Rogozin and the Movement Against Illegal Immigration, stated that they would like to see Lukashenko become President of Russia in 2008. Lukashenko responded that he would not run for the Russian presidency, but that if his health was still good, he might run for reelection in 2011.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: In September 2008, parliamentary elections were held. Lukashenko had allowed some opposition candidates to stand, though in the official results, opposition members failed to get any of the 110 available seats. OSCE observers described the vote as "flawed", including "several cases of deliberate falsification of results". Opposition members and supporters demonstrated in protest. According to the Nizhny Novgorod-based CIS election observation mission, the findings of which are often dismissed by the West, the elections in Belarus conformed to international standards. Lukashenko later commented that the opposition in Belarus was financed by foreign countries and was not needed.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: In April 2009, he held talks with Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican, Lukashenko's first visit to Western Europe after a travel ban on him a decade earlier.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: Lukashenko was one of ten candidates registered for the presidential election held in Belarus on 19 December 2010. Though originally envisaged for 2011, an earlier date was approved "to ensure the maximum participation of citizens in the electoral campaign and to set most convenient time for the voters". The run-up to the campaign was marked by a series of Russian media attacks on Lukashenko. The Central Election Committee said that all nine opposition figures were likely to get less than half the vote total that Lukashenko would get.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: Though opposition figures alleged intimidation and that "dirty tricks" were being played, the election was seen as comparatively open as a result of desire to improve relations with both Europe and the US.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: On election day, two presidential candidates were seriously beaten by police in different opposition rallies. On the night of the election, opposition protesters chanting "Out!", "Long live Belarus!" and other similar slogans attempted to storm the building of the government of Belarus, smashing windows and doors before riot police were able to push them back. The number of protesters was reported by major news media as being around or above 10,000 people. At least seven of the opposition presidential candidates were arrested.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: Several of the opposition candidates, along with their supporters and members of the media, were arrested. Many were sent to prison, often on charges of organizing a mass disturbance. Examples include Andrei Sannikov, Alexander Otroschenkov, Ales Michalevic, Mikola Statkevich, and Uladzimir Nyaklyayew. Sannikov's wife, journalist Irina Khalip, was put under house arrest. Yaraslau Ramanchuk's party leader, Anatoly Lebedko, was also arrested.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: The CEC said that Lukashenko won 79.65% of the vote (he gained 5,130,557 votes) with 90.65% of the electorate voting. The OSCE categorized the elections as "flawed" while the CIS mission observers praised them as "free and transparent". However, the OSCE also stated that some improvements were made in the run-up to the election, including the candidates' use of television debates and ability to deliver their messages unhindered. Several European foreign ministers issued a joint statement calling the election and its aftermath an "unfortunate step backwards in the development of democratic governance and respect for human rights in Belarus."


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: Lukashenko's inauguration ceremony of 22 January 2011 was boycotted by EU ambassadors, and only thirty-two foreign diplomats attended. During this ceremony, Lukashenko defended the legitimacy of his re-election and vowed that Belarus would never have its own version of the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine or Georgia's 2003 Rose Revolution.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: Effective 31 January 2011, the EU renewed a travel ban, prohibiting Lukashenko and 156 of his associates from traveling to EU member countries, as a result of the crackdown on opposition supporters.


title: Alexander Lukashenko

text: Lukashenko was supportive of China's Belt and Road Initiative global infrastructure development strategy, and the inception in 2012 of the associated low-tax China–Belarus Industrial Park near Minsk National Airport planned to grow to by the 2060s.