Why Frank Lampard’s shirt number should not be retired

Frank Lampard in the prestigious number 8 jersey

Recently, there have been a few murmurs that Frank Lampard’s Chelsea shirt number should be retired in order to show respect to his achievements, once he stops playing.

There was one instance of squad number retirement at Chelsea in the form of Gianfranco Zola. Zola wore the shirt number 25 and although no one has worn it since it has not been officially retired avoiding with the razzmatazz that clubs and sporting institutions particularly in the United States use.

Unlike Zola, who due to his mid season arrival wore a number outside of the traditional number formats relating to position, Frank Lampard wears the iconic number 8 which has been worn by a series of iconic players throughout our history.

The number 8 shirt is a symbol of Chelsea and no player should override that, we did not retire the shirt number of Osgood, Harris, Drogba or Tambling, so even with Lampard, an exception should not be made.

Do not interpret this as disrespect for Lampard. He is a player I have loved pretty much since day one, what he has achieved for the club has been phenomenal and I will be forever grateful to his contribution to the history of Chelsea Football Club. He will be remembered forever as Chelsea’s record goalscorer and he will be a part of our folklore like a true legend.

Tonight Frank Lampard wins his 100^th England cap, yet another milestone in an awe inspiring career. He will never be forgotten by Chelsea fans but he should not be our last number 8.