By Olukayode Olumuyiwa.
Frank Lampard knew the end was near the moment Luke Shaw stared back blankly.
It was August 2014. England had just crashed out of the World Cup in Brazil. In the team hotel, the 36-year-old Chelsea star was chatting with Shaw, Manchester United’s new £27 million teenage left-back.
Lampard dropped the name Tony Adams – Arsenal’s rock-solid captain, winner of four league titles, 66 England caps.
Nothing. No spark of recognition.
“I said, ‘Are you winding me up?’” Lampard recalled in The Sun. “He just asked, ‘Who did he play for?’ That hit me. Right then, I knew it was time.”
Adams had quit international football in 2000. Shaw was five years old.
Days later, Lampard called time on his England career. 106 caps. 29 goals. Third on the all-time scoring list.
He didn’t stop playing. He moved to New York City FC, then retired in 2017 as Chelsea’s record goalscorer with 211 strikes.
The story stuck. Shaw, now 30, a Euro 2020 finalist and United regular, has long since been schooled on Adams and the greats.
Lampard turned to coaching – Derby, Chelsea (twice), Everton. In November 2024, he took over as head coach of Coventry City in the Championship, on a two-and-a-half-year deal. But whenever the topic of generations comes up, that one dressing-room exchange still gets a laugh.
Football moves fast. Legends fade. One blank look was all it took.
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