The boxing mogul who went to school with Coventry City boss Frank Lampard | OneFootball

As a young player, Frank Lampard was surrounded by football pedigree, but the young player was a big influence on someone never involved in the game.

The Coventry City manager Frank Lampard was surrounded by good influences as a young player, but he could also be one himself, as a legendary boxing promoter who was with him at school would later reveal.

After a stop-start beginning, Frank Lampard's managerial career seems to be blossoming at Coventry City. The Sky Blues are flying high atop the Championship table right now and appear good value to reach the Premier League in 2026, with Lampard rekindling his managerial stock in the West Midlands following mixed spells with Chelsea and Everton.

Lampard wasn't short of good influence at the start of his career. His father, Frank Lampard Senior, made 670 appearances for West Ham United over 18 years between 1967 and 1985, while his uncle is the former Spurs, Portsmouth and QPR manager Harry Redknapp, and Redknapp's son Jamie is his cousin.

But the Coventry manager could also be an inspiration to his contemporaries himself, as a major boxing promoter with whom he was at school would later reveal.

"He’s a big inspiration to me" - boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has cited Frank Lampard as a role model

Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn was in the year below Lampard at school in Brentwood, Essex, and in a 2023 interview with The Overlap podcast, as cited by The Sun, he lifted the lid on how important the example Lampard was as a role model to him when they were both teenagers.

"I would watch him and every night his old man would take him over the field and they would do drills, they would sprints and I couldn’t believe it you know", he told them, "He’s a big inspiration to me because when he left school and went to West Ham he got so much stick everyone saying ‘Oh it’s Frank’s son, Harry [Redknapp] is his uncle, he’s only getting in [because of them] and it’s a joke’."

Hearn, son of the snooker and boxing promoter Frank Hearn, certainly went on to do well for himself. He's now the chairman of Matchroom Sport and Professional Darts Corporation, and has promoted many world champion boxers through Matchroom, including Anthony Joshua, Canelo Álvarez, Gennady Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko.

It's certainly true to say that Frank Lampard was surrounded by footballing pedigree from an early age, but those early allegations of 'nepotism' look somewhat hollow when we consider the playing career that he subsequently had.

Over a career that lasted more than 20 years, Lampard won the UEFA Champions League, the Premier League three times, the FA Cup four times, the League Cup twice, and the Europa League with Chelsea. He also collected 106 caps for the England national team, scoring 29 goals for his country. In total, he made over 900 senior appearances throughout his career, scoring 277 goals even though he was a midfielder rather than a striker.

The accusations of nepotism died away once it became clear that he was the real deal as a player. This was always likely. The success of a football club on the pitch is ultimately decided by winning matches and trophies, and both clubs and international teams simply cannot afford to put players on the pitch because of who their parents or other relatives may be.

It could be the case that Lampard was given the opportunity to demonstrate what he could do in the first place on account of who his relatives were, but once in the team at West Ham United he needed to maintain his place on the basis of his performances. It is completely counterintuitive to feel that things could be any different, when the positions of managers and coaches will be determined by their teams winning matches.

There certainly have been offspring of star players who have failed to live to hopes that they would inherit the abilities of their parents, but maintaining a career anywhere near the top end of the professional game requires far more than this, and they will be found out. But Frank Lampard also faced similar criticism early in his managerial career, that he was only being given opportunities as a manager on account of his glittering playing record, but Coventry City's stellar performance in the Championship this season is starting to prove those doubters wrong as well.