Rickie Lee Lambert, 16 February 1982, Kirkby, Merseyside, England.
PART ONE
Rickie Lambert joined local giants Liverpool as a youngster aged just 10, dreaming of Anfield glory, yet he was released when he was 15, and that early setback could have crushed a lesser boy.
Besides the disappointment of being let go by the club he grew up supporting, Lambert refused to let the dream die and tried out for non-League outfit Marine before becoming a trainee with Blackpool in August 1998 at the age of 16, and from that moment the hard graft really began in earnest. He made his professional debut on 7 August 1999 as a 17-year-old, coming on as a 68th-minute substitute for Andy Couzens in a 2–1 Second Division win against Wrexham at Bloomfield Road, and although it was only a brief cameo the buzz around the ground told you this tall, powerful forward had something about him.
He made two more substitute appearances in the 1999–2000 campaign, yet the following season he found himself on a month-to-month contract and struggling to get a place even in the reserves, so when Steve McMahon released him in November 2000 the future looked bleak and uncertain for the Kirkby kid who had once seemed destined for bigger things.
Still, Lambert was not the type to sit around feeling sorry for himself and he remained a free agent for almost four months during which time he worked in a beetroot bottling plant to make ends meet, and that humble factory job kept him grounded while he waited for the next opportunity to come knocking.
In March 2001, he was signed by another Third Division club, Macclesfield Town, where he made a total of 9 league appearances in the remainder of the 2000–01 season, and although it was a quiet start the experience taught him the value of patience and the importance of grabbing every chance that came his way.
In the 2001–02 season Lambert became a regular for Macclesfield with a total of 40 appearances and 10 goals, and his first two finishes came in a 2–2 draw with Forest Green Rovers in the FA Cup first round on 17 November 2001, starting with a penalty that showed he had the nerve to step up when it mattered most. A week later Lambert scored his first hat-trick in a 4–1 league win against Luton Town at Moss Rose, and suddenly the scouts were taking notice because here was a big striker who could finish with either foot or his head and who never stopped running even when the scoreline was already kind.
Due to that breakout campaign Macclesfield received a club record transfer fee of £300,000 for Lambert from Division Two Stockport County in a move which was completed on 26 April 2002, and the jump up a division felt like the reward for all those months spent bottling beetroot and wondering if the big time would ever arrive.
In his first season in the third-tier Lambert made a total of 32 outings in all competitions although he only scored two goals, both in league matches, one in a 2–5 loss against Swindon Town on 18 January 2003 and another in a 2–2 draw with former club Blackpool on 22 March 2003, and yet even in a campaign that brought more frustration than fireworks he was learning how to lead the line against stronger opposition week after week.
The 2003–04 season would prove to be Lambert’s most successful on a personal level yet as 40 league appearances yielded 12 goals in a relegation-threatened season, including another against Blackpool and two in a late win against Rushden & Diamonds in the closing stages, and because of those vital strikes the team managed to stay up when many had written them off long before the final whistle.
He was a regular for Stockport at the beginning of the newly restructured 2004–05 season but following poor team performances and a very real threat of relegation for the club he left in February 2005, and despite now being a relatively accomplished player he moved down a division to League Two club Rochdale from Stockport on 17 February 2005, the day after his 23rd birthday, for an undisclosed transfer fee that reflected the gamble both player and club were willing to take.
Lambert scored his first goal for the club only nine days after his transfer in a 1–1 draw with Kidderminster Harriers, and although he could not help secure promotion for Rochdale that spring the arrival of the summer gave him fresh hope that the best was still to come.
In the 2005–06 season the striker featured in all 46 of Rochdale’s league matches scoring a total of 22 goals in the campaign including one in a 3–1 defeat of former club Macclesfield Town, and that kind of consistency turned heads because suddenly people outside the lower leagues were starting to talk about the big number 9 who never hid and who always gave everything for the cause. Early into the 2006–07 season Lambert was purchased for £200,000 from Rochdale by Bristol Rovers in a move finalised on 31 August 2006, transfer deadline day, and despite quickly establishing himself as a regular member of the squad it took until November to score his first goal for the club in the last minute of a 2–0 win over Barnet.
The remainder of the season proved to be a disappointment for the forward yet an 86th-minute goal in the last league match of the season against Hartlepool United ultimately sent Bristol Rovers into the League Two play-offs from which they won promotion to League One, and Lambert also scored the only goal in the Football League Trophy Southern Area Final in a Bristol derby against local rivals Bristol City which ultimately sent the team into the final with Doncaster Rovers that they lost 2–3 after extra time.
Those moments of magic in the cups and at the death of the league campaign showed everyone connected with the club that this was a striker built for the big occasions even if the goals had taken a little time to flow at first.
In 2007–08 Lambert appeared in every match of the season for Bristol Rovers scoring a total of 19 goals in all competitions, and he proved to be most useful in the FA Cup where he scored goals in both legs of the First Round against Leyton Orient, two goals in the 5–1 Second Round win over Rushden & Diamonds, the only goal in the Fourth Round win against Barnet, and the only goal in the Fifth Round win against Southampton scored in the last ten minutes of the match. Despite his relatively low scoring record in the league Lambert finished as the club’s top scorer for the season, and because of that reliability in the cup run the Rovers faithful began to see him as the talisman who could drag them to glory on the biggest stages.
In the following season he established himself as one of League One’s best players by finishing as the season’s joint-top scorer with 29 goals alongside Swindon Town’s Simon Cox, a performance which also resulted in his first inclusion in the League One PFA Team of the Year, and throughout the campaign in which Rovers finished a respectable 11th in the league he put in a number of impressive performances including scoring all four goals in a 4–2 triumph over Southend United and scoring a hat-trick in a 3–0 away win against Hereford United.
Yet even with those headline-grabbing displays the story was never just about the numbers because every goal carried the weight of the years spent in the beetroot factory, the month-to-month contracts, and the releases that could have ended it all before it truly began.
PART TWO
On 10 August 2009, Rickie Lambert arrived at Southampton with a total of 155 appearances and 59 goals already under his belt from his time at Bristol Rovers, and the move worth in excess of £1 million to the recently relegated League One club felt like the perfect next chapter for a striker who had grafted through the lower leagues but still carried that hunger to prove himself at a bigger stage.
The Kirkby man wasted no time making his mark because he scored on his debut for the Saints against Northampton Town on 11 August 2009, and from that moment the St Mary’s faithful knew they had landed someone special who could lead the line with power, composure and a knack for finding the net when it mattered. Besides that instant impact on debut, he went on to become the club’s top scorer for the 2009–10 season with 36 goals in all competitions, and he delivered a string of memorable moments that lifted a side still reeling from financial troubles and a 10-point deduction that had dragged them down from the Championship.
Other notable goals that season included one against local rivals Portsmouth in the FA Cup fifth round South Coast derby on 13 February 2010, even though his team lost 4–1 at home, plus a hat-trick against Milton Keynes Dons in the league on 20 March 2010, and a penalty in the 4–1 Football League Trophy Final win at Wembley Stadium against Carlisle United on 28 March 2010 that capped a fine cup run and gave the supporters something tangible to cheer. Southampton finished the season in 7th place, just one spot off the play-offs despite the points penalty, and Lambert’s contribution stood out because he carried the attacking burden almost single-handed at times while the team rebuilt.
Due to his consistent performances Lambert was again named in the PFA Team of the Year for League One, and he also picked up the PFA Fans’ Player of the Year award for the division, which showed that supporters across the country had taken notice of this no-nonsense forward who scored with his head, his feet and from the spot without ever seeming to get flustered. He finished his debut campaign with Southampton with a total of 36 goals in all competitions, in addition to the one he had netted for Bristol Rovers right at the start of the season, and with 31 league goals he was the top scorer in English football’s top four divisions for the second season running, a remarkable achievement for a player who had once been shifting beetroot in a factory to pay the bills.
The 2010–11 season saw Lambert continue to deliver as Southampton pushed for promotion, and in February 2011 he scored two consecutive braces with the first coming in a 2–1 away win at Exeter City while the second involved two penalties in a thrilling 4–4 away draw against Peterborough United. He reached his 50th goal for the club in a 1–0 victory over Carlisle United on 12 February, and although the goals flowed a little less freely than the previous campaign he still finished as the club’s top scorer with 21 goals as the Saints ended the season in second place and secured promotion back to the Championship. On 1 July 2011 Lambert signed a new contract to keep him at the club until 2014, and that deal reflected the growing belief that this was a striker who could take Southampton even higher if the team kept progressing around him.
In the 2011–12 campaign, Lambert announced his arrival in the Championship with real authority because he scored his first goal of the season with a 25-yard free kick in a 4–1 victory at home to Torquay United in the League Cup on 9 August, and he followed that up with a brace in a deserved and resounding 5–2 triumph at Ipswich Town that showed his confidence was sky high.
He then produced a hat-trick against Nottingham Forest in a match which Southampton won 3–2, and his 100th league appearance came in a 4–0 victory over Watford where he netted two penalties to underline his reliability from the spot. Lambert added another hat-trick in a 3–0 away win against Brighton & Hove Albion, with two of those goals coming from the penalty spot, and his 15th and 16th goals of the season arrived in a 2–2 draw at home to Blackpool where he grabbed the opener and a late leveller that kept the momentum going.
He scored in a 1–1 draw with south coast rivals Portsmouth, and after sitting out three matches following a red card he made his comeback with a goal in a 1–1 draw at Millwall in the FA Cup before adding his first league goal after the suspension from the penalty spot in a 1–1 draw against promotion hopefuls Cardiff City. His 20th goal of the season came in the FA Cup replay against Millwall, and he scored his third hat-trick of the season in a 3–0 victory at Watford on 25 February that sent the Saints back to the top of the table. Lambert continued his impressive first season in the second tier with a thunderous volley against Leeds United at Elland Road on 3 March, and that strike took his tally for the 2011–12 season to 24 goals in all competitions while proving he could produce moments of real quality against tough opposition
.
On 13 March 2012, he was named the Championship Player of the Year for 2011, and he responded by scoring his fourth hat-trick of the season in a 3–2 victory at Millwall where two late penalties completed the treble and kept Soton firmly in the promotion hunt. While at the club he had not yet missed a penalty, giving him a perfect 100% conversion rate from the spot that spoke volumes about his composure under pressure.
He hit both goals in a 2–0 win at Crystal Palace to bring his tally for the season to 30, and he was then named in the 2011–12 PFA Team of the Year for the Championship alongside teammates Adam Lallana and Kelvin Davis. Lambert finished the season with 31 goals, including 27 in the league, as the Saints clinched promotion to the Premier League, and he earned the Southampton Fans’ Player of the Season award for the second time in three years because the supporters recognised a player who had become the heartbeat of the team.
PART THREE
Even with two promotions already secured under his belt the biggest test was still to come because the step up to the Premier League in 2012–13 would ask questions of a striker who had spent most of his career outside the top flight, and Rickie Lambert answered them in style from the very first match. He scored on his Premier League debut, finding the net just minutes after replacing Jay Rodriguez as a substitute against Manchester City, and that goal meant he joined a select group of players who have scored in all four professional leagues in England, a remarkable journey from the non-league trials and lower-division scraps.
He followed that up with the opening goal in a match against Manchester United, and later grabbed two goals in Southampton’s first league win of the season, a 4–1 triumph over Aston Villa that gave the newly promoted side real belief they could compete at this level.
The South Coasters controlled the early exchanges, with Lallana, Gaston Ramírez and Steven Davis knitting play together neatly, and Lambert himself had sniffed out half-chances, but the old defensive frailties crept in, and when Jason Puncheon lost possession, Darren Bent pounced to put Villa ahead, a reminder that the Premier League punishes every lapse. Yet, despite that setback, there was no sense of panic, and that was where Lambert’s presence mattered most, because he embodied calm as much as he did aggression.
After the break, the Villains threatened again, with Christian Benteke and Bent combining dangerously, but a Paulo Gazzaniga save kept Southampton alive and in the 58th minute, the game turned on a moment of Lambert brilliance. A sublime first touch took him away from three defenders in one smooth motion, and with space suddenly opening, he slid the ball past Brad Guzan with a striker’s certainty, and just like that, the St Mary´s Stadium stirred, the noise rising, the belief returning.
Shortly afterwards, Nathaniel Clyne made it two, and now the hosts were flowing, their passing sharper, their movement more daring, and Lambert was orchestrating as much as he was finishing. Then, on 71 minutes, he turned creator, slipping a clever pass through for Puncheon, whose shot deflected in off Ciaran Clarke, and even then Lambert’s influence was unmistakable, because everything positive seemed to pass through his boots.
Still, there was time for one more statement. Deep into stoppage time, Emmanuel Mayuka was brought down by Guzan, and Lambert stepped forward, calm as ever, to dispatch the penalty with authority, his second goal of the match and another addition to his remarkable tally from the spot. That victory was more than just three points; it was a declaration, and Lambert stood at its heart.
Lambert´s 10th Premier League goal came in a 2–2 draw at Chelsea where he got the first as Southampton fought back from 2–0 down, and he had only been on the pitch for a matter of minutes after coming off the bench, showing his ability to make an instant impact. He scored his 100th goal for Southampton in a defeat at Newcastle United, which was his 12th goal of the season, and on 21 March 2013 Lambert signed a two-year contract extension that kept him with the Saints until summer 2016 because the club clearly wanted to build around their proven goalscorer. On his 500th career appearance nine days later he scored a free-kick winner against Chelsea that capped a memorable milestone, and he ended the season once again as the club’s top goalscorer with 15 league goals while featuring in all 38 league matches, a testament to his durability and consistency even as the fixtures came thick and fast.
All the same the 2013–14 Premier League season brought fresh challenges because Southampton were now expected to establish themselves rather than simply survive, and Lambert started the campaign with another crucial goal, a last-minute penalty in a 1–0 win over West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns on 17 August 2013 that showed his ice-cool temperament from 12 yards. His second goal of the season, and the 200th league goal of his entire career, came from a 25-yard free kick in a 2–0 home victory against Crystal Palace on 28 September, and that strike from distance reminded everyone that this was a forward with genuine technique to go with his physical presence and aerial ability.
He finished the season with 13 goals in 37 league matches, and although the numbers were slightly down on previous years he still contributed steadily while the team adapted to life among the elite and began to develop a more expansive style under the emerging crop of young talents around him.
PART THREE
Rickie Lambert completed a dream move back to the club that had released him as a teenager when he signed for Liverpool on 2 June 2014 after passing a medical and agreeing a two-year contract for an initial £4 million fee plus add-ons, and the Kirkby lad could hardly believe his luck because he openly admitted he had always dreamt of playing for the Reds but thought that chance had long gone after being let go at 15. He had left Southampton as a proven Premier League performer with a stack of goals behind him, yet stepping into Anfield as a boyhood supporter brought a different kind of pressure mixed with pure joy because this was the club he had supported through thick and thin.
Lambert made his competitive debut for Liverpool on 17 August 2014, coming off the bench to replace Philippe Coutinho for the last 14 minutes of a 2–1 win over his former club Southampton at Anfield, and although it was only a brief cameo the roar from the Kop told its own story. On 1 October he made his European debut in a 1–0 defeat against Swiss champions FC Basel in the UEFA Champions League group stages, and while the result was disappointing the experience of wearing the famous shirt in continental competition felt like another box ticked for the big striker who had once been bottling beetroot just to get by.
His first goal for Liverpool finally arrived at Crystal Palace on 23 November 2014 when he scored in the second minute after latching onto a through ball from Adam Lallana, yet despite the early strike Liverpool went on to lose the match 3–1 in what proved a frustrating afternoon. Four days later, on 27 November, Lambert scored his first goal in European competition as he grabbed the equaliser in a 2–2 draw away to Ludogorets Razgrad in the Champions League group stage, and because of that strike he joined an elite group of players who had now scored in all four English leagues, the Champions League and for the national team. On 17 January 2015 he added his second Premier League goal for the club in a win over Aston Villa at Villa Park, and although the goals were not flowing in huge numbers his contribution in a difficult season for the team showed the same work rate and aerial presence that had served him so well at Southampton.
Lambert ended the 2014–15 campaign with 36 appearances and 3 goals across all competitions for Liverpool, including 25 league outings and 2 Premier League strikes, and while it was never the starring role he might have imagined the boyhood fan still got to live out the fantasy of pulling on the red shirt at Anfield week after week. On 19 April 2015 he was selected in the Football League team of the decade at the 2015 Football League Awards, a nice touch of recognition for the lower-league years that had shaped him long before the move to Liverpool.
On 31 July 2015, Lambert swapped Merseyside for the Midlands when he joined West Bromwich Albion on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee reported to be around £3 million, and the move gave him the chance of regular first-team football at a club where he could lead the line rather than fight for minutes behind bigger names. Later that same day he scored twice on his debut in a friendly against his former club Bristol Rovers, a feel-good moment that suggested the goals might come quickly in Baggies colours. His competitive debut arrived on 10 August 2015 as West Brom began the Premier League season with a 0–3 home defeat to Manchester City, and although the result was tough the big man was straight into the action from the start.
He scored his first goal for West Brom on 31 October 2015, netting a consolation penalty in a 3–2 home defeat by Leicester City, and that strike from the spot reminded everyone of his reliability when handed responsibility. Yet opportunities proved limited because Lambert made 20 appearances in all competitions during the 2015–16 season, scoring just once in the league, and he often found himself coming off the bench or rotating as the team battled to stay clear of relegation trouble. Despite the frustration of reduced game time he still brought his usual professionalism and physicality whenever called upon, and the experience at The Hawthorns kept him involved at Premier League level even if the goals dried up compared to his Southampton peak.
Due to the lack of regular football and a desire for more minutes, Lambert made the switch to the Championship on 31 August 2016 when he signed for Cardiff City on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee, and the move to Wales offered a fresh start at a club looking for a proven goalscorer to push for promotion. He made his debut in a 3–2 defeat to Norwich City on 10 September 2016, and although the result went against the Bluebirds the new signing settled in quickly enough. His first goal came as the equaliser against Rotherham United on 24 September, and he followed that up by scoring the winner just six minutes later to turn the game around and give the fans an early glimpse of what he could still produce.
In October 2016 Lambert suffered a horrific leg injury in a match against Nottingham Forest that led to a long-term absence from the team, and that blow came at the worst possible time because it halted his momentum just as he was starting to find his rhythm. He managed 18 league appearances and 4 goals in the Championship during the 2016–17 season before continuing injuries and indifferent form took their toll, and manager Neil Warnock eventually stated that the striker did not feature in his future plans at the club. On 6 July 2017 Lambert left Cardiff after his contract was cancelled by mutual consent, bringing an end to a brief and injury-hit spell in South Wales that had promised more than it ultimately delivered.
Having not found a new club by the start of the new season, Lambert announced his retirement from football on 2 October 2017 at the age of 35, and while the decision came earlier than many would have liked it allowed the big forward to step away with his head held high after a career that had taken him from non-league trials and factory shifts all the way to the Premier League and a boyhood club return.
PART FOUR
On 8 August 2013, Rickie Lambert received the call that every footballer dreams of when Roy Hodgson named him in the England squad for the first time at the age of 31. Six days later, on 14 August 2013, Lambert made his debut against old rivals Scotland in a friendly at Wembley Stadium and scored with his very first touch of the match, powering home a header just two minutes and 43 seconds after coming on as a substitute for Wayne Rooney to help secure a 3–2 victory for England, and that instant winner turned what could have been a nervous cameo into one of the most memorable debut stories in recent Three Lions history.
Besides the sheer drama of heading home the winner against Scotland at Wembley, Lambert earned a second call-up on 27 August 2013 when Hodgson included him in the squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine, and the back-to-back selections showed that the manager saw real value in the experienced forward who brought physicality, aerial strength and a no-nonsense attitude honed through years in the lower leagues.
On 6 September 2013 Lambert was handed a starting place against Moldova at Wembley Stadium, and he grabbed his second international goal in that match with another well-timed header to make it two goals in two consecutive appearances while also laying on assists for two Danny Welbeck strikes in a comfortable 4–0 win that boosted England’s qualification campaign.
Due to that encouraging start, Lambert featured in four matches during 2013 and quickly became a useful squad option because his ability to hold the ball up, win headers and link play gave Hodgson a different dimension up front compared to some of the younger, more mobile forwards in the group. On 12 May 2014 he received the ultimate reward when he was named in the 23-man England squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, and the inclusion capped an extraordinary late-career surge for a player who had spent most of his professional life battling in League One and League Two before exploding at Southampton.
In a warm-up match against Ecuador on 4 June 2014 in Miami, Lambert received the ball from Ross Barkley and scored to give England the lead in an eventual 2–2 draw, taking his international tally to three goals and underlining that he could deliver even on foreign soil against decent opposition. Lambert made his first and only appearance at the World Cup finals in England’s second group match, a 2–1 defeat to Uruguay on 19 June 2014, when he replaced Jordan Henderson for the final three minutes as the team desperately chased an equaliser, and although the result went against them the experience of stepping onto the pitch in a major tournament added another proud chapter to his story..
Lambert continued to feature in the squad during the early stages of the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, and on 8 September 2014 in England’s first qualifier against Switzerland he came on as a 90th-minute substitute in Basel and with his first touch provided an assist for Danny Welbeck to seal a 2–0 victory, showing once again that he could make an immediate impact even with limited time on the pitch.
Lambert´s international career proved relatively short, though, because he earned himself just 11 caps in total between August 2013 and November 2014, yet those appearances produced three goals and several key assists that left a lasting impression on supporters.