Rio Ferdinand insists he stopped talking to Frank Lampard after the pair “focused on winning as many trophies as possible”.
Teammates with England, the former Manchester United and Chelsea stars came through together at West Ham United, where they were close friends.
But the rivalry between the Red Devils and the Blues, who dominated English football at the time, put pressure on their friendship.
The height of the rivalry between the players and clubs came in 2008 in the Champions League final, with a Nicolas Anelka’s missed penalty kick gifting Ferdinand his first European crown.
“It does [impact your friendships],” Ferdinand said on BT Sport, when discussing how the game affected him off the pitch. “It is well documented Frank Lampard and I grew up together at West Ham.
“When he went to Chelsea and I went to Manchester United, we didn’t speak. It wasn’t a conversation or a fallout.
“He was focused on winning as many trophies as possible and I was as well. It happens. Some relationships stay the same.”
The pair did reconcile last year when Lampard, Everton manager at the time, joined Ferdinand for an episode of Between The Lines on BT Sport, discussing the intricacies of modern day management.
“We were OK,” Lampard recalled on the pair’s grounding with the Hammers and how they were managed. “You came through the same academy, we were expectant of a hammering after a bad game or a training performance.”
