💔 “SHE WAS MY STRENGTH WHEN I HAD NOTHING LEFT…”: Frank Lampard breaks down in rare emotional tribute as Coventry City celebrate promotion — revealing the quiet battle behind the scenes and thanking wife Christine for carrying him through the darkest moments.

Frank Lampard paid an emotional tribute to his TV presenter wife on Sunday evening after guiding Coventry City back to the Premier League for the first time in 25 years.

The former Chelsea FC and England midfielder has sealed promotion to the top flight of English football with the resurgent Midlands club, who have struggled with multiple relegations and looming bankruptcy since losing their Premier League status in 2001.

Asked about the importance of homelife, the usually guarded Lampard, 47, credited Christine, the Loose Women and Lorraine star, also 47, after being named Manager of the Year at the annual EFL Awards.

‘I am fortunate enough at this point to have a life balance, which is important for us, where I can go home to a wife who supports me, and gives me everything I need,’ he told the audience at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, among them his amused wife.

‘She’s my best friend. She is, I’m serious; I’m lucky, she has her own career and I think she kinda gets it. Every other manager in this room will say that’s so important because it’s such an intense job.

‘You go to work and you sit in this bubble there and there’s another problem, there’s so many problems, but you’re trying to get the best, and you come home and you need that balance.’

Frank Lampard paid an emotional tribute to his wife Christine on Sunday evening after guiding Coventry City back to the Premier League for the first time in 25 years

After taking over the floundering club in November 2024, Lampard has overseen an extraordinary transformation. They sealed their promotion to the Premier League with a 1-1 draw against Blackburn on Friday.

While he was visibly emotional as the final whistle blew, Christine also shared her husband’s delight by posting a clip of him celebrating with Coventry’s long-suffering fans on Instagram.

During his post-match interview, Lampard fought back tears while reflecting on Coventry City’s journey back to the Premier League after a 25-year absence.

He told Sky Sports: ‘It’s amazing. The fanbase, what they’ve gone through, the disappointments, the moments.

‘To get a promotion with a non-parachute club, to see the boys there, it makes me emotional. They’re so great to work with. They deserve every moment of celebrating.

‘I’m proud. I’m proud of myself and the staff. We went into a bit of an unknown. We’ve fallen in love with the players and the fanbase, how they reacted. It’s right up there with what I’ve achieved – and I’ve won Champions Leagues with Chelsea.

‘But here we’re overachieving. Automatic promotion wasn’t in our plan.’

Lampard, who lives in a £10million mansion in London with wife Christine said his players would celebrate before going for the Championship title.

‘When I looked at Coventry I saw a club Mark [Robins] had done fantastic work with and I looked at the squad and thought there were players there we could work with,’ he said.

‘The resilience to come back after losing in the play-offs… We spoke in the summer about what we could do this season and whether we could finish third or fourth to get a home play-off in the second game which we didn’t do last year.

‘It’s such a good feeling that the boys have managed to get it over the line.’

After taking over the floundering club in 2024, Lampard has overseen an extraordinary transformation, culminating in the moment they sealed promotion to the Premier League

Instagram followers praised the footballer following his tribute to Christine, during which he called the TV presenter his ‘best friend’

Long-suffering Coventry City fans celebrate following their club’s promotion on Friday

He added: ‘Everything I’ve ever done has been a bit of a point to prove. I’m lucky I have that ingrained.

‘I had my moments and I think the trick of being a manager is you’ve got to walk out with a calm demeanour as a manager but it’s easier when you trust the players.

‘I’ve got players like Jake Bidwell and Jamie Allen who haven’t played every week but they’ve been the biggest voices in the dressing room.

‘The players can have a couple of beers on the way home but they’ve got to get the job done now.

‘I let them have a bit of a party after the Sheffield Wednesday game on Saturday because it was basically done then but I had the hump with them on Tuesday and Wednesday when they didn’t train well.

‘We want to go and get it done now. If we play how we have done the rest of the season we will be fine. We want to sustain it now.’