Frank Lampard Spends $500 on Tickets for Fans to See New York City FC
Midfielder treats fans to 20 tickets. Steven Gerrard also bought beer for Galaxy supporters.
Frank Lampard has yet to star for New York City FC, but he's already made an impression off the pitch, with a deft piece of generosity. (Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard Among MLS Stars to Face Tottenham)
Lampard was forced to wait for his MLS debut after being ruled out of NYC FC's clash with Toronto with a calf strain, but spent $500 of his own money to treat a group of fans to 20 tickets to the game on Saturday. "What a bloody hero," cooed one of the lucky group.
Megan Nicholson, 20, told Talking Baws : "We had been on a tour of the New York City training ground and facilities when we spotted Frank Lampard and David Villa in the car park.
"They happily signed autographs and when Frank spotted our accents, he asked what we were out for. He was really chatty and more than happy to talk to us.
"One of the girls in our group cheekily asked if we could get tickets for the Toronto FC game, but he explained he only gets four complimentary tickets per game and there was 20 of us. He paused for a minute before telling us to wait in the car park for a minute while he went back inside.
"After a moment or two, he came out and asked for one of our names before telling us he'd ordered 16 tickets through Ticketmaster in the ticket office. He explained he'd given the girl in the ticket office his card details and that we just had to pick them up before the game. We were all in shock and couldn't thank him enough. He's a lovely guy."
The fans were treated to a decent enough game: Toronto's Sebastian Giovinco scored a brilliant hat-trick in nine minutes, in a 4-4 draw that included a league-record four penalty kicks.
© AFP
Lampard's freebie follows Steven Gerrard's novel gift to LA Galaxy fans for their Fourth of July game, also against Toronto: a mountain of free beer. The former Liverpool star bought crates of ale for Galaxy's three biggest supporters groups, and attached a note that read:
"Supporters are the lifeblood of any club, and I know that with your support we'll challenge for MLS Cup again. As a token of my appreciation for what you do for the club, I wanted to provide you with the refreshments for the 4th of July.
"I look forward to meeting you at tonight's match.
"Respectfully, Steven Gerrard."
Gerrard and his team-mates also hopped on a private jet belonging to the Rolling Stones for Galaxy's trip to Real Salt Lake. But the band didn't travel along: they were taking a break from their latest North America tour.