The on-loan midfield man who fired Cheltenham Town to safety on why just getting in the box like Lampard is his aim and the challenge of constant change for EFL players.
Watch the full chat with Isaac Hutchinson below:
With his wavy dark brown hair Isaac Hutchinson looks a little like a young Frank Lampard. Watching him play this season the free-scoring Cheltenham Town midfielder resembled Chelsea’s record goalscorer in an uncanny fashion on the field. This is not a coincidence as Hutchinson revealed to Sport and Life.
“My favourite player was always Lampard. I supported Chelsea up until I was a teenager. And now I’ve got older and found myself in that position as a midfielder it becomes more applicable the way he played and trying to emulate it. And, you know, he’s probably the standout player in that position in terms of goalscoring midfielder.”
Lampard’s clinical skill in front of goal was built on repetition in training. Hutchinson racked 18 goals for Cheltenham this past season plus two for parent club Bristol Rovers. He says his own ability to put the ball in the net has roots in regular drilling.
“Over the course of my career, at every opportunity I’ve stayed out and done extra finishing and shooting. So, yeah, I definitely think that has definitely played a part in having a variety of finishes and being able to finish off of both feet.”
In football punditry circles, timing runs into the box is often hailed as the key for a midfielder. But Hutchinson says his father gave him slightly different advice – worry less about the timing and just focus getting in there as much as possible.
“My dad always says to me it’s about being in the right position all the time and not just at the right time. If you’re there all the time you’ll be in there at the right time but but you’ll also be in there where the ball doesn’t come and nothing happens.
“Probably the thing I’ve tried to do the most is just make sure I’m in the position to potentially get a chance.”
That approach has certainly yielded results. And resulted in Hutchinson winning a hat-trick of end-of-season awards – Player of the Season, Players’ Player of the Season and Supporters’ Player of the Season.
Hutchinson hails from Eastbourne in Sussex and turned 26 in April. But he’s had to get used to moving around the country. Cheltenham Town is the seventh club he’s played for. And even his sensational form of the 2025/26 season was achieved despite significant flux during the campaign.
Hutchinson began the season as a Bristol Rovers player. He was then loaned to Cheltenham. Rovers recalled him in early January before allowing him to return to Cheltenham at the end of the month.
The players says the constant change hasn’t only been hard for him, but for his partner who has followed him around.
“I’ve been really lucky with my partner. We’ve been together since I was eighteen and she’s been really good. She’s sacrificed certain things, jobs and whatnot. She has her own business, but she’s had to restart that a couple of times now with moving location and stuff. So I’m really grateful that she’s done all of that for me.”
Moving through clubs has lead to Hutchinson making more friends than he can keep in touch with.
“It’s always hard because you spend every day with these people and then all of a sudden you’re at the other end of the country. It’s really difficult. You end up coming across them when you play against them… a nice little moment to say hello.
“But it’s just the nature of football. In a normal walk of life, you probably spend your whole life living in the same town with the same group of friends. But in football sometimes that’s not the case. You’re almost starting again in that aspect.”
After his prolific exploits it’s no surprise Cheltenham Town supporters chanted for the club to sign him permanently. But Bristol Rovers boss Steve Evans has described that as “probably impossible.”
Hutchinson has one year remaining of a three-year contract with Bristol Rovers and you sense his numbers might earn him a shot in a higher league.
Hutchinson has played in League One before and says his ambition remains to simply play at the highest level he can. But he’s certainly flourished at Whaddon Road and says he has benefited from Steve Cotterill’s straight-shooting communication style.
“He’s been brilliant, really good. He came in and straight away gave us a clear idea of how he wanted us to play. He’s so thorough with his training and his tactics.
“Steve (Cotterill) is really honest and it’s good because you know when he’s talking he means what he says. When he’s angry or when he’s really happy, you know that what he’s saying is how he feels and there is no meaning behind it or anything like that.”
Wherever Hutchinson winds up playing in the 2026/27 season he’ll be long remembered in Cheltenham for those Lampard-like finishes that were a big reason the club stayed in the football league.
