JAMIE VARDY is the glittering success story of the English football pyramid, a star that went from non-league to Premier League and captured fans’ hearts along the way.
Vardy, 38, has announced that he is calling quits on his 13-year spell with Leicester City in an emotional video following the Foxes’ relegation from the top flight.
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The venomous bagsman has graced the Champions League, won the Premier League, lifted the FA Cup and played 26 times for the England national team.
But even he wouldn’t have expected to hit those heights when he was kicking about with Stocksbridge Park Steels, Halifax Town and Fleetwood in his early days.
OWL ASPIRATIONS
Some kids grow up wanting to be Lionel Messi, David Beckham or Thierry Henry – playing at the top level and winning trophies and individual accolades.
But Vardy’s idol growing up was someone much closer to home, Sheffield Wednesday striker David Hirst.
Vardy, a boyhood Owls fan, revealed in his autobiography: “I didn’t want to be anybody else. Once I had a ball at my feet, which was every spare moment of the day, I became the legend that played upfront for the club I loved.
“I idolised David Hirst because he did exactly what I wanted to do – score goals for Sheffield Wednesday.”
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FOLLOWING IN HIS FOOTSTEPS
Vardy’s dream to be a Sheffield Wednesday star almost came true when he signed for the club as a youngster.
The striker impressed former Wednesday academy director Clive Baker in a trial at Middlewood, the club’s training ground in Hillsborough, and earned himself a place in their youth set-up.
But those dreams were then snatched away from him at age 15, when the academy coaches at Wednesday axed him – a decision that almost saw him hang up his boots.
He revealed: “It was 2002 when I was fired from the Sheffield Wednesday Academy at the age of 15.
“At a meeting at the end of the season with my coaches, I was told that I was not kept because I was too small… it was terrible.
“From there, I stopped playing football for almost a year. At the weekend, I did everything and anything but not football. I said to myself: ‘There’s no point in continuing, I’m not made for that.”
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A NON-LEAGUE RETURN
After a year away from the game, Vardy returned to the pitch with his ambition reinstated and his eyes on achieving something.
This time joining local team Stocksbridge Park Steel, where he played U18s football before making the step up to the first team in 2006.
At 19 years old – the age most future stars are making their Premier League debuts – Vardy was playing in the eighth tier of English football.
And he was doing it while balancing a job at a carbon fibre factory, supplementing his £30-per-week wages with the football club.
His time with Stocksbridge was a far cry from the top flight, and Vardy even found his career being hampered by police intervention following an altercation outside a nightclub in 2007.
Despite pleading his innocence claiming he was defending a friend who was deaf, he was found guilty and was forced to play in an ankle tag.
In some games he could only play 60 minutes as he had to get home to ensure he didn’t miss his 6pm curfew.
A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Vardy spent four years in the Stocksbridge Park Steels first team, scoring 66 times in 107 games.
Naturally, he was attracting the interests of teams in the leagues above him as a result.
Crewe Alexandra took him on trial, but turned him down after just one week of looking at him.
While Rotherham presented a contract to him, but Vardy chose not to accept it.
Finally he landed on a switch to Halifax Town, who signed him for just £15,000 in 2010.
Vardy spent just one year with Halifax, netting 26 goals in 37 games and winning the club’s Player of the Year.
He helped fire the Shaymen to the title, earning himself a switch to Conference Premier club Fleetwood Town for the following campaign.
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WHO ARE YA?
It was the biggest step in Vardy’s career so far, he was climbing up the divisions and earning a reputation as an establishes goalscorer.
But just because some people were starting to talk about him, didn’t mean everyone knew his name – including his teammates.
Vardy’s former Fleetwood strike partner Gareth Seddon told The Guardian: “I’d never heard of him. At first some of the lads were like: ‘Why have we signed this lad? From a few leagues below?’
“Then, in his first game, he was unbelievable. And we were just: ‘That’s the reason he signed!’
“I’ve never played with anyone as quick, I’ve been a professional for 18 years – he kind of glides across the pitch.
“He’s got nothing to him, yet he was aggressive, and has energy. We did the bleep test and he just went and went and went. We were like: ‘Frigging hell!’”
It was at Fleetwood where Vardy earned his first Golden Boot award, scoring 31 goals in 36 matches in his first season for The Fishermen.
After playing Blackpool in the FA Cup, manager Ian Holloway offered Fleetwood Town £750,000 for his services, which they turned down because they wanted £1million.
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FOR FOX SAKE
Fleetwood finally got that £1million when a Championship Leicester City came knocking to try and freshen up their front line in 2012.
But even after his sensational form in the lower leagues, fans still weren’t convinced.
One supporter took to social media to write: “Leicester have signed non-league striker Jamie Vardy for £1m. What has football come to. Jesus Christ!!” – oh how silly he would be made to look.
Although, the angry fan did appear correct for a brief period as Vardy struggled to adapt to life in England’s second tier, scoring just five goals in 29 games in his first season.
He revealed: “When you step up the leagues, the defenders are better at reading the game, better positioned, not as slow as everyone thinks a centre-half should be and that’s when I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.
“I was realising that certain stuff I was doing the year before at Fleetwood wasn’t working. For myself and probably for people that were watching as well, it wasn’t good enough.”
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HITTING THE BIG TIME
Vardy was determined to succeed despite a shaky start to life with the Foxes.
His second campaign at Leicester saw him score 16 league goals as the club were promoted into the Premier League, sealing Vardy’s gritty rise from the depths of the football pyramid to the top.
Leicester narrowly avoided relegation during their first season back in the big-time, as Vardy managed just five league goals.
Little did he know that he and his teammates were about to embark on one of the greatest achievements in English football history when Leicester overcame 5000/1 odds to lift the Premier League the following season.
Vardy scored an astonishing 24 league goals in the 2015/16 season as Leicester pulled off a miracle to become champions – while he set the record for scoring in the most consecutive Premier League games.
That title meant Vardy would play Champions League football less than 10 years after he has been balancing a factory job with his £30-per-week non-league contract.
In the seasons that followed Vardy turned down an offer to sign for Arsenal in order to stay with Leicester after building a legacy with the club that had taken a risk on him all those years ago.
Staying put also saw him win the Premier League golden boot in the 2019/20 season after scoring 23 goals as Leicester finished in the European places yet again.
As well as winning the FA Cup with the Foxes in 2021.
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CAUGHT LION?
It was no surprise that England would come knocking at some point and Vardy was just as impressive on the international stage as he was at club level.
Aged 28, Vardy wore the Three Lions on his chest during a friendly against Ireland.
He would go on to score seven times and earn 26 caps for the national team, representing England at both Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup.
However, there was trouble in paradise when his involvement in the national team sparked the ‘Wagatha Chrstie’ drama between his wife Rebekah and England teammate Wayne Rooney’s wife Colleen.
Rebekah Vardy was accused of leaking stories about Colleen Rooney’s life to the media, something that ultimately ended in a high-profile libel trial.
The trial swept the nation with Vardy and Rooney both supporting their wives at court.
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END OF AN ERA
Vardy never turned his head away from Leicester as he cemented his legacy as a club legend over the years.
That included sticking with the club after their relegation from the Premier League in 2023, helping them bounce straight back up from the Championship with 18 goals during the 2023/24 season.
But after the Foxes sealed an immediate return to the Championship this season – in a dire record-breaking relegation campaign – Vardy has finally decided to call quits on his 13-year spell with Leicester.
The striker is on the brink of 500 appearances for the club, scoring 198 times and registering 69 assists.
In an emotional video Vardy announced that he will be leaving Leicester at the end of the season.
He said: “It’s something that I’ve thought about and spoken about with my family. I think it’s time.
“I’ll be devastated on the day when it is the last [game], but good things, they come to an end.
“It’s going to be one of those emotional days. Who knows which way that can go.
“If you ask anyone, I’m not really an emotional guy.
“Nothing like that ever comes across with me, but when you’ve been somewhere for so long, and it is time to say goodbye, you just never know what your personal reaction is going to be.
“I’ve spent 13 unbelievable years at this club, with lots of success, and some downs, but the majority have all been highs.
“It’s finally time to call it a day, which I’m devastated about it, but I think the timing it right.”
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