Jamie Vardy. The player who lived the dream of every non-league player: to win the Premier League. But how did he achieve this seemingly impossible feat?
Well… His story begins when he was dropped by his academy, Sheffield Wednesday, at 16 years of age. He joined eighth division club, Stocksbridge Park Steels, where he made his senior debut in 2007 at the age of 20. Now, you may be thinking, being the player he his, Vardy cruised past this stage in his career – wrong.
In fact, this was the time period where he faced the most hardships in his career. Being paid only £30 a match, he needed a full-time job to survive. This included twelve-hour factory shifts of manufacturing medical splints and crutches.
He really was on the edge of retiring. After all, he never had any idea of his true footballing ability. He nearly joined the army but was, luckily for us, rejected.
On top of this, he faced an assault charge. After going to his local pub with his deaf friend, he noticed a couple of people on the street mocking his mate for his disability. To this day, he admits that he isn’t proud of the way he handled the situation, but he doesn’t blame himself, as he would always stand up for his mate.
Due to this, he was given an ankle monitor and had a curfew of 6pm. That meant that he had to play with the uncomfortable device on his leg and had to be subbed off early on away games to rush home before curfew. At night when he really needed to rest his body and mind from the amount of work and football he was juggling, his ankle monitor would glitch leaving him frustrated and unrested.
At this point, Vardy really was just playing for fun which actually benefited his performance. He was scoring goals and goals and goals, which caught the eye of Neil Aspin, manager of seventh division team Halifax Town. The deal was done for a transfer fee of £15 000 in 2010.
Vardy’s form was unphased by the step up, scoring 25 goals in 37 appearances. By now he was able to quit his full-time job and turn his focus to performing on the pitch. His goalscoring ability gained the club the league title, earning him not only players’ player of the season, but also a transfer to fifth tier club Fleetwood Town.
This was Vardy’s golden opportunity to be seen on a bigger platform – and he certainly didn’t waste it. He banged in 31 goals in 36 games, which earned him the golden boot and Fleetwood the league title. His pace, aggression and eye for goal caught the eye of Leicester City, a Championship side at the time, who agreed on a £1 000 000 deal for Vardy.
The step up took adjusting for Vardy, scoring only 4 goals in 26 games. This took a toll on his confidence and even pushed him close to early retirement. He was genuinely suffering from depression and alcoholism having thoughts of becoming a party rep in Ibiza.
However, Nigel Pearson backed Jamie Vardy and it paid off the next season. After missing out on Premier League football due to this Watford goal, Leicester was more than determined to find themselves promotion. Vardy made a compromise with his previous diet.
He introduced himself to a pre-match ritual of guzzling three Redbulls, a double espresso and an omelette. While this made many people sceptical on the meal’s effectiveness, it was enough to turn his form back around. Vardy bounced back to his usual self and bagged 16 goals to get Leicester promoted to the Premier League.
Vardy’s first season in the Premier League was rather average stats-wise, although in one particular game, the non-league legend gained global attention against Manchester United. Nearing to the end of the season, Leicester appeared doomed for relegation. How they managed to stay up?
Only one loss in the final nine games of the season. A miracle, right? Well, the next season Leicester would pull off something even more magical.
Before the 2015/16 season, Vardy gained his first England cap. For reference, four years prior he had been playing non-league football. With the new season came new management, the Italian Claudio Ranieri.
Going into the season, Leicester’s odds of winning the league were 5000 to 1. The two other key names in the team were N’Golo Kanté and Riyad Mahrez, though at the time they weren’t known as star players in the league. Leicester began at the top of the league and nobody thought anything of it, since consistency is generally the weakness of underdogs.
The fans were taken by surprise when Leicester continued to perform. Especially Leicester’s talisman, Jamie Vardy. With a goal in ten consecutive Premier League games, he needed just one more to break Manchester United legend Van Nistelrooy’s record – and it happened that the next match would be against Manchester United.
The United fans tried to get into Vardy’s head by chanting Van Nistelrooy’s name… but it’s Jamie Vardy. You just simply… can’t get into his head. He hit the back of the net for the thirteenth time in eleven games and celebrated in front of the opposing fans telling them: “No, me, me… all f*cking me.
” The final battle for the top spot came down to Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur with media asking one question: who is going to stop Leicester. Harry Kane posted a picture of hungry lions on Twitter, essentially telling everybody that he was going to finish the job. Harry Kane’s team headed into the match against Chelsea which would basically decide Tottenham’s survival.
They needed a win to survive. Vardy hosted a watch party of the match at his house for his teammates and it did seem like Tottenham were running away with it. However, Chelsea climbed their way back with a goal by Gary Cahill, then an 83rd minute equaliser by Eden Hazard to seal the deal.
Celebrations erupted amongst the Leicester players and fans as they enjoyed their first ever Premier League title. Not only did Leicester win the league, but Vardy was also given Premier League Player of the Season and was ranked 8th in the Ballon d’Or. He later went on to help Leicester win their first FA Cup, played in the Euros and even the World Cup.
And, after all of this, Vardy has remained loyal to Leicester to this day, as a way of repaying them for giving some non-league player a chance. Even Arsenal matched his release clause and was willing to hand him a contract, but he didn’t budge. So… let’s recap.
In 2010, he was in the eighth tier. In 2011, he was in the seventh tier. In 2012, he was in the fifth tier.
And finally, in the 2015/16 season, he was a Premier League champion. From a factory worker to the Premier League Player of the Season in six years, that, ladies and gentlemen, is the story of Jamie Vardy. Oh, and if you were wondering what Vardy’s response to Harry Kane’s Tweet was after winning the league, well, here you go.
