Jamie Vardy is an English footballer who plays for Leicester City as a striker in the English Premier League. He is also an important member of the English national football team. Vardy began playing football in his school days and his first major team was Stocksbridge Park Steels. He got an opportunity to play for the team for the first time in 2007 and impressed everyone with his superb skills and an amazing striking ability. He then went on to play in the Northern Premier League for the team F.C. Halifax Town and scored 25 goals in his first season, helping himself to bag the ‘Player’s Player of the Year’ award in 2010. His talents didn’t go unnoticed as he was bought by Leicester City in 2012. He helped his team to win a trophy in 2014 and in the next season, he scored goals in 11 consecutive matches, making himself the ‘Premier League Player of the Season’ and ‘FWA Footballer of the Year’. By 2015, he had already made his international debut and is now known as one of the lifelines of the national football team.
Jamie Vardy was born in Sheffield, England on 11th January 1987 into a lower middle class family. His family struggled through poverty for a long period of time. His father was a crane driver, while his mother worked as a legal secretary.
Jamie wasn’t particularly good at academics and spent most of his time playing football. By the time he was 16, he was hoping to play for the local football teams.
He wanted to be a part of the local team, ‘Sheffield Wednesday’, but was rejected for not being ‘good enough’. For sometime after that, Jamie had a change of heart and he had decided to give up on his dreams of being a footballer.
Also, regular spats with parents had him moving out of his house to live on his own. He then started taking up odd jobs to pay his bills and kept practising his football skills whenever he had time. His hard work prevailed as he was taken in by Stockbridge Park. He earned less than 30 pounds a week, but felt blessed to be in a team of football.
His performance improved under efficient coaching and after spending 3 years and scoring 66 goals, which was a miraculous performance by every standard, he finally caught the attention of the big teams.
In August 2010, Jamie made his debut for Halifax and scored the winning goal for his team. His performance in the remaining matches earned him several honours, making him the wonder boy of the team. Scoring 25 goals in his first major season was not a small feat and this led him to the Player’s Player of the Year Award.
As his popularity furthered, some bigger teams wanted to have Jamie in their side and he eventually went to Conference Premier’s team Fleetwood Town in 2011. In his first season for the team, he ended up with another Player of the Year award. He then led his team to a title win for the first time since its inception. After this there was no stopping Jamie and in no time, he found himself signing a contract with Leicester City to play in the English Premier League.
The deal was announced in May 2012 and Jamie signed a three year contract with the club for a million pounds, which was a non-league payout record. However, his first season wasn’t great and Jamie struggled from bad form throughout the season.
He then worked hard with his coach and came back stronger than ever in the next season. Leicester ended up on the top of the table right from the beginning of the next season. Jamie scored several goals and ensured his team a championship. Jamie ended up scoring 16 goals and reaffirmed his place in the team. He was also named ‘Player’s Player of the Year’ by the end of the season.
2014 was a big year, as Jamie was all set to play his first Premier League match. After missing two matches due to injuries, he made his debut against Arsenal and scored a goal to draw the game. He once again bagged the Player of the Month award in April.
His electrifying performance continued as he scored goals in 11 consecutive matches in 2015, which earned him the Premier League Player of the Month award in October and November.
In 2015, he was called to play for the national team and he made his debut in a friendly match in Dublin against the Republic of Ireland. Interestingly, it was rumoured that he had a feud with the captain of the team Wayne Rooney, but the rumours were denied by both the players and their manager.
By the beginning of 2016, he was hailed as one of the best players playing in the Premier League, with his manager Claudio Ranieri calling him ‘priceless’. His team then qualified for the UEFA Championship League for the first time in history.
By the end of the season, he was named ‘FWA Player of the Year’ and also won ‘Barclay’s Premier League Player of the Season’ award. In June 2016, Arsenal offered him a record price as they were keen to buy him. But Leicester retained him by offering an even better price. This made Jamie to stay back with Leicester.
He carried on playing for Leicester and scored his first UEFA Championship League goal against Sevilla FC in February 2017.
Jamie Vardy met Rebekah Nicholson when she was working at a nightclub promotional event. The two started dating right away and got married in May 2016.
The wedding became slightly controversial as it exposed the ongoing feud between Jamie and his family. Jamie didn’t invite his parents for the wedding and when asked about it, he didn’t respond. His mother later told the reporters that he wasn’t on talking terms with his family for months.
In November 2015, Jamie launched ‘V9 Academy’ to help budding footballers and those who would like to improve their football skills.
In 2016, a script based on Jamie’s life was ready to be made into a film. The project is expected to go on the floor pretty soon.
In 2015, Jamie was booked when he appeared in a video, calling an Eastern Asian man a ‘Jap’. That didn’t go well with his team and he was fined and was forced to attend an educational course. Jamie later apologized by saying that it was a ‘regrettable error of judgement’.
