Leicester City In 100 Players: Jamie Vardy
Jamie Vardy is a colossus in the history of Leicester City Football Club. Only Arthur Chandler and Arthur Rowley have scored more goals than Jamie’s total of 190 to date and only Graham Cross, Adam Black and Kasper Schmeichel have made more appearances than his 463 to date.
There was little in his early years as a footballer to suggest the stellar career which followed.
Released as a 16-year-old by Sheffield Wednesday, he played for Stocksbridge Park Steels, Halifax Town and Fleetwood Town before signing for Leicester for a non-league reported record fee of £1M in May 2012.
He had a difficult first season at Leicester but then his career took off. A hard working and instinctive player with a good first touch, he developed into a deadly striker at a higher level, showing great speed and positional awareness. Erling Haaland rated him as ‘the best in the world’ at running in behind defences.
He was the Club’s Players’ Player of the Year in the 2013/14 Championship-winning season.
He made his Premier League debut as a 27-year-old in August 2014, scoring the first of his current total of 136 Premier League goals three weeks later against Manchester United.
His 24 league goals in the 2015/16 title-winning season included him setting a Premier League record of scoring in 11 successive games. That season, he was the Premier League Player of the Season, the Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year and was named in the PFA Team of the Year.
In 2016/2017, he netted his first Premier League hat-trick and his first UEFA Champions League goals.
His hit against West Bromwich Albion was the BBC Goal of the Year in 2017/18.
In 2019/20, he found his 100th Premier League goal on the way to winning the Premier League Golden Boot Award, becoming the oldest player to do so. That season, he also picked up both Leicester City’s Player of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season awards.
He was an FA Cup winner and a FA Community Shield winner in 2021, playing two seasons in the UEFA Europa League and reached the Europa Conference League Semi-Final in 2022.
In addition, he won more England caps (26) and scored more England goals (7) as a City player than any of his predecessors, representing his country at UEFA EURO 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
He is the Club’s top scorer again this season – firing the Foxes to another Championship title – helping to further reinforce his legendary status as one of Leicester City’s all-time great players.