Feature Story

Emily Kratz
1/27/16
A Pest From the Front
A pest from the front, aggressive
runner who never gives
defenders any peace, underdog;
all of these help describe Jamie
Vardy. Vardy is an English
professional football player who
currently plays for Premier
League club, Leicester City and
the England national team. Its
only his second season playing
Premier League soccer and
already, he is making a name for himself.
Many call Jamie Vardys football career a rags-to-riches story. He
is an example of a non-League player who has made his dreams
become reality. Vardy worked twelve hour shifts in a factory making
medical splints while constantly juggling playing football. He is a real
inspiration. Vardy is now 28. When he was 25 he was still playing in
non-league football with Fleetwood Town. It is rare to see a player
emerge that hadnt been through the academy process. Vardys story
is different and unglamorous than what happens to many young
footballers today.
Vardy was turned away from Sheffield Wednesdays academy at
the age of sixteen for being too small. He started his career at
Stocksbridge Park Steels in 2007. This club is based between the city
of Sheffield and the Peak District. He made thirty pounds a game while
still having to rush to his twelve hour shifts at the factory.
Vardys next part of his journey took him to Northern Premier
League with Halifax Town in 2010. In his first season, he scored twentysix goals, he won the club's Players Player of the Year award. He was
then off to Conference Premier with Fleetwood Town in 2011. There he
scored thirty-one goals during his first season and also won their
Player of the Year award. Jamie Vardy was doing something right
regardless of his looked down upon start up.
It wasnt until May 2012 that Vardy signed to play for Leicester
City in the Football League Championship for a non-league record
transfer fee of one million pounds. This milestone marked how much
success he had achieved in such a little time and all while no one
believed he could.
His first season with Leicester was not as successful as he would
have hoped. He wasnt performing at the level he knew he could play

at and the doubtful Leicester City fans criticized him on social media.
Vardy even considered quitting until his manager and assistant
manager convinced him to continue with the club and see where it
might take him.
Vardy started to create a better name for himself during the
2013-2014 season. He finished the season with sixteen league goals
and then was named Leicesters Players Player of the season award.
That season, Vardy helped Leicester be promoted to the Premier
League. Vardy then extended his contract until the summer of 2018.
This would turn out to be a great decision for both Vardy and Leicester.
Jamie Vardys Premier League debut was on August 31st 2014. He
was subbed in the second half during a 1-1 draw against Arsenal. The
next match, Vardy scored his first Premier League goal against
Manchester United. This was a pivotal part in Vardys journey to
becoming one of the strongest scorers in the league.
Currently, he is one of five Englishmen that are on the list of 25
players of the Premier Leagues leading scorers. He currently has 16
goals this season, naming him the top scorer in the league currently.
He went down in history as the first player in history to score in 11
successive Premier League games. This accomplishment is
extraordinary for any football player
but especially for Jamie Vardy who
started out playing in non-league
level football up to as recently as
2012. The opponent was
Manchester United; the same
opponent where Vardy earned his
first ever Premier League goal.
Vardy had surpassed Van
Nistelrooys record as 10 successive
games. Van Nistelrooy responded
with, Well done, Vardy. Youre number one now and you deserve it. 11
in a row. Even the great were acknowledging the greatness in Vardy.

People were right in saying that there will come a time where he
will hit a dry spell. There was a time this season where Vardy went 6
league games without scoring. His true talent as a player will be
depicted from how he gets out of it. That was put on hold, at least until
he recovered from a groin injury. On January 4th, it came out that he
underwent minor groin surgery but was only expected to miss one
match rather than the first predicted two weeks. He was predicted to
be rested and ready for the match against Tottenham where he will
hopefully resume his quest to be a strong competitor in the Premier
League. During that game, Vardy only played about 50 minutes and

didnt have much to contribute to the match. The dry spell was broken
when he scored his 16th goal this season against Stoke City on
Saturday January 23rd.
Even with all his success, Vardy manages to stay under the radar.
This is because the nature of the media tends to shine their spotlight
on the biggest clubs and the sexiest names in the game. This makes
Vardy and Leicester underdogs, but they dont mind. Hes also under
the radar because of the lack of interest of people around the world for
a wiry former factory worker from Sheffield and because he is a
product of the non-league football pyramid. However, hes also had his
share of negative spotlight. He had made a racist remark to a gambler
in a casino but he later publicly apologized and met and personally
apologized to the man he harassed. From this incident, he promised to
let his feet do the rest of the talking and he has not disappointed. He
has had more shots on target, created more chances, and made more
tackles than any other Premier League striker. Leicester is reaping the
benefits of having Vardy on their squad.
What made the difference between his first unsuccessful season
where he almost quit, to the oozing amount of accomplishments he
has now in his current season? There
are three possibilities. Leicester
switched his position to an out and out
striker instead of deployed out wide. He
has flourished with this change. His
coaches have also mentioned that he
has worked on his placement over
power in some instances on his shots on
goal. Lastly, he is more confident than
he has ever been. That confidence is
evident in the way he carries himself even during his dry spell which is
no more.
There is no doubt that he has and is making a case to be
included on the England team for next summer's European
Championships Finals in France. Jamie Vardy, the nobody from
Sheffield, England has proven how lethal he is in front of goal and why
he is a pest from the front.

Links:
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jan/04/jamie-vardy-leicestercity-groin-surgery-two-weeks
http://www.theguardian.com/football/who-scoredblog/2015/nov/03/will-jamie-vardy-win-premier-league-golden-bootleicester-city
http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/oct/20/jamie-vardy-topgoalscorer-premier-league-leicester-city
http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/nov/28/leicester-jamievardy-makes-history-manchester-united
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3294881/Jamie-Vardys-rags-riches-story-non-league-England-international-inspirethousands-lower-league-players.html