Jamie Vardy

Jamie Richard Vardy ( Gill; born 11 January 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for and captains club Leicester City.

After being released by Sheffield Wednesday at the age of 16, Vardy began his senior career with Stocksbridge Park Steels.

In the 1990s and 2000s, Vardy witnessed the intense rivalry in the city of Sheffield between fans of Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United that culminated in memorable Steel City derbies.

On the rivalry, he notes: "It was always good when they were playing against each other. The atmospheres that you get were really good and people live for football. So games like this for Sheffield are massive and obviously bragging rights and everything that go with it."

Being a lifelong Sheffield Wednesday fan, the rivalry led to Vardy performing some memorable celebrations against Sheffield United fans including Leicester City's 2–1 win against United where Vardy scored and celebrated in front of fans at Bramall Lane.

Vardy was in the youth system at Sheffield Wednesday, but was released when he was 16.

He then played at Stocksbridge Park Steels, where he made his way through the reserve team and into the first team making his debut under manager Peter Rinkcavage in 2006, but his real break out came under manager Gary Marrow in 2007, earning £30 a week at the club.

He broke into the first team in 2007 and spent three seasons there before joining Northern Premier League Premier Division club FC Halifax Town in 2010.

With the club, he won the Sheffield Senior Cup and promotion to the Northern Premier League in 2008–09.

After impressive displays, a number of Football League teams became interested and in 2009 he spent a week on trial with Crewe Alexandra.

A move did not materialise and he later turned down a short-term contract with Rotherham United.

Vardy scored a total of 66 goals in 107 games for the club.

In June 2010, manager Neil Aspin, a longtime admirer of Vardy's talents, signed him for FC Halifax Town for a fee of £15,000.

He made his debut on 21 August 2010 in the home match against Buxton, scoring the winning goal in a match that ended 2–1 to his new club.

Vardy had a successful first season with "the Shaymen" finishing as the club's top goalscorer with 25 goals from 37 appearances and being voted the Player's Player of the Season.

Towards the end of the season he came close to scoring a hat-trick of hat-tricks but failed to find a third goal in Halifax's 3–1 win over Nantwich Town.

His goals helped secure the Northern Premier League Premier Division title for the 2010–11 season.

Scoring 25 goals in his debut season, he won the club's Players' Player of the Year award and then moved to Conference Premier club Fleetwood Town in August 2011 for an undisclosed fee.

He scored 31 league goals in his first season at his new team, winning the team's Player of the Year award as they won the division.

Vardy started the 2011–12 season with Halifax and scored three goals in the opening four matches of the season.

After just over a year with Halifax, Vardy signed for Conference Premier club Fleetwood Town for an undisclosed fee.

He made his debut the same day in a 0–0 home draw with York City.

He scored his first goals for the club in his third appearance, scoring twice in a 3–2 win away to Kettering Town on 3 September.

The following week he scored another two goals against Gateshead at Highbury Stadium, including one in added time.

He scored twice for a third consecutive match when on in the 3–1 away win against Ebbsfleet United, but did not score again for just over a month until he scored a hat-trick in the away match against Alfreton Town on 18 October.

On 20 September, he was given a straight red card in a 5–2 home win over Kidderminster Harriers, a match in which each team played for over an hour with ten men.

Four days after his hat-trick, Vardy scored two more goals in a 4–1 win over Bath City, a result which left Fleetwood two points behind leaders Wrexham.

In the first round of the FA Cup on 12 November, Vardy scored the second goal in a 2–0 win over League One team Wycombe Wanderers.

Vardy signed for Leicester City in the Championship in May 2012 for a non-League record transfer fee of £1 million and helped the team win the Championship in 2014.

In the 2015–16 Premier League season, he scored in eleven consecutive Premier League matches, breaking Ruud van Nistelrooy's record, and was voted the Premier League Player of the Season and FWA Footballer of the Year as outsiders Leicester won the title.

Vardy made his international debut for the England national team in June 2015 and was selected for UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

His last appearance for England was at the latter tournament, and later that summer, he asked not to be chosen for any more squads, unless there was an injury crisis.

Vardy was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, to Richard Gill and Lisa Crewes.

His biological father walked out on the family when Vardy was still an infant.

His mother later married Phil Vardy, and he took his stepfather's surname.

Vardy grew up in the Hillsborough area of inner-city Sheffield.

His stepfather was a crane worker and his mother worked at a solicitors' office.

Growing up, he was a fan of Sheffield Wednesday where he idolised striker David Hirst.

He won the Premier League Golden Boot for the 2019–20 season, becoming the oldest player to win the award.

By playing in the 2021 FA Cup final, he became the first ever player to play in every round of the competition, from the preliminary stages to the final.