Vardy is a legend .
In today’s soccer, economic scandals, corruption or refereeing errors overshadow the sport, but there are stories like that of striker Jamie Vardy to remind us of the essence of this sport and why we love it.
In today’s soccer, economic scandals, corruption or refereeing errors overshadow the sport, but there are stories like that of striker Jamie Vardy to remind us of the essence of this sport and why we love it.
Vardy in 2011 played in the Sixth Division of England in Fleetwood Town, the following year they were promoted to the Fifth Division and that same season, for a figure close to one million pounds sterling, he was signed by Leicester City in the Second Division, at that time he was an unknown player, although he had good goal scoring records in lower categories.
Neither the English striker nor anyone in the world imagined that from that moment on Leicester would become the club of his life and together they would star in one of the greatest feats of soccer.
At the age of 27, in the 2014-2015 season, Vardy made his debut in the Premier League, considered by many the most competitive league in the world. After 38 rounds, the Foxes finished 14th in the standings.
It was in 2015-2016 when Leicester City, with Jamie Vardy as a star scoring 24 goals, dominated the Premier League writing one of the most romantic and surprising pages of soccer. The renowned Italian coach Claudio Ranieri led the club to become champions with 81 points divided between 23 wins, twelve draws and only three defeats.
After a crazy year players like N’Golo Kanté, Riyad Mahrez and Kasper Schmeichel left Leicester for bigger clubs. However, Jamie turned down an offer from Arsenal, valued at €25.4 million.
The Englishman wanted to remain at the Club of his love and although they did not have the same season again, in 16-17 they played the UEFA Champions League; individually he was called up by England for the Euro Cup France 2016 and the World Cup Russia 2018. In 2020 he won the Premier League Golden Boot and in 2021 they were champions of the FA Cup and the Community Shield.
After a disastrous year, in 2023 Leicester City was relegated to the Second Division, but once again the 37-year-old striker decided not to abandon ship and after contributing 15 goals during the season 2023-2024, last week Jamie Vardy together with the club of his life were promoted back to the Premier League.
Recall that being in his prime he said: «Leaving Leicester? They wanted me when no one else wanted me. If this ship goes down, I go down with it.»
Written by Alejandro López Quintero.