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Jamie Vardy and his route to the top was difficult and unusual
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The Leicester striker has since terrorised defences and helped pull off a miracle
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Acclaimed and admired, the Foxes forward has accrued enormous wealth along the way
Born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, on January 11th, 1987, Jamie Richard Vardy has spent a career upsetting the odds.
Rejected by his hometown club Sheffield Wednesday, aged 16, Vardy drifted into non-league football, turning out for Stocksbridge Park Steels each weekend for the princely wage of £30. On weekdays he worked 12-hour shifts in a carbon fibre splint factory.
Aged 23, he joined Halifax Town in the sixth tier of the footballing pyramid, then soon after Fleetwood Town came calling from the Conference. In his first and only season with the ‘Cods’, the striker fired them into the league.
That summer, Leicester City swooped for £1.7m, including add-ons, and it wasn’t long before another promotion followed, this time to the Premier League.
In August 2014, at a seasoned age of 27 - when players of his ilk are typically household names, with numerous international caps won - Vardy made his top-flight bow and to say he’s been making up for lost time ever since is an under-statement.
He has become one of the most feared front-men of his age, scoring a phenomenal number of goals across several seasons. In 2019/20 he secured the prestigious Golden Boot award for a prolific haul of 23. He has 26 England caps to his name.
Then came the miracle, with Leicester winning the Premier League in 2016. It was, is, and will always be one of the most incredible sporting stories from any era.
Widely admired for his back-story, elite talent, and authenticity, Vardy has carved out a sterling career through hard graft and goals. These traits have also brought him considerable wealth.
Net Worth
The Leicester forward has a net worth reputed to be slightly north of £9m though this figure feels wildly conservative given that his club salary since 2018 has been £7.2m per year, and £5.2m before that.
Factor in property, investments and sponsorship deals and there is almost certainly a number missing in that estimate.
Still, £9m was the figure that was widely reported when Vardy’s wife, Rebekah recently committed to unsuccessfully suing Coleen Rooney – wife of Manchester United legend Wayne – for libel. Incidentally, Rebekah Vardy’s personal wealth is said to be in the region of £3m.
The couple reside in a £3m mansion in Lincolnshire and often holiday in a £2m villa in Portugal that they also own.
In 2018 Vardy’s boot deal with Nike ended and by switching to their arch-rivals Adidas he was rumoured to have made £8m. There is also a best-selling autobiography, ghost-written but extremely profitable, nonetheless.
On winning the league with Leicester, a football finance specialist was asked by a Sunday tabloid to access the player’s earnings.
His conclusion was that Vardy could easily expect to double his already colossal salary through commercial deals in the seasons ahead. That has very likely been the case.
An Unlikely Superstar
Yet Vardy remains a commendably down-to-earth character, seemingly unaffected by fame and plaudits.
There is his much-publicised liking for dissolving Skittles in vodka and a highly unusual pre-match regime that involves a double espresso and three cans of Red Bull.
Vardy is also not averse to winding up opposition fans, in celebration or otherwise, and presumably this is a legacy from his Sunday League days, where no quarter is given or taken.
All of which makes him a relatable figure to supporters.
Perhaps this explains why his elite ability and outstanding achievements tend to prompt two extreme reactions, sometimes being downplayed, at other times eliciting great surprise.
Only 13 players have scored more Premier League goals and considering Vardy didn’t make his top-flight bow until his late-twenties that is a remarkable return.
He has won the Premier League Player of the Season and FWA Footballer of the Year merits, and in 2016 the deadly finisher broke a Premier League record for scoring in 11 games consecutively.
He is a favourite of the online betting community because his explosive pace, directness and clinical nature means he can produce a goal in a heartbeat.
Averaging 16.6 goals per season going all the way back to 2014/15 it is only natural that he is a constant fixture in the Premier League top scorer odds but maybe now, in his mid-thirties, there are finally signs of the striker slowing down, his impact diminishing.
When the day comes and Vardy retires however, he can look at his league and FA Cup winners’ medals, recall his tough path to the top, and feel justifiably proud.
Foxes Fairytale
It is not an exaggeration to state that in 2015/16, with Vardy at the fore, a footballing miracle occurred when 5000/1 shots Leicester won the Premier League.
A matter of months earlier, the Foxes had staved off relegation and another period of struggle surely beckoned for a squad hardly overflowing with superstars when they appointed a coach nicknamed the ‘Tinkerman’ that summer.
Known for needlessly making changes to his starting line-ups and crucially, not known as an especially successful manager, the recruitment of Claudio Ranieri was met with bemused apathy in the East Midlands.
It was perceived as a choice that lacked ambition.
Yet remarkably, incredibly, and frankly unbelievably, the Italian and his rag-rag of players clicked and then some, going on a sustained charge across the whole campaign that saw them lose only four games all told.
Along the way giants fell, with Vardy instrumental in this, scoring on average a goal every 130 minutes. He terrorised the great and the good on a weekly basis while others too, including Riyad Mahrez enjoyed vintage years.
It was a unique achievement that immortalised its key personnel, no-one more so than Vardy, making them forever associated with a sporting pinnacle the likes of which we will never see again.
Vardy Family
Vardy met nightclub promotor Rebekah Nicholson in 2014 and two years later they were married at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire, a lavish occasion that was attended by the players’ team-mates and a good sprinkling of celebrities.
The couple share daughters Sofia, six, Finlay, four, and one-year-old Olivia, while there are three offspring from previous relationships.
It is regrettable that the player’s parents did not go to the wedding, nor Rebekah’s mother, with a family feud to blame, and tensions have only increased in recent times following a high-profile court case – dubbed ‘Wagatha Christie’ – that saw Rebekah and Colleen Rooney contest the leaking of false stories concerning the latter.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
FIRST PUBLISHED: 20th September 2022
