Jamie Vardy's rise charted in new Sky Sports documentary
Saturday 26 December 2015 10:08, UK
The full story of Jamie Vardy's phenomenal rise from non-league football to record-breaking goalscorer is told in a new Sky Sports documentary.
Sky Sports News HQ reporter Johnny Phillips has visited all the Leicester striker's former clubs to find out how he went from obscurity to stardom, as well as talking in-depth to Vardy himself.
The story starts at Stocksbridge Park Steels, seven tiers below the Premier League in the English football pyramid.
"I was doing a pre-match interview with the Stocksbridge manager Gary Marrow," says Paul Webster of the Sheffield Star.
"He told me he was putting this young lad in called Jamie Vardy, I'd never heard of him.
"He was slight, he was skinny and probably your big Northern League defenders looked at him and thought we've got one here we can wind up," Stocksbridge captain Brett Lovell says.
"But he got stuck in and made his challenges and he wasn't afraid to mix it with the bigger boys."
Scouts from league clubs looked at Vardy but his next move was only slightly higher up the pyramid.
Jamie Vardy: Record Breaker
"I think it was always going to be Halifax Town because they seemed to be friendlier, persistent and nice people, and they convinced him," Stocksbridge chairman Allen Bethel recalls.
And how much did the chairman make on the sale of the Premier League record-breaker?
"15 grand," he replies.
"As a defender I stood on the halfway line and watched him tear teams to shreds," says Halifax team-mate Mark Bower. "He was an unbelievable talent really."
It wasn't long before Vardy was on the move again to Fleetwood, who he helped gain promotion from the Conference, but again it was for one season only.
"Literally as soon as I finished the last game for Fleetwood, the chairman and manager came over and said 'thank you but you'll be moving clubs in the summer'," said Vardy.
It was Leicester who had come knocking, paying £1million for a non-league player for the first time in history.
"It took him a while to adjust to the Championship and to find his feet," said Leicester captain Wes Morgan.
"But ever since then he's been fantastic. The season we went up he was on fire and a constant problem for the teams facing us."
After breaking Ruud Van Nistelrooy's record Vardy has plenty to look forward to in 2016 as Leicester continue their Premier League challenge and a likely trip to France for the Euros.
So has he changed much since those days at Stocksbridge?
"Not really," he smiles. "I've always been energetic, fast... and a bit of a pest!"
Jamie Vardy: Record Breaker is on Sky Sports 1 at 12pm and 7.30pm on Boxing Day - and also On Demand
