Jamie Vardy

Jamie Vardy
Vardy with England at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Jamie Richard Vardy[1]
Birth name Jamie Richard Gill[2]
Date of birth (1987-01-11) 11 January 1987 (age 37)[3]
Place of birth Sheffield, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.79 m)[4]
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
Leicester City
Number 9
Youth career
Sheffield Wednesday
2003–2006 Stocksbridge Park Steels
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2010 Stocksbridge Park Steels 88 (40)
2010–2011 FC Halifax Town 37 (26)
2011–2012 Fleetwood Town 36 (31)
2012– Leicester City 415 (178)
International career
2015–2018 England 26 (7)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:55, 2 November 2024 (UTC)

Jamie Richard Vardy ( Gill; born 11 January 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for and captains Premier League club Leicester City. Regarded as one of the best strikers in the world at his peak, he is known for his pace, positioning and clinical finishing.[5][6]

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

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.

  1. ^ "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: List of Players: England" (PDF). FIFA. 15 July 2018. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2019.
  2. ^ "Jamie Vardy". England Football Online. 9 June 2019. Archived from the original on 23 January 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Player Profile". FC Halifax Town. Archived from the original on 18 June 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  4. ^ "Jamie Vardy". Leicester City F.C. Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  5. ^ "Ranked! The 10 best strikers in the world | FourFourTwo". 10 April 2021. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ "Leicester: Vardy 'one of the world's best'". BBC Sport. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2023.