Jamie Vardy
Updated: Wikipedia source
Jamie Richard Vardy (né Gill; born 11 January 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Cremonese. 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 EFL 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. Leicester won the 2021 FA Cup, allowing them to compete for and subsequently win the 2021 FA Community Shield. After relegation during the 2023 season, Vardy was named captain and led the club to promotion the next year by winning the EFL Championship in 2024, only to get relegated again in 2025. Vardy played his final match with Leicester City exactly 13 years after first signing with them in May 2025, scoring a total of 200 goals in 500 appearances for the club. 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.