Vardy’s whirlwind year

Jamie Vardy is making up for lost time. A Premier League winners’ medal, appearances at both Euro 2016 and in the Champions League, and now a Ballon d’Or nominee. Not bad for a lad who was still playing non-league football at 25. Adam Bate met up with the fairytale finisher to discover the secrets to his training regime and why Kevin Phillips could be his inspiration (yes, really)…

Jamie Vardy is early for our interview. That’s not typical in football. But then, Vardy isn’t the typical footballer. He does open up with a grin and a light-hearted quip about being in a hurry to get back to his Playstation, but who can blame him for eyeing some down time? It’s been quite a year for the Leicester – and now England – striker.

Following the drama of that improbable title triumph, there was the equalising goal for his country in the Euro 2016 win over Wales. He’s embracing Champions League football for the first time now too. Away from the pitch, Vardy is balancing commercial commitments with a new autobiography that’s already making headlines.

It’s been a busy time but Vardy remains calm. He’s had time to take it all in. “I’ve had a chance to reflect on it all,” he tells Sky Sports. “There was a bit of time in the summer when I got the opportunity to relax and think about what’s happened. But it’s all been good.”

Some of the tastier morsels in Vardy’s book reference his habit of sipping port on the night before matches and an earlier penchant for drinking skittles vodka. He insists the reality isn’t quite so shocking. “A lot has changed,” he says. “There’s no vodka anymore. That was ages ago. It’s just something I did when I was younger.”

Famously, of course, those younger days were spent playing non-league football having been released by Sheffield Wednesday. Still a Stocksbridge Park Steels player at the age of 23, it’s no wonder that Vardy’s preparation was, by his own admission, “massively” different to the methods he’s practising today in Nike’s latest football training gear.

“I was training twice a week on a miserable, cold night,” explains Vardy. “Your training was to go out and do a bit of ball work, a bit of fitness and then finish off with a game. It was constantly just lengths of the pitch. That was it. Then it was off home, get into bed and then go to work in the morning.”

Such a routine wasn’t ideal but it does partially explain Vardy’s exponential improvement …

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