It does happen. Every so often, non-league talent filters its way to the very top of the English football pyramid to prove that there are some gems that can be unearthed in the lower levels of the game. And in the pantheon of non-league greats, there aren’t many better examples than one Jamie Vardy.
Vardy famously played his 500th and final game for Leicester City in the club’s penultimate game of the 2024/25 season, a campaign which unfortunately saw his side unsuccessfully remain in the Premier League. Yet Vardy’s goal in the 28th minute of the 2-0 win over Ipswich Town was a landmark goal – his 200th for the club on a day which marked the 13th anniversary of his signing. In the intervening period Vardy reached icon status after helping the club secure a football miracle in 2016 by winning the Premier League. Vardy also helped the club win the FA Cup in 2021 and was part of the Foxes team that reached the Champions League quarterfinals in 2017. That signing in May 2012 was agreed with Leicester and Vardy’s club at the time, Fleetwood Town. It is a story of footballing rags to riches.
The journey
Vardy’s is a footballing journey that proves special talent is to be found in the lower reaches of the league system. After being released by Sheffield Wednesday when he was just 16, Vardy found himself playing for Stockbridge Park Steels for £30 a week. His performances did finally attract attention from some football league sides, but unsuccessful trials meant Vardy was to continue in the non-league system after signing for FC Halifax Town in the Northern Premier League for just £15,000. The striker stayed only one season for the Shaymen, but it resulted in him finishing the club’s top scorer, winning the Players’ Player of the Season, and helping his side secure promotion. Vardy was to be on the up too, signing for Conference Premier League side Fleetwood Town at the start of the 2011-12 season, scoring his first two goals on his third appearance for the club.
Vardy proved his ability to score goals against a higher calibre opponent when notching against League One team Wycombe Wanderers in the FA Cup in November of 2011. But it was his league prowess – finishing the season as Conference top scorer with 31 goals – that made the biggest impact, simultaneously earning his side their first ever promotion to the Football League and securing himself a one million pound move to then Championship side Leicester City. It was a record fee for a non-league player. And it was there, of course, that the fairytale truly developed.
Leicester City
Vardy made his debut for the Foxes in a League Cup game against Torquay United in August 2012, scoring his first goal, and his club’s last, in a 4-0 win. His first league goal came soon after away at Blackburn. Yet it was a disappointing debut campaign in all, and hardly a harbinger of things to come.
The 2013-14 season saw Vardy begin to blossom in a Leicester shirt. His 16 league goals secured him the Players’ Player of the Season award and his club’s promotion to the Premier League. Vardy signed a contract extension and made his top flight debut against Arsenal in a 1-1 draw. The game in which he truly made his name as one to watch came on 21st September 2014 as a man-of-the-match performance saw Vardy score his first Premier League goal in a stunning come from behind win against Manchester United. Yet Vardy only scored five goals that entire campaign. Absolutely no-one could have predicted what would come next.
Champions
It was a season that will never be forgotten, least of all by Vardy and all Leicester City fans. Vardy’s goals inspired a fairytale Premier League win, one which the sports betting apps had dismissed as fiction before the campaign unfolded by slapping on odds of 1500-1 against the Foxes claiming the title. Yet that they did, with Vardy finishing second in the goalscoring charts with 24 goals and securing the Premier League Player of the Season and FWA Footballer of the Year awards. In his 13 year career at the club, Vardy won the Premier League, FA Cup, Premier League Golden Boot, FA Community Shield and two Championship titles, among a host of other accolades. His 145 Premier League goals see Vardy sit 14th on the all-time list of Premier League top scorers. He also played 26 times for England, scoring seven goals.
Non-league gold
It was a talent spotted and nurtured in the non-league of English football. And Vardy is not the only nugget to have been unearthed there, with fellow scoring legends Ian Wright and Les Ferdinand also starting out in the lower echelons of the pyramid. Wright honed his craft at semi-professional Greenwich Borough before heading to Crystal Palace, while Ferdinand had spells with Southall and Hayes before being snapped up by QPR. Fellow Premier League Golden Boot winner Kevin Phillips was playing for Baldock Town before being spotted by Watford, while current Premier League striker Michail Antonio began his playing career at Tooting & Mitcham United F.C. Football team. He is now West Ham’s record Premier League goalscorer.
The talent is clearly there. Who will be next to break through the apparent glass ceiling separating non-league football from Premier League glory?
