Jamie Vardy: the Leicester striker who nearly quit

Jamie Vardy, one of Leicester City's key players, came very close to quitting professional football after his first season at the club. The forward was unhappy with his return of four goals in 26 Championship matches and could see no future for his career. He had almost decided to go and work as a party organiser in Ibiza.

However, the manager Nigel Pearson persuaded him to carry on playing. About five years later Vardy was a Premier League champion, having scored 24 goals in the title-winning campaign. He has also scored six goals in 16 appearances for England and played at Euro 2016.

Leicester manager Craig Shakespeare said in an interview that he remembered the situation very well. Vardy was going through a bad spell at the club, and Pearson, a colleague named Steve and Shakespeare himself sat down with the player, told him that he had great ability and was capable of great things, and even predicted that he would play for England. Shakespeare added that, fortunately, Vardy decided against Ibiza and continued his career, that players sometimes doubt their own ability, and that the staff's job is to support them.

Vardy had a difficult start to the 2016/17 campaign but improved in the second half of the season. He has now scored nine Premier League goals. He also recently scored his first Champions League goal, against Sevilla, helping Leicester knock the Europa League winners out of Europe's most lucrative club competition. Once again he looks like the player who broke Ruud van Nistelrooy's record by scoring in 11 consecutive matches.

Vardy's decision not to give up professional football in 2012 proved crucial for the future of the England forward.

The coaches who kept him

Craig Shakespeare, the coach quoted in the story, had joined Leicester's staff in 2008 as assistant to Nigel Pearson and later worked as assistant to Claudio Ranieri. When Ranieri was dismissed on 23 February 2017, Shakespeare took charge as caretaker, and in March he was given the job until the end of the season. Leicester finished the 2016/17 Premier League in 12th place, and on 8 June 2017 Shakespeare signed a three-year contract as manager.

From non-league to Leicester

Vardy's route to the top was unusual. He spent four years at Stocksbridge Park Steels from 2006 to 2010, then moved to FC Halifax Town and, in 2011, to Fleetwood Town. Leicester City signed him from Fleetwood in May 2012 for a reported £1 million, a record fee for a non-League player. That price helps to explain the pressure behind his difficult first season, when the goals did not come and the idea of leaving the game took hold.

The decision to stay soon paid off. Leicester won the Championship in 2013/14 and returned to the Premier League. During the 2015/16 season Vardy scored in 11 consecutive Premier League matches, breaking Ruud van Nistelrooy's record of ten; the record-breaking goal came against Manchester United, and the run ended on 5 December 2015 at Swansea City. He was named FWA Footballer of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season for that campaign.

How the story continued

Leicester's first Champions League adventure ended in the quarter-finals of the 2016/17 competition, when Atlético Madrid won the tie 2-1 on aggregate. Vardy's international career closed after the 2018 World Cup; he retired from England duty with 26 caps and seven goals.

His club career went on for many more years. In 2019/20 he won the Premier League Golden Boot with 23 goals, and on 15 May 2021 he started the FA Cup final in which Leicester beat Chelsea 1-0 to lift the trophy for the first time in the club's history. In April 2025 he announced that he would leave Leicester at the end of the 2024/25 season, and his last match for the club came on 18 May 2025 against Ipswich Town. He finished with 200 goals in 500 appearances for Leicester, a remarkable return for a player who had once been ready to swap football for a job in Ibiza.