Jamie Vardy is the shimmering success story of the English football pyramid, a star that went from Non League to Premier League and conquered the hearts of fans along the way.
Vardy, 38, has announced that on his 13-year-old spell with Leicester City, he is calling in an emotional video after the relegation of the Foxes from the top flight.
The poisonous Bagsman adorned the Champions League, won the Premier League, lifted the FA Cup and played 26 times for the English national team.
But even he did not expect to hit those heights when he kicked Steels, Halifax Town and Fleetwood in his early days with Stocksbridge Park.
Owl aspirations
Some children grow up with Lionel Messi, David Beckham or Thierry Henry – play at the highest level and winning trophies and individual awards.
But Vardy's idol that grew up was someone who was much closer to home, Sheffield on Wednesday striker David Hirst.
Vardy, a fan of a youth owl, revealed in his autobiography: “I didn't want to be anyone else. Once I had a ball at my feet, which was even more moment of the day, I became the legend who played in advance for the club I loved.
“I have David Hirste because he did exactly what I wanted to do – score goals for Sheffield Wednesday.”
Follow in his footsteps
Vardy's dream to become a Sheffield Wednesday star almost came out when he signed for the club as a young person.
The striker impressed the former Wednesday academy director Clive Baker in a trial in Middlewood, the training field of the club in Hillsborough, and earned a place in their youth arrangement.
But those dreams were subsequently torn away from him at the age of 15, when the Academy Coaches cut him up on Wednesday – a decision that almost saw him hang his boots.
He revealed: “It was 2002 when I was fired from the Sheffield Wednesday Academy at the age of 15.
“During a meeting at the end of the season with my coaches, I was told that I was not held because I was too small … It was terrible.
“From there I stopped playing football for almost a year. During the weekend I did everything and everything but football. I said to myself:” It makes no sense to continue, I didn't make that for that. “
A non-readory return
After a year away from the competition, Vardy returned to the field with his ambition restored and his eyes on achieving something.
This time at Local Team Stocksbridge Park Steel, where he played U18S football before taking the step for the first team in 2006.
At the age of 19 – the age of most future stars made their Premier League debut – Vardy played in the eighth level of English football.
And he did it while balancing a job at a carbon finger factory and supplemented his wages of £ 30 a week at the football club.
His time with Stocksbridge was far away from the top flight, and Vardy even thought that his career was impeded by police intervention after a fight outside a night club in 2007.
Despite the pleading of his innocence that claimed that he defended a friend who was deaf, he was found guilty and was forced to play in a single label.
In some matches he could only play 60 minutes because he had to come home to ensure that he did not miss his 6 p.m.
A step in the right direction
Vardy spent four years in the Stocksbridge Park Steels First Team and scored 66 times in 107 games.
Of course he attracted the interests of teams in the competitions above him.
Crewe Alexandra took him to the test, but rejected him after just watching him for a week.
While Rotherham presented a contract to him, but Vardy chose not to accept it.
He eventually landed on a switch to Halifax Town, who signed him only £ 15,000 in 2010.
Vardy only spent a year with Halifax, took 26 goals in 37 games and won the player of the year of the club.
He helped the Shaymen to shoot to the title and earned himself a switch to Conference Premier Club Fleetwood Town for the next campaign.
Who are YA?
It was the biggest step in Vardy's career so far, he climbed the divisions and earned a reputation as a branch carrier.
But only because some people started talking about him did not mean that everyone knew their name – including his teammates.
Vardy's former Fleetwood Strike partner Gareth Seddon said to The Guardian: “I had never heard of him. At first, some boys like: 'Why did we sign this boy? From a few competitions below? '
“Then, in his first game, he was incredible. And we were just:” That is the reason he signed! “
“I have never played with anyone so quickly, I have been a professional for 18 years – he slides a bit over the field.
“He has nothing for him, but he was aggressive and has energy. We did the beep and he just went and went and went. We were:” Frigging hell! “
It was in Fleetwood where Vardy achieved his first Golden Boot Award and scored 31 goals in 36 games in his first season for the fishermen.
After playing Blackpool in the FA Cup, manager Ian Holloway Fleetwood Town offered £ 750,000 for his services, which they granted because they wanted £ 1 million.
For Fox Sake
Fleetwood finally got that £ 1 million when a Leicester City championship came to be beating to try to freshen up their front line in 2012.
But even after his sensational form in the lower competitions, fans were still not convinced.
A supporter went to social media to write: “Leicester has signed non-League striker Jamie Vardy for £ 1 million. What did football come. Jesus Christ !!” – Oh, how stupid would he be made to look.
Although the angry fan for a short period seemed correct when Vardy struggled to adapt to life in the second layer of England and in his first season only five goals scored in 29 games.
He revealed: “When you perform the competitions, the defenders are better at reading the game, better positioned, not as slow as everyone thinks that a center half should be and then I knew it would not be easy.
“I realized that certain things I did the year before in Fleetwood did not work. For myself and probably for people who also looked, it was not good enough.”
Take a long time
Vardy was determined to succeed despite a shaky start for life with the foxes.
His second campaign in Leicester saw him score 16 league goals when the club was promoted in the Premier League, so that Vardy's grim turnout was sealed from the depths of the football pyramid to the top.
Leicester avoided relegation during their first season back in the big time, because Vardy managed only five league goals.
He knew little that he and his teammates were about to start one of the greatest achievements in English football history when Leicester 5000/1 conquered opportunities to lift the Premier League the following season.
Vardy scored an amazing 24 -competition goals in the 2015/16 season when Leicester struck a miracle to become champions -while setting the record for scoring in the most consecutive Premier League matches.
That title meant that Vardy balanced a factory job less than 10 years after he would play a non-league contract with his £ 30 per week.
In the seasons that followed, Vardy rejected an offer to sign for Arsenal to stay with Leicester after building an inheritance with the club that had taken a risk of him all those years ago.
Staying Put also saw him win the Premier League Golden Boot in the 2019/20 season after scoring 23 goals when Leicester finished in European places again.
As well as winning the FA Cup with the foxes in 2021.
Caught lion?
It was no surprise that at one point England would beat and Vardy was just as impressive on the international stage as at club level.
28 years old, Vardy wore the three lions on his chest during a friendly against Ireland.
He would score seven times and earn 26 caps for the national team, which represents England on both Euro 2016 and the World Cup 2018.
However, there were problems in paradise when his involvement with the national team caused the 'Wagatha Chrstie' drama between his wife Rebekah and England teammate Wayne Rooney's wife Colleen.
Rebekah Vardy was accused of leaking stories about the life of Colleen Rooney in the media, something that finally ended in a controversial defamation test.
The process wiped the nation with Vardy and Rooney, both of which support their wives at the court.
End of an era
Vardy never turned his head off Leicester while confirming his estate as a club legend over the years.
That included holding on to the club after their relegation of the Premier League in 2023, so that they were helped to immediately bounce back from the championship with 18 goals during the 2023/24 season.
But after the Foxes had sealed an immediate return to the championship this season – in a terrible record -breaking relegation campaign – Vardy finally decided to stop his 13 -year -old spell with Leicester.
The striker is about to 500 performances for the club, scores 198 times and registers 69 assists.
In an emotional video, Vardy announced that he will leave Leicester at the end of the season.
He said: “It is something I thought of and talked about with my family. I think it's time.
'I will be destroyed on the day it is the last one [game]But good things, they come to an end.
“It will be one of those emotional days. Who knows which way can go.
“If you ask someone, I'm not really an emotional man.
“Nothing like that ever comes with me, but if you've been somewhere for so long, and it's time to say goodbye, you just never know what your personal response will be.
“I spent 13 incredible years in this club, with great success and some downs, but the majority have all been high.
“It is finally time to call it a day, which I am devastated of it, but I think the timing is good.”