Jamie Vardy's Having an England Party

Leicester have no less than ten players representing them on an international level this week, including two national team captains in Christian Fuchs for Austria and Gokhan Inler for Switzerland respectively. The one that our fans are most excited about however is our leading goalscorer, Jamie Vardy, who could make a second appearance for England.

Jamie Vardy’s rise within the short space of three years from unknown Fleetwood Town striker to England international is the kind of thing football fairy-tales are made of. While Vardy isn’t a typical football prince in the mould of David Beckham let’s say, there are not many players who deserve or work harder for their recognition. It hasn’t been a quick or easy road to get to this stage. That perhaps makes it all so much more impressive.

When Leicester City announced the signing of Jamie Vardy in August 2012 for a meagre £1million. Some fans actually viewed the transfer and fee as a risk. You couldn’t blame their cautious approach. Despite scoring 31 goals in 36 league appearances and having helped Fleetwood Town to take the Conference Premier title the question mark over whether he could repeat this kind of form two levels higher up was on everybody’s mind.

It was a good start, he scored on his début in the League Cup and picked up another goal before the end of the season, but it wasn’t a dream first season. He finished the first season with 5 goals from 29 games. He looked like a striker whose confidence was shot towards the end and even the more patient Leicester fans began to criticise him. A nightmare situation for a player who relies heavily on performance and confidence from that.

Jamie Vardy made no secret of the fact that in the 2012-13 season with Leicester, he nearly quit both the club and the game entirely. He’d lost belief in himself and lost some of the passion that we’re used to seeing from him. Leicester fans owe the club staff and former manager, Nigel Pearson, who talked him out of it and worked hard to bring his confidence levels back up. Determined to show what they believed he was capable of, they got him to focus on the next season and for him to start finding the back of the net again.

For a player that was released by his home-town club for being considered too small, it’s his size and pace that have contributed to his success. His second season with Leicester demonstrated why the club had put so much faith in him. That year he notched 16 goals in 41 games as Leicester topped the table and took the Championship title to get back into the Premier League. He attracted a lot of attention that season for his performances, excellent partnership with David Nugent and quickly became a fan favourite. He also claimed the coveted Players’ Player of the Year award that season.

By his standards he was probably disappointed with his début Premier League season. He missed the first couple of games through injury and had to wait until the end of September to get his first Premier League game. I’m sure getting that in a 5-2 win over Manchester United where he also took the Man of the Match award more than made up for the wait. Part of the team that saved the Foxes from relegation in spectacular style probably compensated for a more conservative goalscoring record of 5 goals last season.

Already one of Leicester’s key players this season alongside Riyad Mahrez, it had to be a dream come true to learn that Roy Hodgson was attending a Leicester match to watch him and potentially select him for England. A player who’s overcome early rejection from his home-town club, nearly quit the game entirely, risked a career due to a run-in with the law when he was younger and then made his way back into the game via conference football and a lot of graft, he could be forgiven for feeling his hard work has been vindicated.

When the squad was announced to take on the Republic of Ireland and Slovenia in May, Vardy and Leicester celebrated a surprised but deserved call-up. At 28 he’s not the first player to have wait until they’re older, but it certainly makes it tougher to get in and limits your time to make an impact. Although Roy Hodgson has been vocal and complimentary about what Vardy can bring to England, his call-ups have still led to a rather unjustified amount of other fans complaining and abusing the decision on social media.

Consider that already this season, just 8 games in, he’s scored 7 goals and is both the Premier League’s top goalscorer so far as well as the current most prolific Englishman. He’s successfully dispelled any doubts that another step up the football league ladder would be too far for him. So why then are so many people so negative about his inclusion in an England squad, especially one where he is the top performing current striker named in it?

Perhaps being a Leicester fan makes me biased but it’s difficult to consider any fan watching Jamie Vardy and not enjoying it. He’s fast, tenacious, cheeky, never stops running and has a knack for scoring goals. Combine those attributes on a day where you can get the ball to him and he becomes unplayable.

I’d go so far as to say that Vardy brings something unique to the England team. Never one to consider any cross or ball a lost cause, he would chase down his own shadow if he could! He’s not a selfish striker either, happy to cross and pass if there’s a better placed team-mate around. England haven’t seen the best of what Vardy can offer yet, not helped by the decision to put him more out on the wing on his second cap, Leicester fans will vouch for what playing him up top will deliver.

The Vardy for England effect reaches further than just what his caps bring to Leicester. The Foxes benefit from him training and playing with some of the best players and top coaches in the country, he brings back enhanced confidence and experience. It’s something he can not only pass on to other members of our squad, it gives our youth and academy players something to aspire to. Charlie Austin has been one of the recent role models for lower league players, demonstrating that English players can make it to the top levels and Vardy now joins him firmly in that club.

More than just a fan favourite, Vardy is firmly loved by Foxes fans young and old, with his own beloved chant and name on the back of numerous shirts. Fans aside, Vardy is also an incredibly well liked player with his own team-mates, Kasper Schmeichel recently gave an interview where he mentioned how frequently people comment on his English colleague when he returns to Denmark. Danish people are partial to his work ethic and no nonsense attitude, some of the attributes that won over Leicester fans in one season.

Norwich City fans may have taken to booing and chanting at Vardy last weekend but you’d be hard pushed to find a set of fans who wouldn’t want the striker playing for their team. With pace in abundance he’s certain to continue to make a nuisance of himself against opposition defences.

With England’s qualification for the 2016 European Championship already signed and sealed, it would be a difficult decision to swallow if Vardy was not allowed a chance to start tomorrow. If he does then I’m confident that he’ll show why Foxes fans are so passionate in both praise and defence of him.