Jamie Vardy’s “fairytale” football journey reaches its latest landmark tomorrow when Leicester City take on Chelsea in the FA Cup Final at Wembley.
Win or lose, the greatest Non League export of the 21st century will continue to act as a beacon of hope for thousands of young Non League footballers who want to progress into the professional game.
That’s the view of Penistone Church manager Ian Richards who played alongside Vardy way back at the beginning of his career at Stocksbridge Park Steels in the late 2000s.
Vardy was 25 when he made his Football League bow, but yet has remarkably so far won the Premier League, played in the Champions League and represented his country at Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup.
“Here at Penistone there’s me, my brother (Duncan), Brett Lovell and Andy Ring who played a large part of our football with him in his early days in Non League at Stocksbridge,” Richards told Non League Yorkshire.
“We’re so pleased for him. Brett still has some contact with him. Mine is more through social media.
“To see his career progress in the way it has, it is just brilliant.
“It should give aspiration, ambition and hope to anybody who wants to be a professional footballer.
“It shows that if you don’t do it through the ordinary way through an academy that there are many ways later on that you can do it.
“It has been a fairytale or a Roy of the Rovers story because of the age he went into the professional game.
“I think Nigel Pearson signed him at Leicester for a £1 million (from Fleetwood Town) and people were saying ‘what are you spending that money on him for’? He’s been one of the best signings ever made.
“It shows it can happen.
“I always thought he had the ability to go higher, but you never knew how high.
“Now he’s played for his country, won the Premier League, played in the Champions League and now he’s going to be playing in an FA Cup Final. It is a brilliant story.”
Released from Sheffield Wednesday at 16, Vardy was picked up by Stocksbridge and progressed from the under 18s and reserves into the first team over a several year period.
His greatest achievement with the Steels was helping them win promotion to the NPL Premier Division in 2009 – before his performances led to FC Halifax Town paying a big fee to sign him in 2010.
Looking back at the early years, Richards said: “Football-wise what I loved about him was that he had energy.
“He was fit, quick, good with both feet, but the biggest thing is that he never gave up. He was non-stop.
“He was a complete nuisance for the opposition, but a real outlet for you. So he was brilliant to alongside as a centre-midfielder.
“In terms of off-the-pitch, he enjoyed going out like any teenager.
“We had a number of good nights out with him in Blackpool, Sheffield and when I was maybe 28 I remember Gary Marrow saying to me ‘when you’re out tonight can you try and look after him’?
“I was thinking ‘Gary, when he gets started nobody can look after him’.
“I was also thinking that I was going to need someone to look after me if I’m going to be drinking with Jamie Vardy.
“He was good for the changing room and he was respectful of older players and really respectful of Allen Bethel because of what he had done for him.
“He was respectful of Gary Marrow because he was the manager. Peter Rinkcavage gave him his debut, but Gary really gave him his opportunity to play for long periods.
“I have positive memories of him. He’s someone I thought would play higher, but not as high as he has done.”
Because Vardy slipped under the radar and gained entry to the professional game at such a late stage, it could be said clubs are determined to not make the same mistake by missing out on another hidden gem.
Since Vardy’s emergence as a superstar, Richards agrees the number of talent-spotters watching Non League games has risen significantly.
“You look at us at Penistone we always have scouts watching,” he said.
“Jordan Barnett left us to go to Burnley and then came back and went to Barnsley.
“Joe Green the goalkeeper went to Chesterfield.
“People want to scout and want to be associated with clubs so rather than scouts on the payroll I think clubs have more scouts who are affiliated with them and who will go out and watch Non League games and recommend players.
“I think you’re right that there’s always been scouts watching (Non League), but not to the magnitude that we have now.
“I honestly think I have a couple of players here who are 19 and 21 and have a lot of potential to play a lot higher.
“They just need us to give them a good run of games in men’s football, do well and for someone to pick them up.
“Sam Scrivens is another recent example. Because Conor Glavin was playing for us, his dad Ronnie was watching our games and he recommended Sam to his friend at a club (Partick Thistle) in Scotland and he got that opportunity to trial and train with them.
“There’s some golden nuggets and diamonds in Non League, you just have to look hard enough and be brave enough to give them a chance.”
If you have enjoyed reading Non League Yorkshire over the past few months, please consider making a donation to the not-for-profit organisation NLY Community Sport which provides sport for children and adults with disabilities and learning difficulties. CLICK HERE to visit the JustGiving page. There is a video at the bottom of the page showing our work.
NLY Community Sport, run by James Grayson and Connor Rollinson, has always had combatting social isolation at the top of our objectives when running our Disability Football teams. When we properly return to ‘action’, our work will play an important role in reintroducing our players, who have disabilities and learning difficulties, back into society.
We have six teams, a mixture of Junior and Adult teams – Nostell MW DFC, Pontefract Pirates, Selby Disability Football Club and the South Yorkshire Superheroes (Barnsley) – across Yorkshire.
We have enjoyed great success over the past three years. Several of our players have represented Mencap GB in Geneva, including Billy Hobson from Selby and Greg Smith, whose story is quite inspiring.
You can learn more about the organisation HERE and on our Facebook page.
Watch the video below to see highlights from our three years as an organisation. The video was produced for our players at the end of March to remind them of good memories from the last three years.
