Johnny Phillips: Jamie Vardy is to football what Jimmy Anderson was to Test cricket
When James Anderson retired from Test cricket, one of the remarkable statistics wheeled out to emphasise his greatness was the fact that he took 436 wickets over the age of 30.
On Monday evening, Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy struck a second-half equaliser to ensure his team earned a share of the spoils against Tottenham Hotspur.
It was his 104th Premier League goal since turning 30.
Vardy outshone the £65million debutant wearing a Spurs shirt. At 26 years old, Dominic Solanke is 11 years Vardy’s junior.
How he, and any player for that matter, must dream of the longevity Vardy has achieved in the game. Leicester’s greatest ever player has etched a place in Premier League history.
He has done so while barely changing his game since he first burst on to the scene as a striker whose pace and running off the shoulder of the last man put the fear of God into defenders.
All these years later, Vardy’s opponents are still not given a moment’s respite.
Part of the Yorkshireman’s lasting impact is surely down to his late arrival on the big stage. He was 15 years old when Sheffield Wednesday released him.
His hometown club thought he was too small, and it left the despondent youngster fearing his career was over before it began when he turned to a Sunday team called Wickersley in Rotherham, just for a kickabout.
“Sheffield Wednesday were the club I’d supported all my life,” he said, when recalling that period of his life some years later.
“That was the lowest moment for me, real heartache, and what made it even worse was that I had a growth spurt literally a month after I was released. I shot up a good 20 centimetres out of nowhere.”
Even so, Vardy did not have an immediate route back into the game and spent seven years at Stocksbridge Park Steels, working full-time as a carbon fibre technician, until the age of 23.
Questions about his temperament may have deterred some clubs in the professional game. He was briefly fitted with an electronic tag and was required to observe a curfew after an assault conviction, which required some imaginative ways of getting him on the pitch for certain kick-off times.
It was not until 2012 that a league club took a chance on him. Leicester splashed out £1million on the 25-year-old, a record transfer fee for a non-league player. The fee eventually rose to £1.7m after add-ons had been met.
There was no instant impact at the Foxes.
Vardy joined on-loan Harry Kane on the bench for the club’s infamous play-off semi-final defeat at the hands of Watford a year later, when Nigel Pearson’s side succumbed to an added-time Troy Deeney goal after Anthony Knockhaert had missed a penalty to win the tie.
Over the next two seasons Vardy became Pearson’s first choice number nine, though, and by the time Claudio Ranieri arrived ahead of the 2015-16 Premier League title-winning season he had become the finished article. It capped a meteoric rise.
Having not turned professional until 25, Vardy was now a key player for the champions of England at the age of 29.
Aside from the odd injury, Vardy’s career has continued along the same lofty path. He added European Championships and World Cup finals appearances to his CV, collecting seven goals in 26 England appearances under Roy Hodgson and Gareth Southgate.
Now, after the disappointing relegation at the end of the 2022/23 season, Vardy is back where he certainly belongs. In truth, he could have won the game for Steve Cooper’s side on Monday night.
His brilliant header was followed up by a gilt-edged opportunity on his left foot late on, but the veteran striker could not beat Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario. That missed opportunity will have angered Vardy. His desire to remain as prolific as possible is unabated.
Watching him play on Monday night was a joy. By his own admission, Vardy was not fully fit but he persuaded Cooper – who was faced with few other options up front – that he was fit enough to do a job. And he delivered.
How much long Vardy can continue at the top is an interesting question.
When interviewed on Sky’s Monday Night Football programme after the match he revealed the extensive recovery programme he undertakes at Leicester’s training ground and back at home, including the use of an oxygen tent that he has had installed.
With a naturally low body fat that lends itself to his playing style, Vardy must be thinking about playing until 40 provided injuries do not take their toll.
However long this astonishing career lasts, it has been an inspirational journey.
