Jamie Vardy’s attitude was the main reason top clubs did not make a move for the former Stocksbridge Park Steels player, according to staff who worked with him.
Vardy’s career has been in the spotlight, ever since lifting the Premier League title with Leicester City in 2016.
He was sold by Stocksbridge to Halifax for £20,000 in 2010, before completing a move to Fleetwood Town a year later. After this, he secured a dream switch to the Foxes for a then non-league record fee of £1 million.
However, according to former manager, Mick Horne, 64, Vardy’s attitude was the main reason clubs didn’t take a risk at the time.
“I belled a lot of people up including Mick Hennigan (coach at Preston North End), Sheffield United and Wednesday, yet nobody fancied him,” he says.
“People rejected him because they thought he brought a lot of baggage. When Nottingham Forest watched him, he got sent off. It was stuff like that”.
The former England International received accolades for showing determination in working his way up through the football pyramid.
After breaking the record for scoring in consecutive Premier League games, Stocksbridge decided to celebrate the landmark by renaming their main terrace ‘The Jamie Vardy Stand’.
The Jamie Vardy Stand, unveiled at Stocksbridge Park Steels (Credit: the92)
Despite the concerns from other teams, former chairman of the Steels, Allen Bethel, 80, insisted his work ethic was a level above other players.
He said: “He was always the first to training and the last one out.
“Vardy used to destroy teams apart. We knew he’d win with him on the pitch.
“It was just a shame no one else wanted him other than Halifax.”
Proving everyone wrong, Vardy rose to the elite level of English football and silenced his doubters. His story will live long in the memory, for every lover of the game.
