5 of football’s greatest late bloomers  

#4 Jamie Vardy

Vardy celebrates scoring a goal for Leicester

Rightly recognised as one of football’s true fairytales, the story of Jamie Vardy is a testament to the fact that if you relentlessly pursue your dreams and refuse to ever give in to failure, the sky will eventually be the limit for you.

After being released by Sheffield Wednesday, Vardy earned a contract at Stockbridge Park Steels, which was then at the seventh tier of English football, pulling in just £30-a-week while also working at a medical spirits producing factory on the side. Vardy’s time in the lower leagues continued with F.C Halifax and Fleetwood Town before finally being signed by then-Championship side Leicester for his goalscoring exploits and eventually helped them reach the Premier League.

The Englishman initially struggled to adapt to the tough demands of the League in his debut year, but then came the 2015-16 season which would change his and Leicester’s fortunes forever. The goals just wouldn’t stop coming from Vardy, whose 24 strikes eventually fired Leicester to the title, earning him numerous personal awards as well as a place on the England team, whom he went on to represent at Euro 2016, in the process.

All this at the age of 29! Vardy’s story, which is one for the history books, is still being written, with plenty of chapters to follow in the years to come.