Last month, it was announced by Leicester City that their talismanic number nine Jamie Vardy would be leaving the club at the end of the season. The phrase ‘end of an era’ is a slightly overused cliche these days, but with respect to Vardy, its suitability is beyond doubt.

He is the last player at the club from the title win of 2016, the last bridge between the current crop of Championship-level fodder and the incredible team of 2016 – a team many football fans will forever remember for their unique grit, determination, and skill. A team which Claudio Ranieri lifted (on 5000/1 odds) to the summit of English football.

It would be reductive though to merely consider Vardy’s contribution that season, despite him scoring in 11 consecutive games and ending the season on 24 goals. Vardy has had nearly another decade of goalscoring antics since the glory days of 2016, clinching the golden boot in 2020 and leading the Foxes to consecutive finishes in European qualification spots and winning the FA Cup in 2021.

“Vardy has had nearly another decade of goalscoring antics since the glory days of 2016”

Despite his seeming indefatigability, Vardy has noticeably slowed down in the last three or four seasons, with his performances in the 2022-23 season not enough to save the club from relegation to the Championship. However his impact has not completely evaporated, with Vardy scoring a brace to win the 2023-24 Championship for Leicester, returning them to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

Beyond his time in the East Midlands, he won twenty six caps for England and scored seven goals, the most memorable being the equalising goal in England’s eventual 2-1 win against Wales in Euro 2016. Considering England’s appalling performance, the Vardy goal was a figurative speck of gold in a polluted river.

Vardy is arguably most loved though for his unique, firebrand personality. According to Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, a vice chairman of the Foxes, in the player’s early days for the club he used to turn up to training whilst still intoxicated from the antics of the night before. Furthermore, his pre-match Red Bull and cheese and ham omelette ritual has become the stuff of legend on social media.

“in the player’s early days for the club he used to turn up to training whilst still intoxicated”

In his autobiography, he himself mentioned that he drank a glass of port the night before every match of the title winning 2015-16 season; another unique habit of his was mixing vodka and skittles. Former teammate Ritchie De Laet has also told Belgian media that, the night before a game, Vardy drinks pints and only eats pizza.

Naturally, as with many gifted individuals, there is another side to the story. In 2007, Vardy received a conviction for assault, and had to play with an electronic tag for six months whilst also under curfew. He was further punished by Leicester for using a racial slur against a Japanese man in 2015.

Despite this, Vardy has shown his philanthropic side. He launched the V9 academy in November 2015 which aimed to help non-league players ascend to the football league; he is also an ambassador for a special needs school in Leicestershire. After his infamous celebration in December 2020, sliding through an LGBT corner flag, he signed the flag and donated it to the Leicester City LGBT supporters group.

“Vardy is unique, an old-school footballer, a V8 in an era of Electric Vehicles”

His football origin story definitely deserves a mention, as it is something without parallel in the modern game. Unlike the players of today who are essentially farmed from a young age at big-budget and high-tech football academies, Vardy took a slightly different route to the top of English football. Playing as a part-time footballer whilst also working in a factory, Vardy made his professional football debut at the age of 25 after Leicester City signed him for £1 million – a record for a non-league player. In the context of increasingly young Premier League squads and expanding youth academy systems, it is very unlikely that we will ever see another football journey quite like Jamie Vardy’s.

Indeed, most of the talk on departing legends at the moment is about Kevin de Bruyne, with the Belgian 33-year-old calling time on his Manchester City career. He has no doubt been successful in his time there, winning countless trophies and continuing to be world class season after season. However, he is the consummate professional and, simply put, Vardy isn’t. He is rather the loveable rascal who taunts opposition fans after scoring, and celebrates by sliding through corner flags. I think he, as a true character of the game, will inevitably be the more missed by fans of the English game than de Bruyne. Vardy is unique, an old-school footballer, a V8 in an era of Electric Vehicles. When he walks off the pitch for the last time against Bournemouth, a true legend will be leaving the Premier League.