Leicester City fans love to sing “Jamie Vardy is having a party,” but little do they know the star striker quite literally almost became a party promoter. Foxes manager Craig Shakespeare said Vardy considered quitting playing soccer for a life of promoting parties in Ibiza.
It was the 2012/13 season, Vardy’s first with Leicester after arriving from Fleetwood Town, and the forward was having trouble finding much success. Having mustered four goals in 26 Championship appearances, Vardy was prepared to hang up his cleats. Shakespeare, who was an assistant under then-manager Nigel Pearson, helped convince Vardy to stick it out.
“I remember the situation [with Vardy] really well,” Shakespeare said to Sky Sports. “At that time Jamie would be the first to admit he was going through a rough patch and myself Nigel and Steve [Walsh, fellow assistant-manager] sat him down and told him about his attributes and that we thought he could go on.”
That reassurance was well-founded, as Vardy would find his scoring boots and push Leicester not only to Premier League promotion, but help them win the top-flight just two seasons later.
“Thankfully he didn’t go to Ibiza and it’s fair to say he made the right decision, considering how well he has done,” Shakespeare said.
As enticing as lifting magnum bottles of Dom Perignon in Ibiza sounds, I think it’s fair to say Vardy is much happier having lifted the Premier League trophy.
