Parimatch recently sat down with Leicester City legend Jamie Vardy to reminisce about his magnificent career in an entertaining Q&A. The 36-year-old’s story is one of the greatest that the game has ever produced, peaking in 2016 when he played an integral role in Leicester stunning the world to lift the Premier League title.
In this interview, Jamie looks back on that incredible season, the celebrations that followed at his house, the “unbelievable” togetherness in the squad and the European adventure that followed.
Jamie Vardy opens up about his magnificent career winning the Premier League in 2016
Parimatch: The great escape in the 2014/15 season saw the foundations being set potentially for what most people didn’t see coming next. But being a part of that, it must have been a great group?
Jamie Vardy: Yeah, 100%. The togetherness with the lads was unbelievable and like you said, especially those last eight results, it showed that we could do it. So it was a case of the season’s finished and once again everyone came back the following season fit and raring to go, and when you do that, you give yourself the best possible opportunity. Pre-season, that season didn’t go the best. I don’t think we picked up too many wins, and I know pre-season’s about getting fit, but you always want to win games.
Parimatch: So then Claudio comes in, obviously a different style of manager. What do you think he brought to the club that perhaps wasn’t there or just wasn’t something you’d seen before?
Jamie Vardy: I’m not quite sure. To be fair to him, he came in and said he’d been watching us and that he didn’t want to change too much because he saw, especially those last eight games, what we could do. So I think it was more just little tweaks in certain things.
Especially the year when Riyad was given free license, so you knew Danny Simpson was always going to be two-on-one defending. But Simo first and foremost does defend, so it was kind of easy for him to not have the support, and then of course we had N’Golo as well.
Parimatch: Kanté coming in and delivering the performances that he did, and let’s be fair, no one else saw him apart from the scouts. He arrived at Leicester an unknown and he left a hero. What was it like having him in the middle of the pitch?
Jamie Vardy: It was brilliant, it was like having an extra man! The good thing was you knew you could get to the top end of the pitch and try and do something because you want to create and there’s a good chance it doesn’t come off. But you knew that you could turn around and within ten seconds N’Golo has got the ball back, so it meant that you could take risks further up the pitch.
We keep fighting 🦊💙 @LCFC pic.twitter.com/t19CBBFKd8
— Jamie Vardy (@vardy7) May 2, 2023
Parimatch: I’m sure there are a few games that would stand out to Leicester fans that made them start to believe the title was potentially within grasp. Chelsea and Liverpool at home, maybe Man City away. But was there a particular game or moment you can pinpoint that you thought, “we’re doing this”?
Jamie Vardy: I started thinking about it at Man City away. I think it finished 3-1 and that was the turning point for me.
Parimatch: Was it the manner of those victories that gave you confidence? You were outplaying teams that were anticipated to be above you.
Jamie Vardy: Yeah, it was just the feeling that we had in the club. We were just taking it game after game, which is always the best way to look at things. But then turning up and fully delivering each week, knowing how we were as a group and how close-knit it actually was, that everyone had put their bodies on the line for each other. So for me personally, it was the Man City away game.
Parimatch: And individually, it was a sensational season for you. That goal-scoring run where you break Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record. A lot of players play down personal achievements, but it must be so special for you to hold that record?
Jamie Vardy: I’m exactly that type of player who plays them all down to be honest! At the time, I didn’t even know it was a thing. I think the first time it got brought up was West Brom away when I got to eight, and then when we played Newcastle that I’d matched it.
Parimatch: You mentioned Riyad Mahrez, he was part of that team. Would he be up there as one of the best players you’ve played with? In that season, the connection you had with him just seemed brilliant.
Jamie Vardy: Definitely. Riyad is Riyad, he really could make something out of nothing, that’s the type of player he is. It used to get a bit annoying though, if he kept chopping in the corner when you’re wanting a cross in and you’ve made three different runs for him. But that was just him and I think that was just part of how we played. We knew that if you give it to him, he might cross it so you have to make that run, but he might also do something spectacular where he turns a few players inside out and puts it in the top bin.
Parimatch: You could argue that season could never be beaten in terms of such a sensational storyline, but what were the celebrations like for you? That must have been an absolutely insane week once you lifted the title.
Jamie Vardy: Yeah, it was great. I mean, we obviously found out that we’d done it at my house, and it was great to have all the lads there. The police shut the road off outside because fans congregated in numbers. But it was a great feeling that night. It went from everyone absolutely ecstatic to then all of a sudden my house in silence because everyone just took themselves off to a different part or out in the garden, just having a little bit of time to themselves.
And then obviously the Everton game at home, getting to lift the trophy, the open top bus, then that was it. That was literally it. You’ve got to focus straight away on the next season that’s coming up.
Parimatch: So in the following season you get Champions League football. That must have been the pinnacle, especially when you think back to the non-league days. It must have been very special for you to hear that anthem and stepping out?
Jamie Vardy: Yeah, it was great, but the only downside to it was that we obviously weren’t having the best of seasons in the league. We couldn’t work out why because we were doing great in the Champions League, and then still trying to play the same way we did in the Champions League and it just wasn’t working. But the Champions League side of it was a great experience.
Parimatch: Did the tag of defending champions make life a little bit harder?
Jamie Vardy: I don’t know if it was that or if all teams just started properly doing the homework and cutting out where our main threats were, but that’s part and parcel of football, you have to keep evolving to try and get the points.
Do check out: Jamie Vardy becomes first player over 30 to score 100 Premier League goals
