If you wanted to visit me from the
south, junction 35A on the M1 will take you on the Stocksbridge
by-pass. Stocksbridge Park Steels is what it says, a football club
based on the steel industry, originally. James Vardy, of Leicester
City, is England's latest call up. He was playing non-league football
three years ago and worked in a local factory making medical splints.
In his previous football existence he scored against FC United of
Manchester and he has also scored against Manchester United. Only one
other player has done this.
Released by Sheffield Wednesday for
being not tall enough at 15, he went to college in Rotherham and
studied sports' science, signing on for nearby Wickersley Youth and
then Park Steels.
Once convicted of an assault (he says
he was helping a friend) he had to play in a match, on curfew, wearing a
“tag”!
Earning £30 match fee when playing for
Stocksbridge, he eventually got a £100 as a maximum wage and then had to work to supplement his living. His employment was making
carbon-fibre splints for disabled people with “drop foot”.
Halifax came next, then Fleetwood,
Kidderminster Harriers until Nigel Pearson pounced in 2012 paying
a £1 million. It was only recently that Vardy was offered ostrich
burgers in the Leicester canteen, a joke set by the chef in response to
Pearson's recent reference to the press burying their heads in the
sand.
The Club's Thai owners have brought monks into
the club to bless the players before a game by dipping their “sticks”
in holy water and lashing the legs of the players, before a game.
Well, good luck to James Vardy, another
forward brought in by Roy Hodgson to his international squad.
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