MY BOY’S TON GOOD
As Vardy waits for 100th top-flight goal, no one wants him to do it more than man who helped kick-start his career at non-League Stocksbridge
JAMIE VARDY must wait for his century of Premier League goals due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But it is a matter of when, not if, the Leicester striker reaches the landmark after amassing 99 top-flight goals.
The 33-year-old has 19 this season to lead the Premier League goalscoring charts. And no one will be happier for Vardy than the former chairman at lowly Stocksbridge, who he joined at 16 after being rejected by Sheffield Wednesday.
Allen Bethel ran non-League Stocksbridge for 38 years and still cheers every goal by the club’s most famous player, who was on their books from 2003-2010.
Bethel, 78, said: “I’m quite happy when he scores and my wife Janet shouts even louder than me. I watch and read as much I can. Jamie has shown a lot of determination.
“He took a lot of hammer with us because he was so bloody quick and people were made to look fools. He got kicked a lot but got up.”
The only regret for Bethel is that Vardy no longer plays for England after retiring following the 2018 World Cup. He watched the finals closely as Vardy made just one start in Russia and was left on the bench until extra-time in the semi-final defeat by Croatia.
He believes it was the final straw for Vardy and wife Rebekah. Bethel said: “I recall seeing Vardy walking to the touchline because he wasn’t being brought on against Croatia. I’ve met his lady, she is strong-willed, and I think she said, ‘That is it Jamie’.”
Vardy’s decision to quit helped spark his blistering form this season and Bethel knows Vardy is happy to make ruthless decisions.
He quit Stocksbridge in 2010 for Halifax, who paid £15,000 and improved his £100-a-week pay.
He joined Fleetwood for £150,000, fired them to promotion to League Two, and then left for Leicester, which resulted in another promotion and that incredible 5,000-1 title win in 2016.
The turnaround is a far cry from Vardy being shown the door by his boyhood team Wednesday before later getting an electronic tag after a pub-toilet fracas in Sheffield.
Bethel said: “He could be a bit riotous and p **** d up. He went to the second team for three years because the manager didn’t fancy him.
“The last match he played in the second team was against a very physical Doncaster side. He ran them ragged and new first-team manager Gary Marrow gave him a chance – and the rest is history.”