NAKED AMBITION

‘Brilliant but mental’ time with the Cod Army helped make him the player he is today but Vardy says: I’m glad I don’t have to run nude on the beach these days!

JAMIE VARDY returns to Fleetwood today, glad that his days of running around naked are over.

Just six years ago, striker Vardy was banging in the goals f o r Fleetwood as they won the Conference.

It clinched a £1million move to Championship Leicester in May 2012, four years before their incredible Premier League triumph. Vardy has since shot to prominence with both club and country and is now hoping to finish the season with his first World Cup appearance.

It is a far cry from the “brilliant but mental” non-league days at Fleetwood, training at windswept Fylde Rugby Club in Lytham St Annes on the Irish Sea. Among the punishments handed out to those late or training badly was being forced to run around naked outside.

“The wind really cut through you, so the last thing you needed was to get naked,” Vardy recalled in his autobiography ‘From No-where.’ “But one day I found myself doing a lap of the pitch with nothing more than my boots on. Thankfully the only people watching were the lads on the balcony p***ing themselves laughing.”

The forward, known for his ‘Jamie Vardy’s having a party’ catchphrase, has since had to tone down the antics after hitting the big time.

Speaking ahead of today’s FA Cup tie back at his old club, Vardy reflected: “That was a bad day, I lost a bet. That is how it was back then in non-league. I don’t think I would be doing that at Leicester. There are probably a lot of areas where the cameras can catch you so it wouldn’t be a good idea.”

But despite that chastening experience, Vardy has fond memories of his one season at Fleetwood after moving from Halifax. The striker and former factory worker said: “It was my first taste of full-time football and a very successful one. We

VARDY’S RECORD