VARDY STEELS IN TO TOP THE PILE
Ace Jamie heads NPL’s century of stars
JAMIE Vardy was given a timely confidence boost ahead of England’s World Cup campaign when he was named the greatest player in the history of the Northern Premier League last weekend. To celebrate 50 years of NPL football, fans were asked to send in their nominations for the top 100 players to have graced the league over the past five decades. Before becoming an international star, Vardy learned the ropes at NPL sides Stocksbridge Park Steels and FC Halifax Town. The Sheffield-born striker spent three seasons with Steels, a club where he now has a stand named after him. Vardy’s impressive performances for the South Yorkshire outfit earned him a trial at Crewe Alexandra. However, a move to the Football League failed to materialize.
Instead, Vardy opted to stay in the NPL by joining FC Halifax Town in 2010 and it was during his season with the Shaymen that he truly made his mark.
The future England forward finished as the club’s top scorer, finding the net 25 times, as Halifax raced to the NPL title in 2011.
Exploits
His exploits at Halifax earned Vardy a move to Conference side Fleetwood in 2011, before he joined Leicester the following year for a Non-League record fee of £1m after he scored 31 league goals to help the Cod Army to the Football League for the first time in their history.
This was just the start of Vardy’s fairy tale journey to the top as he went on to score 24 league goals in Leicester’s shock Premier League triumph in 2016.
Following Vardy in second place was Blyth Spartans’ Robbie Dale.
The 34-year-old forward is a club legend at the Spartans, having made over 600 appearances for the Northumbrian side.
Dale has been Blyth’s leading goalscorer on three separate occasions and was crowned NPL Player of the Year in 2015.
Barrow’s cult hero Colin Cowperthwaite was named in third place.
The striker, who was voted Barrow’s all-time greatest player in 2010, played for the Bluebirds between 1977 and 1993.
As well as scoring 282 goals, Cowperthwaite is known for netting the fastest goal in a national competition in England after remarkably finding the net after just 3.5 seconds in a game against Kettering Town in 1979.
Former Chorley defender Andrew Teague, who made over 300 NPL appearances, came in fourth position, while Matlock Town legend Adam Yates was fifth.
Other notable names in the top 10 include Grant Holt, who went on to represent Norwich City in the Premier League, having previously played in the NPL with Barrow, and former NPL title winner Antoni Sarcevic (Chester), who now plays for Plymouth Argyle.