Some people have security blankets to fall asleep - Vardy has his medals

Ten seasons ago Jamie Vardy was playing in the English Conference Leagues for Fleetwood Town, scoring 31 goals in 36 games to earn himself a move to Leicester City while the Foxes were still in the Championship.

A Premier League title, FA Cup glory and 26 England caps have followed, while there is also talk of Hollywood producers planning a film based on his incredible career path.

Vardy became the first player in the competition's history to feature in all 13 rounds across his career, from the preliminary stages right through to the final.

He waited so long to get his hands on the FA Cup trophy. And after he won it - you could say he was worn out and he needed some rest.

Vardy eventually had to go to sleep after Leicester won the competition for the first time in their history thanks to a stunning strike from Youri Tielemans.

Jamie Vardy (©Instagram)

After the celebrations, the striker was pictured asleep wearing the medal he picked up after the Foxes beat Chelsea 1-0 at Wembley in front of 21,000 viewers in the stands.

The 34-year-old striker also fell asleep with a medal - the biggest one - the Premier League medal they won in 2016, after a season in which he scored 24 league goals to fire his side to the most unlikely of title triumphs.

The interesting Englishman hopes his side will return to Champions League football next season and continue their beautiful journey.

The Foxes and the London Blues meet again on Tuesday, as a part of the Premier League final stretch. Leicester City know three points a win would secure their place in the top four and a spot in the competition they reached the quarter finals of during the 2016/17 season.

Chelsea need victories against both Leicester and Aston Villa in last two fixtures to qualify for the Champions League next year, regardless of the outcome of the upcoming Champions League final they have against Manchester City on May 29.

©AFP

Imagine if Vardy only went through the plan he had in the 2012, while struggling in the lower tiers of English football. We wouldn't witness one of the most incredible stories in the history of the game.

‘Moving to Ibiza felt a good idea at the time,’ he admitted. ‘It felt a really good idea. Thank God I didn’t.

‘It was one of those things. I’d never been in that environment — playing in the Championship, struggling, the performances and the goals not coming and it does make you think.

‘I had a chat with Nigel Pearson at one point and I was trying to get him to loan me back to Fleetwood, just because I’d had success there.

He said, “Listen, you’re good enough, just knuckle down, you can play a lot higher”.

‘At that stage I knew he believed in me and after that it all clicked together. It was a learning curve. The big jump in standard took a bit of time getting used to and then the season after we got promoted.’

Tielemans volley, Schmeichel’s saves and a first FA Cup in history for Leicester

Five years ago, Leicester defied 5,000-1 odds to win the Premier League title.

'Winning the league probably set us back a bit because it wasn’t supposed to happen so we probably weren’t ready for it, on and off the field.' Vardy added.

‘I couldn’t see any of this happening when I signed but it’s where the club wanted to go and what they wanted to achieve.

‘The owners were brilliant and always wanted to go up and up, and keep progressing. If you look at the nine years since I’ve been here that’s all it’s ever done. It’s carried on progressing.’

Ghanaian footballer publicly disrespects Chelsea after FA Cup win

In January 2022, Jamie Vardy will turn 35. But has no thoughts of retiring.

‘If I didn’t have football, I’d probably still be working in a factory making splints for people with foot drop.

If we won the Cup I wouldn’t want it to end there. I’d want to be coming back again next year to try to win it again.’ he said before the FA Cup final.