James Scow croft

The former Leicester striker on Leicester’s current main man, Jamie Vardy.

I’m in France watching future footballing talents. The country is gearing up for the European championships, the competition headline news. There is high security, new stadiums and a very good France team to look forward to. I prefer club football to international football, but I’ll watch England closely and Jamie Vardy is one reason.

I’ve seen him play for my old club Leicester City several times this season. His performances were among my most memorable of the season. Against Manchester United in December he was attempting to break Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record for scoring in consecutive games. I played against Van Nistelrooy when he scored a hat-trick. He was the complete finisher, a killer, as good a centre forward as I’ve seen. Yet here was a lad who’d risen through non-league football about to surpass him. Vardy was immense that November afternoon. He scored a brilliant goal, smashing the ball past David de Gea. He celebrated by the away fans, who’d been giving him abuse. He wound them up. What a showman, adding to the occasion with attitude.

Vardy had everything that day: pace, aggression, energy. And he had it for 90 minutes. He was everything that Man United needed, everything that Wayne Rooney wasn’t. People consider Rooney to be the veteran in decline, Vardy to be a rising star, yet there’s only a year’s difference in age between them.

I’ve still got strong links with my old club and I watched him once more two weeks later at home to Chelsea, the champions. Same again. He never let Chelsea’s defence settle. It would turn out to be Jose Mourinho’s last game in charge. His next one in England will also be against Leicester – for Man United at Wembley in the Community Shield.

Against Chelsea, he worked harder than anyone else on the pitch to close defenders down. Ivanovic and Cahill couldn’t settle. My old manager Joe Royle once told me that Ian Rush was the best attacker he’d ever seen because he worked so hard chasing defenders down that he took a burden off his team. Vardy does that. Leicester won 2-1.

I went to the players area after the game. Cesc Fabregas was on the bus within minutes of the whistle. Vardy was out half an hour later, laughing and joking with his mates, like he’d done at Stocksbridge, Halifax and Fleetwood. He’d played how the fans wanted him to play, giving it his all.

Then I watched him against Manchester City at home over Christmas. The game finished 0-0, but City were the title favourites at the time. Vardy worked harder in five minutes than Sergio Aguero did in 90.

They beat City away 3-1 a month later. The Leicester players reckon it was their most complete performance of the season.

By March, people were seriously saying that Leicester would finish in the top four. I went to another of my old clubs, Crystal Palace, and watched Leicester win 1-0. Their fans were singing ‘We’re gonna win the league’ over and over again. Their belief was genuine. Vardy assisted Mahrez for the goal that day. I know Mahrez is technically better, I know he is footballer of the year, but I still think it should have been Vardy. The rise of the Sheffield lad is incredible, it’s a fairy tale.

Towards the end of that game at Selhurst Park, Vardy ran two thirds of the length of the pitch to take the ball off Damien Delaney by the away fans. It was selfless, it was magnificent and the away fans knew it.

I was pleased when the football journalists made Vardy their player of the year. He deserves it. Every team needs a talisman. Leicester are all about being a team, but Vardy is the hero. He scored 23 goals in the toughest league in the world, for a team who were among the favourites to go down and who had less than 40% of possession across the season. It’s as astonishing as their title win.

People ask me if Vardy can have the same effect for England in France, if he can brighten up an England team who’ve been far from the most entertaining around in recent years. He can if Roy Hodgson plays him to his strengths. There will be better footballers than Vardy in France, but none who’ll work as hard. He won’t be deterred one bit by reputations because he plays football without fear. He’s not scared of running at anybody, there’s not a player like him and defenders hate playing against him.

Vardy’s all round play has improved to show that he’s comfortable at international level and he scored for England at the weekend. He’s built up momentum, too, after his success with Leicester. The same can go for Danny Drinkwater. They’re on a high and, given that they’ve just won the toughest league in the world, they’re ready for anybody.

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