Additional information
by David Gardner (Author)
There's a reason we are drawn to the incredible story of Jamie Vardy's rise from non-league football to become a record-breaking Premier League and England international goalscorer...he's allowed us to dream. In this age of multi-millionaire, Maserati-driving, cosseted footballers, the Leicester City striker is someone we can relate to. He's not so different from the lads we all knew who liked a Saturday night out, worked in a dead-end job and had a talent on the ball that wasted away as age took away any hopes they may have had of playing professionally. The difference is that Vardy did make it against the odds in an historic season with a fairytale team that started out as 5,000-1 underdogs and beat the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal to win the Premier League. Author David Gardner, a senior writer for football.com, goes behind the scenes to reveal the secrets behind Leicester City's miracle season...and how the party started for Jamie Vardy, from the court-imposed electronic tag he used as an ankle guard and his naked training runs all the way to his scoring streak, his WAG wife and his Hollywood future.
Author Biography
David Gardner has been a foreign correspondent for much of his journalistic career. Although he covered two World Cups for the London Daily Mail newspaper, most of his travels were to war zones, natural disasters, presidential campaigns and various celebrity meltdowns. But soccer has been the common language on many of these adventures. In Baghdad during the Gulf War he was confronted by a Revolutionary Guard who wasn't happy that he'd lost his guide. He knew only two words of English - Manchester United - just enough for him to turn a blind eye (Gardner lied and said he supported United too!) His childhood disappointments mostly revolved around the performances of England and West Ham United. His most magical memories still evoke the likes of George Best, Bobby Moore, Pele and Diego Maradona. He doesn't like cheats and whiners, he respects referees and he love players with passion and fire. He's now based in California where he play soccer twice a week at a place we call the Field of Broken Dreams. Need we say more? He is also a Senior Writer for Football.com. The saying goes that when you die all you leave behind are the stories. David Gardner's fondest ones will be about soccer.
