No Vardy, no party.
A groin injury meant Leicester’s Jamie Vardy was forced to sit out his side’s goalless draw with League One Fleetwood Town, the club for whom the forward played prior to his move to the Foxes.
Vardy scored 34 goals in 42 games for Fleetwood when they were in the Conference Premier, sealing a reported £1 million move to Leicester in 2012.
The 30-year-old returned to Highbury Stadium on Saturday afternoon but was forced to watch the FA Cup third round meeting of his current and former sides from the stands with wife Rebekah and son Finley Jaiden.
Manager Claude Puel could have done with Vardy on the pitch as his players failed to break the deadlock, earning Fleetwood’s goalkeeper a year’s supply of free pizza in the process, but that didn’t mean that Vardy didn’t make his mark on his return to the Cod Army.
After discovering that Fleetwood’s vice president was unwell, Vardy immediately demanded to speak to him over the phone to send his best wishes.
Have to mention a great moment today when @vardy7 was told our 87-year-old club Vice President Ted Lowery was ill at home after a spell in hospital, he instantly asked for his phone number before calling him to send his best wishes.
Different class 👏👏
— Will Watt (@WillWatt) January 6, 2018
The club’s Head of First Team Operations and Communications, William Watt, revealed the classy gesture via Twitter after the game.
“I have good memories from Fleetwood and it will be good to see a few old faces,” Vardy told the Telegraph before Saturday’s match.
“It was my first taste of full-time football and a very successful one. We got promoted and obviously that gave me the platform to come and sign here.”