“It tastes like Ribena to me…”
Jamie Vardy’s goals carried Leicester City to their miraculous Premier League title triumph in 2016. Little did we know, however, that the secret to his prolific scoring rate was – perhaps – a peculiar superstition which involved him drinking half a Lucozade bottle’s worth of port on the eve of every game.
Having helped Leicester fend off the threat of relegation in their first season back in the Premier League in a decade in 2014/15, Vardy hit a rich vein of form in the early weeks of the next campaign.
Vardy’s prolific scoring claimed a Premier League record
In November, he broke Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record as he became the first player to score in 11 consecutive Premier League matches. Though his scoring rate dipped slightly in the second half of the season, he ended the season with 24 league goals to his name – crucial in helping Claudio Ranieri’s side to the title.
Months later, he released his autobiography Jamie Vardy: From Nowhere, My Story, Jamie Vardy: From Nowhere, My Story, which charted his rise from non-league to international football.
Vardy reveals port in a Lucozade bottle habit
In the book, Vardy revealed how he settled into a routine of drinking a glass of port on the eve of every game in the 2015/16 season, explaining how it helped him switch off and enabled him to sleep better as he prepared for games.
“I can’t say why it started, because I genuinely don’t know, but I decided to drink a glass of port on the eve of every game in the 2015–16 season,” Vardy wrote.
“I’m not normally superstitious but from the moment I scored against Sunderland on the opening day, I didn’t want to change anything.
“I fill a small plastic water or Lucozade bottle to halfway and just sip the port while watching television.
“It tastes like Ribena to me, and it helps me switch off and get to sleep a bit easier the night before a game.”
Vardy and his love of Skittles-flavoured vodka
Also in his book, Vardy explained how his love of Skittles-flavoured vodka had slowed his attempts to recover from injury.
Speaking about his early days with the Foxes, Vardy recalled how he had struggled to shake off a dead leg.
This prompted a conversation with the club’s physio which revealed his penchant for Skittles in vodka – *only* red and purple Skittles, we should add – was having a negative impact on his leg’s recovery.
“I went nine games without scoring and one of the staff got an insight into the way I was living away from football,” Vardy wrote.
“I had a three-litre vodka bottle at home I would put loads of Skittles sweets in. Once one batch had fully dissolved, I’d top it up with more — only the red or purple sweets because I don’t fancy the orange, green and yellow ones. I must have put a different batch in at least 20 times.
“After that, you can drink the vodka neat and it tastes just like Skittles. When I was bored at home in the evening I’d pour myself a glass, sit back and enjoy. The vodka was decent but it wasn’t doing much for my dead leg, which didn’t stop bleeding for ages.
“Dave Rennie, the physio, said he couldn’t believe it wasn’t improving. He’d seen a torn calf muscle heal quicker.
“He pulled me aside one day when nobody else was about. “What are you doing?” Dave asked. “Nothing I wouldn’t normally do,” I replied.
“Then I explained that what I’d normally do was drink Skittle vodka.
“”Well, that will be why, then,” Dave said, looking a little shocked, before going on to explain the science behind it and how the alcohol was damaging the healing process.
“I got on a downer because the season wasn’t following the pattern of previous years, when I was used to scoring loads and being the main man. My way of dealing with that was to go and get pissed with my mates in Sheffield.”
Related links:
- Erling Haaland explains what Jamie Vardy is ‘the best in the world’ at
- Jamie Vardy celebrates goal vs Wolves with his best shithouse celebration yet
