How Jamie Vardy helped Coventry City to £3.5m cash windfall | OneFootball

Jamie Vardy played a crucial role in making Coventry City a handsome sum of money

Jamie Vardy has made some brilliant contributions to English Football over the past 15 years.

The striker’s rise from non-league to the European stage has been well-documented in that time, but the magnitude of his achievements can’t be understated.

Vardy joined Leicester City in 2012 after scoring 31 goals in 36 National League appearances for Fleetwood Town the season prior and the rest is history.

In 2016, the Foxes managed to surprise the footballing world by clinching the Premier League title, after surviving relegation by the narrowest of margins the previous year. Further success followed in the form of FA Cup and Community Shield honours.

This allowed Vardy to show what he could do on the European stage, scoring twice in the Champions League to signify just how far he had come from his non-league roots.

Alongside these achievements, Vardy decided that he wanted to give back to the system that allowed him to showcase his talents and ultimately provided his pathway to professional football.

The former England forward founded the V9 Academy in 2016, with the sole aim of discovering talent from non-league football and helping them progress to the professional game.

Vardy was dropped by Sheffield Wednesday’s academy due to concerns over his small stature, and he wanted to provide opportunities for others who had gone through similar experiences.

The academy has worked to great success in the resulting years, with one particular player eventually commanding a multi-million-pound price tag.

Sam McCallum came through Jamie Vardy’s academy before making Coventry City millions

Sam McCallum began his footballing journey in non-league before deciding to apply for the V9 academy.

After spending time within Vardy’s system, it was clear that the full-back possessed immense talent and was snapped up by then-League One outfit Coventry City in 2018.

He made his debut in the EFL Trophy tie against Cheltenham Town in November, before going on to make seven further appearances during the 2018-19 campaign.

From there, consistent performances for the Sky Blues increased his reputation further, to the point where clubs in the divisions above were sniffing around over his availability.

Then-Premier League outfit Norwich City swooped in with an offer of £3.5 million for McCallum’s services and in the space of less than two years, the defender had gone from the V9 academy to the top-flight.

Loan spells back to the CBS Arena followed, with McCallum playing a crucial role in taking Coventry City up to the Championship before establishing themselves in the division.

Another temporary switch to QPR was next, with the full-back finally establishing himself in the Norwich City squad during the 2022/23 campaign.

Two consistent years of performances at Carrow Road prompted Sheffield United to acquire McCallum’s services in 2024. He featured 34 times in the Championship for Chris Wilder’s side as they came bitterly close to achieving promotion to the Premier League.

In a short space of time, the V9 academy product has gone from a non-league hopeful to a regular Championship operator.

Vardy has been the prime example over the past 15 years of what talent lies beneath the EFL, with Leicester City proving that clubs can find era-defining players in unexpected places if they know what they’re looking for.

McCallum’s story highlights that using systems such as the V9 academy to find a route into the game can be a useful method for players, with external factors such as physical development holding them back from fully showcasing their skills at the youth level.

Other players like Richard Kone and Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu have been through similar situations, making names for themselves at the non-league stage before continuing to impress in the EFL.

Often, these operators perform with a different edge to them after playing in non-league, which translates to success when coming up against footballers who enjoyed footballing education in academy systems.

All of these examples show that there is a wealth of talent below the EFL, and the next Jamie Vardy or Sam McCallum might just be waiting to be discovered.