The promotion from Non-League to PL was ‘a killer’ for my body and mind – Jamie Vardy

Vardy was released by his boyhood club Sheffield Wednesday for being too young, but the documentary unearths footage of his blistering goalscoring form during his Stocksbridge days while working in a factory making medical splints.

However, in the first of a series of problems in 2007, Verdi admitted in the documentary that there was “no stability” in his life. He was convicted of assault while drunk and had to wear an ankle tag for six months.

He also had a 6pm curfew which meant he had to leave the match early.

Moved to Halifax Town – where Vardy met his long-time agent John Morris – followed by Fleetwood Town, before his £1m move to then-Championship club Leicester City.

Woven throughout are “The Inbetweeners” – a nickname given to Verdi’s small, all-male social group in Sheffield – who serve as his main support alongside his wife.

“If one of us has a problem, bring it to the group. There might be a bit of abuse but at least we’re looking out for each other,” Vardy said.

They needed it, as former Foxes midfielder Andy King said Vardy experienced an initial “culture shock” at Leicester, with the striker admitting he didn’t initially feel good enough.

Physiotherapist Dave Reneo corroborated accounts of Verdi’s struggles with alcohol, worsened by the stress of the move, which included “making his own Skittles vodka at home”.

Vardy would arrive at training hungover and on one occasion, unable to communicate with his then-pregnant Rebecca, or Becky as he affectionately called her.

There was a feeling she was about to throw her career away, but the work of a “good psychologist”, the patience of manager Nigel Pearson and her own efforts to grow after the birth of her daughter Ella kept her going.

Fame brought yet more problems. A 2015 Sun on Sunday story featured him on video Using a racial slur against a Japanese person in a casino

He later described it as “a massive, massive learning curve”, explaining that he was not taught which terms he could and could not use.

The film also features “a difficult thing” when Verdi returns home to Helsinki from a team-bonding trip when a tabloid publishes a story about his secret biological father, of which he reportedly had no prior knowledge.

Still, Vardy became the poster boy and top scorer of Leicester’s Premier League title-winning campaign in 2015-16, lifting the FA Cup and fulfilling his agent’s prediction, when he signed in Halifax, that he would one day play for England.

Asked if he would have achieved more internationally after retiring from England in 2018, Vardy replied: “Maybe. We’ll never know.

“To be honest, going away with England is incredible – you want to play for your country – but the mental side of it was tough. It changed when Gareth (Southgate) came in, but before that you were stuck in your room all day.

“You’ve trained and then you’re back in your hotel room, pulling your hair out. You can spend so much time talking to the kids on PlayStation or on video calls. You haven’t seen them already and now you’re being put away for another two weeks. It’s hard.

“At that time, after the World Cup, I just wanted to protect (my leg) as much as possible, prolong my club career, and I’m still going, it was obviously the right decision.”