Ben Jacksonand
Will Jefford,Leicester
SuppliedStevie Joy (right) met Vardy with his son, Luke (left) while in Italy
A Jamie Vardy superfan said meeting the Leicester City legend in Italy, after travelling to watch him play for his new club, was “surreal”.
Stevie Joy, 56, said his love for the English forward started when he celebrated towards the corner where he was sitting with his son, Luke, after scoring his first goal for Leicester City in 2014.
The lifelong Leicester City fan decided he wanted to see the goalscorer play for his new club Cremonese, after he left the Foxes in the summer.
He travelled to Italy with his son, where a local fan organised a meet-up with the forward before the side’s 2-0 win over Lecce.
The pair, from Lechlade, Gloucestershire, travelled to Cremona, the home city of the Italian club, to watch their Serie A match on 7 December.
Mr Joy said the pair were constantly stopped for photos by Italian fans because of their Leicester City clothing.
“We had put a post on the Cremonese website and some of their ultras offered us some of their season tickets so we could go in their end with them,” he said.
“When people saw us in Cremona with our Leicester gear on – they didn’t speak very good English, and my Italian is rubbish – but people were stopping us for photos and it all went a little bit mad from there.”
SuppliedJamie Vardy signed the back of a pair of shirts for the men
One of the Cremonese fans who asked for a picture told Mr Joy he could find a way for the tourist to meet Vardy before the game.
“We didn’t believe them when they said they could get us to Vardy,” he said.
“But, they got us to him.
“We talked to him for about 20 minutes about everything – football, family, travel, where we were staying.
“We were having a good laugh. It was so surreal.”
Mr Joy said it was clear the Italian fans were buying into the “Vardy effect”.
The former England centre-forward has scored four goals from 11 appearances for the Lombardy side and became the first English Serie A player of the month, winning the award for November.
“They love him,” Mr Joy said.
“You can’t buy a Vardy top in their shop at the moment because he’s so popular.”