Twelve years earlier, English footballer Jamie Vardy worked in a factory in Stocksbridge in Yorkshire, earning only £30 a week. On Saturday, Vardy, playing for Leicester City, scored his 11th consecutive goal at the King Power Stadium against Manchester United, setting a Premier League record, and powering his club's dreams of winning the EPL.

In a world where football players are treated like royalty, earning massive sums of money, Vardy is a notable exception. At the age of sixteen, it seemed like his dreams of playing football in the big league were forever shattered when Sheffield Wednesday decided to drop him. Undeterred, Vardy moved to Stocksbridge Park Steels, a club in the eighth tier of the English league.. As the years passed, he slowly moved up the tier, shifting to Halifax Town and Fleetwood Town.

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Vardy finally found his stripes when he joined Leicester City in 2012 who were then in the Championship. He had a lean first season for the Foxes and even considered quitting football. In his next season though, he was in imperious form, scoring 16 League goals to help Leicester’s promotion to the Premier League. He had another impressive first season in the top flight in the 2014-15 season, scoring and creating goals to ensure Leicester remained in the Premier League.

But it has been this year that Vardy has been the talk of the Premier League. With 14 goals in the league so far and 11 in consecutive matches, Vardy has been hailed as a champion, a unique example of a footballer who never gave up despite the challenges in his life. He has now been called up to the English national football team.

Riding on Vardy’s record-breaking streak, his club Leicester City have also flourished, mounting a serious bid for EPL leadership.

With a substantial portion of the season still left, Vardy has a lot of work to do. But if his life story who has demonstrated anything, it is this: he is not a man who will back down.