Ebury scores Jamie Vardy's autobiography

Ebury is publishing Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy's autobiography, My Story, on 20th October. 

The deal for world rights was made between John Morris of Key Sports Management and Ebury deputy publisher Andrew Goodfellow and editor Laura Horsley. 

Leicester City's top scorer, whose team defeated odds of 5,000-1 to win the Premier League on Monday, was reported in the Sunday Times as negotiating a £250,000 advance for his memoir, though the newspaper could not confirm the identity of the publisher involved. Ebury has made no comment on the finances of the deal.

Publishers have been scrambling to publish on Leicester City's "football fairytale" with a number of acquisitions in the space, including a biography of manager Claudio Ranieri, reported yesterday. 

The book will tell the story of Vardy's "incredible rise" from non-league football to the pinnacle of the game. Vardy was first rejected in his teens by his "boyhood club" Sheffield Wednesday, and earned just £30 a week while playing for Stocksbridge Park Steels and working in a factory.

A major Hollywood film is also in the pipeline to tell Vardy's story with screenwriter Adrian Butchart on board and a number of A-list names touted to play the lead role. 

Goodfellow said: “The story of Jamie's against-the-odds rise to the top goes beyond football, and is an inspiration no matter who you support. His is the biggest sporting story of the year without question.” 

Horsley said: “Having been brought up in a family of devoted Leicester supporters, I’m ecstatic to be working with Jamie to help him make this the most exciting and widely read sports book of the year.” 

Vardy said: “While my rise from non-league football has attracted plenty of attention, there is so much that people don't know, so I'm really excited that I've now been given the opportunity to tell the whole story, both on and off the pitch.

“Even now there are moments when I shake my head at the madness of it all – going from the factory floor and playing Sunday morning pub football with my mates, to scoring for my country against the World Cup winners in Berlin. It's the stuff of dreams. It hasn't always been an easy journey, some doubted that I was capable, and at times I was probably guilty of not helping myself, but nobody can question my passion for football or my commitment once I set foot on the pitch. I look forward to sharing all of that and more in what I hope will be an entertaining and inspiring story.”