Vardy’s Record-Breaking England Strike

It was Jamie’s fifth goal for England – all of them scored while a Leicester City player – that broke the record set by Ernie Hine in 1931 when he scored his fourth and final goal for England. 

Like Vardy’s goals, they had all been scored while he was a Leicester City player. The only other Leicester City players to score for England were Hughie Adcock, Sid Bishop and Keith Weller who each scored once, Frank Worthington who scored twice and Gary Lineker who scored three times. 

Ernie won six England caps between 1928 and 1931, scoring his four goals in matches against Wales and Northern Ireland. He is one of the great names in Leicester City’s history. 

During his seven seasons at Filbert Street, between 1926 and 1932, he scored 156 goals. This made him the third highest scorer in the Club’s history, behind Arthur Chandler and Arthur Rowley. 

Yorkshire-born Ernie’s father was a lamp man. His job was to tend to the gas lamps in the street and knock on windows to wake people up at the same time. Before he became a professional footballer for Barnsley, Ernie was a ‘trammer’ working down the coal mine moving the tubs of coal. 

Ernie started and ended his career at Barnsley and is their record goalscorer with 126 goals. He also played for Huddersfield Town and Manchester United, scoring over 300 goals in a 17 year career. 

He signed for Leicester City from Barnsley in January 1926 and played in their side which came to within a point of winning the League title in 1929, when he scored 32 goals in 35 matches. 

When he was at Leicester, he was very friendly with fellow England international and City right winger Hughie Adcock, who had also been a miner. Other England internationals in the Leicester City sides that Ernie played for were Reg Osborne, Sid Bishop and Len Barry. 

In several respects, Vardy’s career has echoes from that of Ernie Hine. Before they became footballers, they both had unglamorous jobs. One worked in a mine and the other in a factory. They both played for the two most successful sides in Leicester City’s history, one in 1929 and the other in 2016. 

They both had scoring sequences for Leicester City which were records at the time. Ernie scored in six successive games and Jamie’s 11 goals in successive League games is now a Premier League record. They both played in England sides with a Leicester City team-mate. 

If Vardy scores another three goals for England while playing for Leicester City, his goal tally for England as a Fox will equal the total scored by all of Leicester City’s other England internationals put together.