Vardy Signs, Play-Off Success & FA Cup Glory

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Vardy Signs, Play-Off Success & FA Cup Glory

We marked several key landmarks, including FA Cup glory, final game of our 2015/16 Premier League-winning season and signing Jamie Vardy, over 12-18 May in our history.

2025-05-13T11:10+00:00

Jamie Vardy signs for Leicester City May 2012

by Sam Stevens

Published

13 May, 2025

Vardy Signs, Play-Off Success & FA Cup Glory

We marked several key landmarks, including FA Cup glory, final game of our 2015/16 Premier League-winning season and signing Jamie Vardy, over 12-18 May in our history.

Sam Stevens

2025-05-13T11:10+00:00

Vardy Signs, Play-Off Success & FA Cup Glory

We marked several key landmarks, including FA Cup glory, final game of our 2015/16 Premier League-winning season and signing Jamie Vardy, over 12-18 May in our history.

Sam Stevens

2025-05-13T11:10+00:00

Vardy Signs, Play-Off Success & FA Cup Glory

We marked several key landmarks, including FA Cup glory, final game of our 2015/16 Premier League-winning season and signing Jamie Vardy, over 12-18 May in our history.

Sam Stevens

2025-05-13T11:10+00:00

Vardy Signs, Play-Off Success & FA Cup Glory

We marked several key landmarks, including FA Cup glory, final game of our 2015/16 Premier League-winning season and signing Jamie Vardy, over 12-18 May in our history.

Sam Stevens

2025-05-13T11:10+00:00

On 13 May, 1992, Brian Little's Foxes secured their place in the first of three successive second tier play-off finals with a stunning victory over Cambridge United.

Following a 1-1 draw in the first leg, we entertained the U's at Filbert Street for what most expected would be a tense and fraught 90 minutes of dramatic play-off action.

However, a brace from Tommy Wright (above), plus solitary goals from Steve Thompson, Kevin 'Rooster' Russell and Ian Ormondroyd saw City run riot, winning 5-0, and 6-1 on aggregate.

The final, though, was a different affair as Little's men suffered a 1-0 defeat by Blackburn Rovers, made worse by the fact that former Fox Mike Newell scored the winner from the penalty spot.

On Friday, 18 May 2012, a relatively unknown 25-year-old named Jamie Vardy put pen to paper on a three-year deal with Leicester City. Now, this month, that remarkable 13-year chapter comes to a close.

The move followed a blistering season with Fleetwood Town, where Vardy fired in 31 goals across 36 Conference Premier matches, helping the club secure promotion to the Football League. Leicester paid £1M for his services – a record sum for a non-league player at the time. That moment marked a turning point not just for Vardy, but for Leicester City as well.

Jamie Vardy signs for Leicester City 2012

Looking back, it’s fair to say the impact went well beyond expectations. A Premier League title, FA Cup and Community Shield triumphs, and two Championship winners’ medals – Vardy went on to scale the heights of English football. With everything considered, that £1M might just go down as one of the greatest value-for-money transfers the game has ever seen.

Fourteen years after leaving Filbert Street, King Power Stadium was the venue as City lifted the Premier League trophy for the first time - and their final game of the season came on 15 May, 2016.

After receiving the trophy a week earlier on Filbert Way, Claudio Ranieri returned to Stamford Bridge as his Foxes fought out a 1-1 draw with Guus Hiddink's Chelsea to wrap up Leicester's best-ever season.

Chelsea vs. Leicester City Guard of Honour May 2016

Danny Drinkwater's stunning effort from distance, following Cesc Fàbregas' spot-kick, sealed a point for the visitors, meaning they had lost just three games all season, winning the title by a margin of 10 points.

The day will perhaps be best remembered, however, for the gracious congratulations afforded by City's hosts, with both the squad and Ranieri being the recipients of a Guard of Honour at Stamford Bridge.

On 15 May, 2021, we etched our name into history once more – this time, by lifting the FA Cup for the very first time.

A stunning long-range strike from Youri Tielemans proved the difference against Chelsea, as we sealed a 1-0 victory in front of a returning crowd. It wasn’t just the goal that defined the day, but also the return of fans as a reduced capacity were allowed into Wembley amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

From Kasper Schmeichel’s heroic saves to a late VAR intervention that ruled out a Chelsea equaliser, it was a final brimming with drama and emotion. For a club who always found the FA Cup beyond us, it was another moment to savour.

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