We travelled from Harborough to Cremona to find Jamie Vardy - and received an amazing Italian welcome instead
It is fair to say that Jamie Vardy has cemented his legacy as a Leicester hero. But a couple from Market Harborough went that extra mile - well, about 1,000 miles - to let him know.
Louise Dolby and Steve Bellamy were on holiday near Milan when Steve came up with the perfect surprise for his partner - a two-hour train journey to Cremona to watch the Foxes legend's new club, Cremonese.
After scoring 200 goals over 13 years for Leicester, Vardy joined the Serie A Italian club this year, leaving a legacy as arguably the club's greatest ever player. So Steve proudly wore his Premier League winning Leicester shirt with Vardy's name on the back when they arrived at the northern Italian city to watch them play Parma on September 21.
Unfortunately, Vardy did not play - and the couple did not get to meet the former Premier league star. But that did not matter, as what they did get was an amazing Italian welcome from the locals, with selfies and scarves being exchanged.
"We stopped at a cafe and saw a board with Jamie Vardy on it and thought 'here we go!" said Louise.
"When we walked down the street someone stopped us for a photo and we didn't realise it was a reporter from a news channel (CR1). So when we went to a nearby bar, people were pointing at us and showing an Instagram post from the news channel."
It was at that point when the couple became something on a par to minor celebrities for the day!
"People were coming up to us and asking for a photo, buying drinks and giving us scarves," said Louise.
The couple knew Vardy was injured but they did hope to meet him at some point.
"Unfortunately, we didn't see Vardy," said Louise, "but the best part of the day was meeting such wonderful people. They were so lovely to us, offering us tickets for the next game.”
So will they go back on the hunt for Jamie? "Definitely," added Louise, "we loved the place and people so we will have to go back again."
While the meeting didn't happen, but a virtual response did arrive: Jamie's wife, Rebecca Vardy, commented on CR1's post, saying, "Surprising," and ‘liked’ it. Vardy himself also ‘liked’ it.