Preston North End: 2011 Jamie Vardy transfer snub will always haunt Lilywhites - View | OneFootball

Preston were one of many EFL clubs interested in Jamie Vardy during his non-league days, and North End will always regret not concluding the deal.

Leicester City veteran Jamie Vardy is still scoring goals in the Premier League at the age of 37, and having burst on to the professional scene later than many and working his way up from non-league, he's interested many clubs previously; Preston North End being one of them.

Former England international Vardy, who earned 26 caps for his country between 2015 and 2018, began his career with home city club Sheffield Wednesday as a youngster, before being released by the Owls, ultimately signing for local semi-professional side Stocksbridge Park Steels, making his bow at Bracken Moor in 2006.

The pacy, tenacious forward soon started finding the net at a prolific rate for the Steels, drawing the attention of clubs higher up the footballing pyramid. After four goal-laden years with the club, Vardy joined Northern Premier League outfit Halifax in 2010.

The Yorkshireman instantly excelled at the higher level, scoring the goals that fired the Shaymen to promotion to the fifth-tier in his one and only full season with the club.

Now moving up the divisions at a rapid pace, National League club Fleetwood Town paid an undisclosed fee to take the striker to Highbury Stadium in late August 2011, but there was interest from much bigger clubs within the EFL that didn't quite come to fruition at that time.

League One Preston registered their interest in Vardy in 2011

Preston suffered relegation from the Championship at the end of the 2010/11 campaign, and boss Phil Brown was seeking to put together a strong squad capable of bouncing back at the first attempt.

As revealed by Sky Sports at the time, North End were closely following his exploits with Halifax, with then manager Phil Brown watching the player on numerous occasions.

Ultimately, Brown and Preston never followed through with their interest in the youngster, deciding to go with the likes of Neil Mellor, Iain Hume, and Jamie Proctor in spearheading their attack, with Vardy subsequently joining the Cod Army.

It turned out to be a poor decision and a hugely disappointing third-tier season for Preston, who, despite having a strong squad and genuine aspirations of promotion, finished in the bottom half of the table, with Brown sacked before Christmas and replaced by the equally eccentric Graham Westley in the North End dugout.

Preston would have to wait a further three years for that promotion, going back to the Championship after a play-off victory in 2015 under the stewardship of Simon Grayson.

Whether they would have been successful earlier had they opted to pay the fee necessary to acquire Vardy will remain unknown, but given the striker's quality, form and trajectory at that time, it may well have shortened the odds, somewhat.

As Preston and others turned their attentions elsewhere, National League side Fleetwood secured Vardy's services ahead of the 2011/12 season.

Again, the striker's stay with his new club would be short, but sweet, as the Sheffield-born man, now in his mid-twenties, was in blistering form, scoring 31 goals as Fleetwood romped to the title and a place in the Football League for the first time in their history.

With Vardy's stock growing all the time, Championship club Leicester City won the race for the frontman, with the Foxes paying £1m to add him to boss Nigel Pearson's attacking ranks. The rest is history.

The attacker has gone on to win numerous titles and trophies with the Midlands club, including the incredible Premier League success of 2015/16, where Claudio Ranieri's men defied the odds to become champions.

The striker was in imperious form throughout, key to Leicester's efficient counter-attacking style and scoring goals aplenty that were crucial to all of City's achievements in his time at the club.

Now in his 13th season at the King Power Stadium, the clinical finisher also has a 2020/21 FA Cup winners medal to his name, while being part of two EFL Championship winning squads in 2013/14 and 2023/24 respectively.

Vardy has picked multiple individual awards, too, over the last decade, with being voted the FWA Footballer of the Year in 2015/16, perhaps, the most notable.

Many clubs will rue not signing Vardy when they had the chance in time gone by, with the striker going on to score 192 goals in 469 appearances for a Leicester side he's helped to incredible, unthinkable heights. Not least Preston in 2011, who, had they followed up their interest in the Halifax man, could have had success much sooner, and much greater; and possibly made a welcome profit along the way.