‘Poster boy’ Vardy to star in new Sky Sports series

Joe Williams

Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy’s V9 academy will feature in a six-part series ordered by Sky Sports.

Zig Zag productions will now produce a 6 x 60-minute series with Sky Sports after they were granted access to the Premier League winner earlier in the year.

The Foxes won the Premier League title at a canter last campaign to produce one of, if not the biggest, sporting shocks of all-time.

Vardy’s V9 academy was set up to find the next generation of footballing talent playing their trade in non-league football and the documentary series will follow its progress.

In May 2017, the academy will have its first intake of 42 players based at Manchester City’s training complex before being split up into three teams of 14, who will take on a week-long residential programme.

Professional scouts and agents will also be there to run their rule over the prospects.

The show was commissioned by Sky Sports’ Andy Feeney and is a co-production with Krempelwood Entertainment, while the original working title was Jamie Vardy’s Having An Academy.

One of Zig Zag’s executive producers on the project, Danny Fenton, who calls Vardy the “poster boy” for Leicester’s success, said: “Now he wants to offer that fairy tale opportunity to others like him who are playing in the non-league and want to be professionals.

“Zig Zag has secured exclusive access to Jamie and his V9 Academy and with the support of Sky we look forward to bringing this six-part series to the world.”