Former England striker Jamie Vardy was left surprised by a Three Lions player after he met him on international duty.
Vardy, 38, made 26 appearances for England between 2015 and 2018, the first of which came the Republic of Ireland.
On June 7, 2015, Vardy replaced Wayne Rooney with around 15 minutes left to play during England’s 0-0 draw in Dublin and in doing so picked up an astronomical bonus.
In his 2016 book 'Jamie Vardy: From Nowhere, My Story', Vardy admitted, “I couldn’t see there being much chance of me turning professional at the age of 24”.
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But just over four years on, he was rubbing shoulders with Rooney, Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling.
However, it was another England international who left him surprised after they first met.
“I remember filling my plate with food, going to the dinner table and as the new lad [with England] not being quite sure where to sit,” Vardy said in his book.
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“In the end I just thought, ‘sod it’, and parked my ass on a table with James Milner, Phil Jagielka, Joe Hart, Wayne Rooney, Gary Cahill and Tom Heaton.
“Obviously, you’ve got no idea what to expect in that type of situation. At club level, you hear that certain teams have someone with a bit of an ego, but there was none of that in the England squad.
“The banter on the table while we were eating was unbelievable, everyone having a laugh and a joke, and that was something that took me by surprise. I thought it would be really formal."
He then explained how Milner was so “different to the public perception”.
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Vardy added: “Without a doubt, Milly is one of the funniest guys I’ve ever met. This is the same person who has a fake Twitter account called ‘Boring James Milner’.
“Let me set the record straight, he’s nothing like the way he’s portrayed, and Danny Drinkwater would back me up on this… he sat at the same table as Milly and was in stitches.”
Milner, 39, made 61 appearances for the Three Lions between 2009 and 2016 and played at four major tournaments - the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups, and the 2012 and 2016 UEFA European Championships.
Topics: Jamie Vardy, James Milner, England, Football, Premier League
Luke Davies