Jamie Vardy's pre-match diet and routine never gets old, featuring lots of Red Bull

Jamie Vardy's route into professional football is anything but normal and so too is the Leicester City striker's matchday diet.

In an in-depth interview with Sky Sports as part of their 'Making it Pro' feature, the former England man revealed he still opts for a crazy caffeine fix prior to games.

He said: "I wake up in the morning and then [have a] Red Bull. Literally I get out of bed, get the kids up and downstairs, get their breakfast sorted and then I'm straight into the Red Bull.

"After that we meet at the stadium for pre-match and while I'm getting changed I'll have a coffee - it's better than taking ProPlus. Red Bull, coffee and then when we get over to the pre-match lounge, I'll have my cheese and ham omelette with another can of Red Bull."

Image credit: Alamy

Asked how his stomach is able to process and deal with the caffeine coming his way, Vardy replied: "I think when you've done it for so many years I think it just gets used to it, it's not an issue whatsoever. It's one of them things, it's not going to work for everyone.

"To be fair, I've probably cut back because I'm only on a little can of Red Bull now whereas before when I was at Fleetwood I used to have the big cans of Monster - I used to have two of them as well."

In the past, Vardy's habits included mixing Skittles and vodka, while he also had a thing for drinking port out of a Lucozade bottle.

Writing in his autobiography, Vardy said: "I can't say why it started, because I genuinely don't know, but I decided to drink a glass of port on the eve of every game in the 2015-16 season.

"I'm not normally superstitious but from the moment I scored against Sunderland on the opening day, I didn't want to change anything."

"I fill a small plastic water or Lucozade bottle to halfway and just sip the port while watching television. It tastes like Ribena to me, and it helps me switch off and get to sleep a bit easier the night before a game."

Last year, Vardy's former Leicester teammate, Ritchie De Laet, opened up about the time Vardy finished off a bottle of port before breaking a Premier League record.

“The night before a game, Jamie drinks pints and only eats pizza," he told Belgian outlet Het Nieuwsblad.

“For example, when he beat Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s record by scoring in 11 consecutive games; the night before, the bus driver bought us a bottle of port. We hid it in our hotel room.

“I had a glass, and Jamie made sure to finish the rest of the bottle”.

Topics: Jamie Vardy, Leicester City, England, Premier League

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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