00:03At 16, Jamie Vardy was released by Sheffield Wednesday.
00:07The club believed he was too small to make it as a professional footballer.
00:13For many teenagers, that decision might have ended the dream.
00:17Vardy refused to let it define him.
00:20He joined Stocksbridge Park Stills, a small non-league side,
00:25far from the bright lights of the Premier League.
00:29There were no huge crowds, television cameras or wealthy contracts.
00:34There was only the game he loved and a chance to keep playing.
00:39While others were progressing through famous academies,
00:43Vardy was trying to make a name for himself on modest pitches.
00:47Nobody knew how far he could go.
00:51Hope was still alive. Nothing could stop him.
00:54The dream remained alive.
00:56Football did not pay Vardy enough to live on.
01:00While playing for Stocksbridge, he worked in a factory making medical splints.
01:07His days were split between shifts and training, with little glamour and no promise of a professional future.
01:15Yet, his performances began attracting attention.
01:20Halifax Town signed him and he helped them win promotion.
01:25Then, Fleetwood Town offered another step forward.
01:29Vardy kept scoring, kept improving and climbed through the lower divisions of English football.
01:35His progress was remarkable.
01:38But the gap between non-league grounds and the top professional level was still enormous.
01:45Hope was still alive.
01:46Tomorrow could still be different.
01:48In 2012, Leicester City took a chance on Vardy.
01:52Signing him from Fleetwood Town for a reported £1 million.
01:57It was an extraordinary fee for a player who had recently been outside the Football League.
02:03But the championship was a different world from non-league football.
02:08Vardy struggled to settle.
02:10The pace was quicker, defenders were tougher and questions began to follow him.
02:17Had Leicester taken a gamble that was too big?
02:21The player once rejected for being too small was now being judged all over again.
02:28He could have let the criticism break.
02:31His confidence, hope was still alive.
02:35One chance changed everything.
02:37Then came the 2015-16 season.
02:41Leicester City began as outsiders.
02:44But week after week, they kept winning.
02:47Again, odd famously listed at 5,000 to 1, they went on to win the Premier League title.
02:54At the centre of their incredible campaign was Jamie Vardy.
02:59He scored in 11 consecutive league matches, setting a Premier League record at the time.
03:05The teenager, once told he was too small, had become a champion and an England international.
03:13His journey had taken him from factory shifts and non-league football to the summit of the English game.
03:21It was not a sudden miracle.
03:23It was years of work, setbacks and resistance.
03:28Hope was still alive.
03:30If the journey continued, tomorrow could be different.
03:34If the journey continued, tomorrow could be different.
