On the 28th of April 2012, Fleetwood Town striker Jamie Vardy was enduring a 2-0 defeat at home to Luton on the final day of the Vanarama National League season.

At the same time, Wayne Rooney was preparing for a Manchester derby match between two teams costing hundreds of millions of pounds which would go a long way to deciding the Premier League title race.

A little over three years on they are England teammates looking forward to this summer’s European Championships, and this weekend they were on opposite sides of a First vs Second clash at the pinnacle of English football, one in which Vardy sought to set a new Premier League goalscoring record.

It’s hard to disagree that it has been quite a rise in such a short space of time. Vardy’s incredible turnaround has also been Leicester City’s gain, of course, his goals taking a club widely tipped for a relegation battle to the summit of the league as the Christmas lights go up and the winter chill sets in.

When Vardy scored against Newcastle last weekend he equalled Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Premier League record of scoring in 10 consecutive games, leaving him looking towards the 12 consecutive games in which Jimmy Dunne scored for Sheffield United to set an all-time top flight record in the 1931-32 season.

But, in a world where teenagers can mostly wave goodbye to hopes of a career at the very peak if they aren’t playing first team football regularly by the age of 18, how did a man who was making medical splints to top up his non-league wages at 25 suddenly hit the top?

The potential was clear for a while. In his one season in Halifax Town he scored 29 league goals, following that up with 31 in 36 games for Fleetwood. This inspired Leicester to pay £1 million for him, a record fee for a non-league player.

He had previously been released by Sheffield Wednesday for being too small aged 16 then picked up by Stocksbridge Park Steels reserves, but at 25 he had earned his move to a Championship club. At first it appeared that might have been a step too far for him and a loss of form was met with harsh criticism from fans on social media. He reached such a low point that he considered quitting the game, only being talked around by then-manager Nigel Pearson and his assistant Craig Shakespeare.

The following season he was named Leicester’s Player’s Player of the Season after scoring 16 goals which won them promotion to the top flight for the first time in a decade. Suddenly a Premier League player, Vardy started reasonably brightly before fading again as the season went on.

There is something fittingly cyclical, though, that the game which presented his chance to make history came against United, the team who he tore apart during Leicester’s remarkable 5-3 win which formed the undoubted highlight of both his and his team’s first season back at the top. Happy memories of playing Louis van Gaal’s side would no doubt have been permeating Leicester’s team talks all week ahead of the game.

But this season Vardy has found another level. Clearly Claudio Ranieri has brought a spark to the dressing room and his side has played with pace and fluency since the season kicked off. The speed with which they come forward has been a powerful weapon, stretching opposition defences and creating space which Vardy has made full use of.

It is his own speed which is his greatest weapon. He is the quickest player in the league this season and, combined with his relentless running and sharpened finishing, defenders have yet to find a way to contain him. Those who know him also credit him with a tremendous work ethic which has resulted in his vastly improved technical skills.

It shouldn’t go unmentioned that the fixture list has been very kind to Leicester so far. They have largely avoided the bigger teams and a look at the next month makes uncomfortable viewing, with their next five games being Swansea away, Chelsea at home, Everton and Liverpool away then Manchester City at home. It is a month that will tell us about Vardy’s true level, but if he can still be the league’s leading scorer in the new year then he will be looking very good for a spot in the England squad next summer.

But either way, his achievement remains an incredible one. To go from non-league to the England team and the most effective goalscorer in the Premier League in just three years is almost unheard of, especially for a player in his late 20s. Whatever else happens for him this season, Vardy’s is a story to celebrate.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Hugo Saye is an English journalist who spent nine months in Jamaica shadowing 2012-2013 National Premier League champions Harbour View FC, where he spoke openly with stars of both sport and politics and discovered the importance of football in the Caribbean island, which formed the background of his book, Of Garrisons and Goalscorers.