Jamie Vardy reveals real reason he blew injured referee’s whistle

Jamie Vardy came to the aid of an injured Premier League referee by blowing his whistle to stop the match between Leicester City and Southampton.

However, the former England striker later revealed the actual reason why he performed the unusual and hilarious act.

The Foxes welcomed the Saints to the King Power on Saturday – a dead rubber game with both sides already relegated to the Championship.

Vardy, who recently announced he would be leaving Leicester after 13 incredible years, opened the scoring in the 17th minute, but just four minutes later referee David Webb fell to the ground after colliding with Jordan Ayew.

Holding his face, Webb was clearly in pain as several nearby players came over to check on the official.

Unaware Southampton players carried on for a few moments before Vardy ran over to Webb, grabbed his hand that was holding the whistle and blew it to get the game halted.

Play was suspended for 12 minutes as the referee received treatment but he was unable to continue and replaced by fourth official Sam Barrott.

It was an unusual and somewhat humorous moment, befitting of one of the Premier League’s legendary characters, but Vardy says Webb’s injury wasn’t actually on his mind when it happened.

In an interview with Gary Lineker on Match of the Day, the 38-year-old revealed: ‘To be honest with you, I saw Southampton breaking down the left and with the ref down I thought I’ll blow his whistle to stop the game!’

It was later confirmed that Webb, who was making his Premier League debut, was okay.

Ayew would go onto score to seal a 2-0 win for the Foxes, but all eyes are on Vardy who has just three games left to reach two incredible club milestones, having scored 199 goals in 498 appearances.

‘There’s still a few more games where hopefully there can be a few more numbers added,’ the veteran striker added.

‘It’s been everything. It’s been mine and my family’s life for 13 years.

‘We’ve been taken in by the fans and the whole city, and it has meant every single thing to me personally. When it’s been your life for that long and you see the camaraderie with the fans and my team-mates for the last 13 years, it’s been unbelievable.

Vardy is largely considered to be Leicester’s greatest ever player and played a key role in the club’s miraculous Premier League title win in 2015/16 and FA Cup triumph in 2021.

He has been linked with a number of clubs ahead of the summer transfer window including Wrexham, Burnley, Sheffield Wednesday and an MLS side.

‘I couldn’t tell you at this moment in time,’ Vardy replied when asked about his future.

‘I am enjoying my football and I need a nice break to mentally, especially, and physically fully refresh and then we’ll see where that goes.’

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