Vardy signs for Burnley six years after silencing their fans with a goal against them

Jamie Vardy has signed for Burnley on a one-year deal, setting up a charged reunion with the fanbase who mocked his wife Rebekah Vardy during a Premier League fixture at the King Power Stadium in October 2019.

The 39-year-old arrives at Turf Moor as a free agent after a single season with Italian side Cremonese, where he scored seven Serie A goals before the club were relegated. His move to the EFL Championship comes after he left Leicester City in 2025 following their own drop from the top flight, ending a 13-year association with the club he helped to a remarkable Premier League title in 2016, finishing that season as the division’s joint-top scorer with 24 goals.

The history between Vardy and Burnley’s supporters dates to October 2019, just days after Coleen Rooney publicly alleged that Rebekah Vardy had leaked posts from her private Instagram account to a British tabloid. Burnley were the visiting side at the King Power that afternoon, and their fans directed a chant at Vardy referencing the allegations.

Vardy’s response was immediate and pointed. Despite Burnley leading 1-0 through a Chris Wood goal, he equalised on the stroke of half-time and turned to cup his ears toward the away section. Youri Tielemans ultimately won the match for Leicester with a 74th-minute strike, but Vardy had made his feelings plain.

The underlying legal dispute ran for years after that afternoon. Rebekah Vardy denied the allegations and sued Coleen Rooney for libel in June 2020. In July 2022, a judge ruled in Rooney’s favour, finding it “substantially true” that Rebekah and her agent had routinely passed private information to the media. Rebekah was subsequently ordered to pay the majority of Rooney’s legal costs.

With that chapter long closed, Vardy now begins a new one at the club whose supporters once serenaded him with it. Whether Burnley’s fans greet his arrival with the same energy they showed in 2019 remains to be seen, but the striker has already demonstrated he knows how to answer back.