🎧 Reflecting on Vardy's early Foxes years
Thirteen years, 500 appearances and 200 goals ago, Jamie Vardy arrived at Leicester City as a record-breaking signing.He became the first £1m non-league footballer when he was brought to the King Power Stadium from Fleetwood in 2012.The second episode of BBC Radio Leicester's podcast series – Havin' a party: The Jamie Vardy story – focuses on how the striker came to grips with the huge step up with Leicester City.He leapt from the fifth tier of English football to the second when he joined the then Championship side.Vardy's former Foxes team-mates Neil Danns, Gary Taylor-Fletcher, Conrad Logan as well as ex-goalkeeping coach Mike Stowell and a number of supporters share their memories of what it was like to see the forward get used to life in the Championship before taking the step up to the Premier League in 2014.Marc Albrighton, who played alongside Vardy when Leicester won the Premier League title and FA Cup in later years, is co-host of the podcast and talks about the Foxes' narrow escape from relegation in 2015 and how it would set them up for future glories.
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The Guardian
33 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Frederick Forsyth obituary
Frederick Forsyth always claimed that when, in early 1970, as an unemployed foreign correspondent, he sat down at a portable typewriter and 'bashed out' The Day of the Jackal, he 'never had the slightest intention of becoming a novelist'. Forsyth, who has died aged 86, also became well known as a political and social commentator, often with acerbic views on the European Union, international terrorism, security matters and the status of Britain's armed forces, but it is for his thrillers that he will be best remembered. Forsyth's manuscript for The Day of the Jackal was rejected by three publishers and withdrawn from a fourth before being taken up by Hutchinson in a three-book deal in 1971. Even then there were doubts, as half the publisher's sales force were said to have expressed no confidence in a book that plotted the assassination of the French president General Charles de Gaulle – an event that everyone knew did not happen. The skill of the book was that its pace and seemingly forensic detail encouraged readers to suspend disbelief and accept that not only was the plot real, but that the Jackal – an anonymous English assassin – almost pulled it off. In fact, at certain points, the reader's sympathy lies with the Jackal rather than with his victim. It was a publishing tour de force, winning the Mystery Writers' of America Edgar award for best first novel, attracting a record paperback deal at the Frankfurt book fair and being quickly filmed by the US director Fred Zinnemann, with Edward Fox as the ruthless Jackal. Forsyth was offered a flat fee for the film rights (£20,000) or a fee plus a percentage of the profits – he took the flat fee, later admitting that he was 'pathetic at money'. The 1972 paperback edition of The Day of the Jackal was reprinted 33 times in 18 years and is still in print, but while readers were happy to be taken in by Forsyth's painstakingly researched details (about everything from faked passports to assembling a sniper's rifle), the critics and the crime-writing establishment were far from impressed. Whodunit? A Guide to Crime, Spy and Suspense Stories, published in 1982, by which time Forsyth's sales were well into the millions, declared rather loftily that 'authenticity is to Forsyth what imagination is to many other writers', and the critic Julian Symons dismissed Forsyth as having 'no pretension to anything more than journalistic expertise'. It was a formula that readers clearly approved of, with the subsequent novels in that original three-book deal, The Odessa File (1972) and The Dogs of War (1974), being both bestsellers and successful films. Novellas, collections of short stories and more novels were to follow. These included The Fourth Protocol (1984), which had a cameo role for the British spy-in-exile Kim Philby and was also successfully filmed, with a screenplay by Forsyth and starring Michael Caine and a pre-Bond Pierce Brosnan and, against type, The Phantom of Manhattan (1999), a sequel to Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera. Nothing, however, was to match the impact of The Day of the Jackal and when a Guardian journalist spotted a copy in a London flat used by the world's most wanted terrorist, Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, or 'Carlos', in 1975, the British press dubbed him Carlos the Jackal, with no need to explain the reference. Born in Ashford, Kent, Frederick was the son of Phyllis and Frederick Sr, shopkeepers at 4 North Street – his mother's dress business operated on the ground floor and his father sold furs on the first floor. He was educated at Tonbridge school, where supportive teachers and summer holidays abroad ensured that Frederick excelled at French, German and Russian. At the age of 16, he enrolled on an RAF flying scholarship course that brought him a pilot's licence by the age of 17 and eased his way into the RAF proper for his national service, where he obtained his pilot's 'wings' and flew Vampire jets as the youngest pilot in the service. However, when he failed in his ambition to be posted to a frontline squadron, he opted for a change of career and in 1958 entered journalism as a trainee with the Eastern Daily Press in their King's Lynn office. In the autumn of 1961 he set his sights on Fleet Street, and his fluency with languages (which now included Spanish) got him a job with Reuters press agency. In May 1962, he was posted to Reuters' office in Paris, where De Gaulle was the target of numerous assassination attempts by disaffected Algerians. The experience was not lost on Forsyth, but before he could put it to good use in The Day of the Jackal, there were other journalistic postings, a war to survive and a non-fiction book to write. The Reuters' office in East Berlin was a plum posting for any journalist in 1963 as the cold war turned distinctly chilly, despite the attentions of the East German security services. However, when he returned to Britain in 1965 for a job as a diplomatic correspondent with the BBC, it was Broadcasting House rather than East Berlin which he found to be 'a nest of vipers'. Forsyth's relationship with the BBC hierarchy was antagonistic from the start and deteriorated rapidly when he was sent to Nigeria in 1967 to cover the civil war then unravelling. Objecting to the unquestioning acceptance of Nigerian communiques that downplayed the situation, by both the Foreign Office and the BBC, Forsyth began to file stories putting the secessionist Biafran side of the story as well as the developing humanitarian crisis. He was recalled to London for an official BBC reprimand but returned to Nigeria as a freelance at his own expense to cover the increasingly bloody war and to write a Penguin special, The Biafra Story (1969). He returned to Britain for Christmas 1969, low on funds, his BBC career in tatters and with nowhere to live. On 2 January 1970, camped out in the flat of a friend, he began to write a novel on a battered portable typewriter. After 35 days The Day of the Jackal was finished, and fame and fortune followed. In 1973 he married Carrie (Carole) Cunningham, and they moved to Spain to avoid the rates of income tax likely to be introduced by an incoming Labour government. In 1974 they relocated to County Wicklow in Ireland, where writers and artists were treated gently when it came to tax, returning to Britain in 1980 once Margaret Thatcher was firmly established in Downing Street. By 1990, Forsyth had undergone an amicable divorce from Carrie, but a far less amicable separation from his investment broker and his life savings, and claimed to have lost more than £2m in a share fraud. To recoup his losses, Forsyth threw himself into writing fiction, producing another string of bestsellers, although none had the impact of his first three novels. He was appointed CBE in 1997 and received the Crime Writers' Association's Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement in 2012. In 2016 he announced that he would write no more thrillers and that his memoir The Outsider (2015), which revealed that he had worked as an unpaid courier for MI6, or 'The Firm' as he called it, would be his swansong. He acquired a reputation as a rather pungent pundit, both on Radio 4 and in a column in the Daily Express, when it came to such topics as the 'offensive' European Union, the leadership of the Conservative party, the state of Britain's prisons and jihadist volunteers returning from Middle Eastern conflicts. He was an active campaigner on behalf of Sgt Alexander Blackman, 'Marine A', who was jailed for the murder of an injured Taliban fighter in Afghanistan in 2011. Forsyth maintained that Blackman had been made a scapegoat by the army from the moment of his court martial. In 2017 the conviction was overturned. Often concerned with military charities, Forsyth wrote the lyrics to Fallen Soldier, a lament for military casualties in all wars recorded and released in 2016. Forsyth was not the first foreign correspondent to take up thriller-writing. Ian Fleming had led the way in the 1950s, with Alan Williams and Derek Lambert carrying the torch into the 1960s. The spectacular success of The Day of the Jackal did however encourage a new generation, among them the ITN reporter Gerald Seymour, whose debut novel, Harry's Game, was generously reviewed by Forsyth in the Sunday Express in 1975. Years later, Seymour remembered the impact of Forsyth's debut, The Day of the Jackal: 'That really hit the news rooms. There was a feeling that it should be part of a journalist's knapsack to have a thriller.' Despite having declared Forsyth's retirement from fiction, his publisher Bantam announced the appearance of an 18th novel, The Fox, in 2018. Based on real-life cases of young British hackers, The Fox centres on an 18-year-old schoolboy with Asperger syndrome and the ability to access the computers of government security and defence systems. For Christmas 1973 Disney based the short film The Shepherd, a ghostly evocation of second world war airfields, on a 1975 short story by Forsyth. The following year The Day of the Jackal was reimagined by Ronan Bennett for a TV series with Eddie Redmayne taking the place of Fox. Later this year a sequel to The Odessa File, Revenge of Odessa, written with Tony Kent, is due to appear. Forsyth will be a subject of the BBC TV documentary series In My Own Words. In 1994 he married Sandy Molloy. She died last year. He is survived by his two sons, Stuart and Shane, from his first marriage. Frederick Forsyth, journalist and thriller writer, born 25 August 1938; died 9 June 2025
The Sun
34 minutes ago
- The Sun
Love Island 2025 updates: Fans convinced they know who will be dumped TONIGHT as show starts with brutal twist
THE new series of Love Island is underway and all the ladies have arrived in the villa. Six new gorgeous girls who are looking for a summer of love have made their entrance and they are all very glamorous - and excited. In a shock move, one singleton has already been booted out of the villa - and viewers are convinced they know who it is due to a big clue. The girl was told to grab her case and go after the arrival of bombshell Antonia Laites - who will be known as Toni in the show. In scenes yet to be aired, Toni - who is American - will make her dramatic entrance after all the islanders are coupled up. She is told to get to know the boys before choosing one to couple up with - leaving his girl being handed a one-way ticket back to the UK. Excited viewers think whoever is coupled up with Ben Holborough will be the person to get the chop, as Toni has already admitted to fancying celebs and 'popular' lads. Sexy model Ben has already been tipped as a front-runner for this year's series due to his good looks and cheeky personality. Love Island is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year – and has hit 2 BILLION streams on ITVX. Host Maya Jama will kick off the brand new series tonight at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX. You can follow our live blog, below, for all the latest updates and best fan reaction ...
BBC News
34 minutes ago
- BBC News
Leverkusen hatch Grealish plan - Tuesday's gossip
Jack Grealish might replace Florian Wirtz at Bayer Leverkusen, Sporting U-turn angers Viktor Gyokeres, Manchester City agree Rayan Cherki City's England winger Jack Grealish, 29, is being lined up as a potential replacement for 22-year-old Germany midfielder Florian Wirtz at Bayer Leverkusen. (Sun), externalSweden striker Viktor Gyokeres is furious that his club Sporting have gone back on a gentleman's agreement that the 27-year-old could leave this summer for £67m. (Record - in Portuguese), externalManchester City have agreed a £34m deal with Lyon for 21-year-old France midfielder Rayan Cherki. (Times - subscription required), externalArsenal are keen to sign Chelsea's Spain goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, 30, for just £5m. (Sky Sports), externalBurnley have valued their French centre-back Maxime Esteve, 23, at £50m amid interest from Bayern Munich, who are managed by the ex-Clarets boss Vincent Kompany. (Football Insider), externalParis St-Germain's 22-year-old France winger Bradley Barcola is Bayern's top target for a new singing on the wing this summer, with Atletico Madrid's Spain winger Nico Williams, also 22, their top alternative. (Sky Sport Germany - in German), externalPSG want Bournemouth's Ilya Zabarni but the Cherries are demanding £59m for the 22-year-old Ukraine centre-back. (L'Equipe - in French), externalTottenham have stepped up their interest in Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo, while Manchester United also remain admirers of the Ghana forward, 25. (Sky Sports), externalNewcastle United are keen on signing Ghana winger Mohammed Kudus, 24, from West Ham after missing out on Brentford's Bryan Mbeumo. (Football Insider), externalWest Ham are considering a swap deal with Chelsea involving Kudu, while the Hammers are prepared to let Morocco centre-back Nayef Aguerd leave this summer for £25m. (Teamtalk), externalManchester City are ready to make a move for Chelsea's English goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli, 33, following the departure of Scott Carson. (Telegraph - subscription required), externalTottenham are one of the latest clubs to show an interest in Red Bull Salzburg's Mali winger Dorgeles Nene, 22. (Teamtalk), external
