You hear players in the past say that it's just a job for them, but for me, it is nothing like that. I literally wish I could play football every day.

Competition for places can only benefit you. If you know you've got that much competition, then you're just going to have to work that extra bit harder so you can catch the gaffer's eye.

No one can take their place or their England shirt for granted. If I want to be in that squad, I need to keep banging in the goals to make sure I stay in the manager's plans.

The word 'racist' is a permanent stain against my name. It's worse than a criminal record. Some people will never forgive me. Others will accept I made a terrible mistake and recognise I have learnt from it. It's on YouTube when my kids type in their dad's name, and it comes up 'Jamie Vardy racist'. On Google, too. It's horrible.

In the fields of southwest Iowa, my parents and grandparents worked and sacrificed. Like so many Iowans, the American Dream for them was never about wealth or fame. Their dream was to leave their children and grandchildren a better life, with greater opportunity, than their own.

Thank you to everyone that has made me the athlete I am! God, family and friends, my competitors and supporters! You have all had a hand!

I was born into wearing hats - it's a family thing - and I wear hats all the time.

Now my grandmother, who used to want sons, says that she does not really want boys anymore. She says I'm the lion of the family.