The Jamie Vardy-backed V9 academy has been forced to call off a planned camp this year after failing to attract sponsors to fund it alongside the Leicester striker.

Former England striker Vardy, 33, has called for sponsors to come forward and support his vision of helping players follow his pathway from non-league football to Premier League stardom.

Vardy co-founded the academy in 2016 alongside wife Rebekah and agent John Morris. The hope is that Vardy's unconventional journey into professional football, in which he started out playing non-league football while working in a factory before winning the Premier League title, can be replicated by academy graduates.

Jamie Vardy's V9 academy won't run this year after the project received no financial backing

The Leicester City star launched the academy in 2016 to help promote non-league talent

V9 has run two camps since its launch, which has yielded a total of 20 players earning contracts with professional football clubs. The latest such player is Sam McCallum, who joined Norwich on transfer deadline day just 18 months after playing in the academy.

However, due to a lack of financial support, the academy will not be setting up a five-day camp this year. Vardy has fronted the costs of the first two camps, but wants additional investment in the long run.

Vardy has called for support of the academy so that talented non-league players are no longer overlooked.

Vardy has solely backed the first two camps but is seeking further sponsorship going forward

The V9 academy has discovered talent like Sam McCallum, who joined Norwich

V9 GRADUATES Sam McCallum (Norwich City) Danny Newton (Stevenage) Alex Penny (Peterborough) Lamar Reynolds (Newport County) Blair Turgott (Stevenage) Josh Heaton (St Mirren) Cody Cooke (St Mirren) Ben Stephens (Macclesfield Town) Andy Dales (Scunthorpe United) Advertisement

'What V9 has proved is that there are a lot of lads in non-league who are good enough to step up if given the opportunity,' the Premier League winner told Sportsmail.

'Me and Sam (McCallum) as well as the other success stories from V9 have proven that. We would like to keep providing this platform for non-league players and hopefully somebody out there will show some interest in supporting V9 going forward.'

Meanwhile Lee Tucker, the academy’s Project Leader and Head of Recruitment, told Sportsmail of his disappointment that V9 won't run this year.

'The academy has proven to be a great success but it is disappointing as it's a fabulous opportunity for non-league players,' Tucker said.

V9 has seen 20 non-league players earn professional contracts, such as Danny Newton (above)

'The idea was that Jamie would get it up and running and then people would come and support it. Jamie is happy and proud to support it but wants it to be self-sufficient. No one has come forward to do that just yet and that's a real shame.'

The academy involves a number of selected non-league players taking part in a five-day training camp at Manchester City's Etihad campus before scouts are invited to cast their eye over the players in a showcase game.

In its first two camps, the number of scouts attending the showcase game has increased from around 70 to over 100, indicating the interest in recruiting players from the lower leagues.

The academy is based at Manchester City's Etihad academy over the course of five days

Tucker said that V9 would consider a venue change, but insisted their loyalties remained with City's 'world class' facilities.

'Manchester City have been incredible for the support they've given but it's still a huge cost because it's a world class facility,' he said. 'The V9 players get to live the life of a world class footballer in using everything the Man City players are getting.'

There is hope that stories like McCallum's, who took part in the academy 18 months ago and has now signed for Norwich, will help entice supporters to back the project.

'We are hoping that with Sam's story supporters will come forward and help it. With that support, there is the hope that we will get going again in 2021.'