Crossing paths with Vinnie Jones on the
football pitch was like walking on thin ice. He was hard as nails and intimidated
everyone. But, a few players like John Hartson dared to stand up to the Hard Man. What
happened afterward? Only one way to find out.
Vinnie Jones forged a reputation as one of the
sport's fiercest players during his career. Known for his barbaric tackles and psychopathic behavior
on the field, he amassed 104 yellow cards and 12 red cards. He even holds the record for the
quickest ever yellow card which he received 3 seconds after kickoff. Often likened to Roy
Keane for his bull-like aggression on the pitch, Jones was a pivotal member of Wimbledon's 1988
FA Cup-winning team, the 'Crazy Gang.' They had a historic victory over Liverpool, rewriting
the record books. After he left football, Vinnie delved into the movie industry and
has become a world famous Hollywood actor starring in widely acclaimed movies like
the X-Men. But before leaving the sport, these players gave Vinnie a piece of their mind.
At the very top of our list is Eric Cantona. He crossed paths with Jones during a match
between Wimbledon and Manchester United in 1994 at Selhurst Park. Jones
gave Cantona quite the welcome.
Charging towards Cantona, Jones tackled the
Frenchman, and for a moment, it almost looked like Jones was trying to incapacitate him. It wasn’t
too surprising though. In the first few moments of the match, the Englishman made his intentions
known. Vinnie eventually got Cantona, kicking him and trying to throw him off his game. Vinnie once
admitted that part of the damage he caused to his opponents was psychological. Like a predator
stalking his prey, he would say nasty things to them before a physical encounter. It was almost
impossible not to picture him breathing down your neck. Fortunately, Cantona wasn't moved cos he
ended up scoring a beautiful volley; one Vinny could only dream of. After all of his mischief,
Manchester United still gave his team a sound beating; the scoreline was 3-0. But Cantona wasn't
the only one who had a rough time with Vinnie.
In the same match, Vinnie came across a
young Roy Keane who also found himself on the opposite side of Vinnie Jones.
After Vinny had roughed up Eric Cantona, he went ahead and gave Keane a good head-butt. For
all the bad things we've heard about Roy Keane, he was pretty calm about the situation; everyone
expected a fight to break out but it didn’t happen. Somehow, Vinnie went unpunished again.
Many years later, during an interview, Vinnie Jones would go on to say that he respected
Roy Keane as a player but never really knew him as a hard guy like himself, even claiming
to not remember the tackle that took place.
But as bad as he was, Vinnie still had
people who admired and looked up to him. The ex-Wimbledon star was a role model to many,
including John Hartson. Hartson met his hero, and they became best friends, with Vinnie
serving as godfather to his little girl. Most of you probably know Hartson as a
former striker for the Celtic team. Well, he also played for Wimbledon, joining them in
1999. One fateful night during his time there, he and Vinnie decided to go out for dinner along
with the former Wimbledon manager, Joe Kinnear. The two men ended up fighting about who was the
hardest. Stupid, right? Just so you know, John Hartson was also a troublemaker in his heyday—a
man who made footballs out of people's heads.
In August 1998, during a training session, he
kicked fellow West Ham team-mate Eyal Berkovic in the head and sent him crashing to the
ground. Blood gushed from Eyal's head, and Harton could only look on without remorse.
Only a cold-hearted soul like that would be dumb enough to go head-on with Vinnie. After their
little debacle, he and Vinnie were dragged out of the restaurant. Their shirts were bloodied and
torn, causing the police to ask a few questions, but there was no other legal aftermath.
Back in 1988, the photographer Monte Fresco took one of the most viral pictures in
English football. It was a picture of Vinnie Jones grabbing Gazza by the
testicles. How wild does it get?
Gascoigne had his fair share of encounters
with Vinnie Jones. You see, Gazza has always been skilful, doing the most ridiculous things
while playing great football. During the FA Cup, his team, Newcastle United, had to play
against Wimbledon. Both sides were unrelenting, but Vinnie, as always, had a plan of his own.
He kept close tabs on Steve McMahon, doing his best to prevent any goals from the midfielder.
He took it a step further and went on to meet Gascoigne. He told Gascoigne that both of them
wouldn't be playing any football. That's scary, especially from someone with Vinny's reputation.
He then went on to say this to Gascoigne, "Hey, fatty, I'll be back for you in a minute."
During a free kick for Newcastle, Gazza, forgetting who he was dealing with, went close to
Vinny's back to whisper a few things to his ear, after which Vinnie grabbed him by the balls.
It was quite hilarious and scary at the same time but it was the highlight of the day,
considering the fact that neither side scored any goals. While both teams were in the locker
room, Gascoigne, a joker as always, sent a rose to Vinny Jones. As you would imagine, Vinny felt
insulted and sent him a toilet brush in return
Next, we have someone you might not really
know. Tamer, a British actor and boxer, once had an altercation with Jones in a pub,
and it made the headlines because of how crazy things got. Later on, he would have
a brawl with Jones at the Chateau Marmont hotel. During the celebrity hangout in 2010,
ex-boxer Tamer Hassan assaulted Vinnie Jones, giving him a taste of his own medicine. Jones
claimed that Hassan head-butted him after he had approached the boxer and tried to settle their
earlier dispute. The ex-football star offered his hand and asked Tamer, "Are we alright?" Tamer
slapped it away and hit his forehead. Or at least that was Jones' side of the story. Tamer said
it was not true, saying that it was Vinnie who assaulted him. Apparently, no one got the scene
on tape, so we can't say for sure who was lying.
During this time, Jones was already pretty famous
because of the roles he landed in popular movies. Unsurprisingly, he mostly played the bad
guy, beating up one person or the other.
Our next guy, Bobby Gould, found himself on the
receiving end of Vinnie Jones' tenacity during a dressing room showdown. Gould was the former
coach of Wimbledon. They beat Liverpool and won the FA Cup together in 1988. After one of
the matches, Gould told Vinny that he wouldn't be playing in the team's next match. Vinny was
furious. This was before he later learned that the club's owner at that time, Sam Hamman,
could pick the team. It was in his contract.
Anyway, Vinny showed up on the pitch and played
against Bobby Gould's wishes that Saturday. It didn't end well because, after fifteen minutes
of play, Bobby asked Vinny to step out of the game. Vinny grabbed the old man and slammed his
head into one of the pegs in their locker room.
Moving on to someone who only has a big mouth and
no real action. This is no footballer, it's Danny Dyer, one of Tamer Hassan's fellows. They knew
each other from the movie industry. After Vinny's debacle with the ex-boxer, Danny went on to make
some dangerous comments. Danny's father took it a step further, saying things like "I'm in Tamer's
camp all day long. He'd eat Vinnie alive if it came to it.” They're lucky Vinny was miles away
cos there’s no telling what he might have done.
During an FA cup final, Vinnie attacked Steve
MacMahon, doing his best to knock the player down. In return, Steve raised his elbow and
gave him a good jab in the face. Took some guts to do that. The jab managed to make a cut, with
blood trickling down his face. Vinnie could only smile in return. Years later in an interview,
Vinny said that he wasn't upset about the jab, and that instead, it made him respect Steve
MacMahon more. You sometimes begin to wonder if Vinnie is a masochist.
This is not the full list, there are so many others that had a taste of
Vinny's fist during his prime. Vinnie Jones may have been a tough nut to crack, but we're glad
a few people had the balls to stand up to him.
