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Many of you may know Vinnie Jones as the british tough guy from Hollywood`s action-packed motion pictures, but some of you may not be aware that before shooting people`s heads off and beating them senseless in gangster-like movies, Vinnie was actually a nightmare for Premier League stars like Eric Cantona, Alan Shearer or Jurgen Klinsmann. That`s right, the Watford-born Jones was a footballer, and a damn good one. He is a legend for Wimbledon with over 200 competitive matches (`86-`89 and `92-`98). He played for Chelsea or Leeds and has 9 international caps for his adoptive country, Wales, which he even captained. He won the FA Cup in 1988.
Jones was born in 1965 in Watford Hertfordshire, and he quickly discovered the toughness of life, with his parents separating when he was 13 (a thing which still haunts him) and with him ending up washing dishes or digging ditches for a living. Football was his only outlet, and after moving to Sweden for one year, things finally lined up for him when he was bought by Wimbledon, then a high-profile english club, in 1986.
As a defensive box to box midfielder in the Premier League, Vinnie Jones affirmed himself with his powerful long shots and an unmistakable physical, aggressive game. He still holds the record for the fastest booking in football history, receiving a yellow cards after only 3 seconds in a game against Sheffield United in 1992, which led football broadcasters in making experiments to see how it was even possible to achieve that “performance”. Jones stated that “It`s impossible to have been too late to the ball … I think I was too early”. The second placed player on this list? Surprise: the same Vinnie Jones, getting booked after 5 seconds against Manchester City, while playing for Wimbledon. He was sent off a total of 12 times during his career. Vinnie`s game brought him many critics during his football days, and for good reason, as his tackles were absolutely horrific at times. In 1992, Jones took pride in presenting the video “Soccer`s hard men”, which featured a mix of dangerous tackles made by different players, including him. He was fined and banned by the FA, with Wimbledon chairmain Sam Hammam stating Vinnie had a “mosquito brain”.
Despite all these, Jones was a reliable leader and defensive midfielder that ended up with a more than honorable career. He was widely appreciated for his heart and determination showed on the pitch as well as for his funny and friendly nature, and he stands a legend between Wimbledon fans. Aside from winning the FA Cup and playing for Wales at international level, he won the English Second League and First League (with Leeds, his second favorite club), and Sweden`s third league (with Holmsund).
In 1998, he left Wimbledon and joined QPR as a player-coach. That`s when he starred in his first movie, the widely appreciated “Lock, Stock and two Smoking Barrels”, portraying a ruthless debt collector (no surprises here). In 1999 he retired from football and pursued the acting career for which he is most well-known in our days, playing alongside Nicholas Cage and Angelina Jolie in “Gone in 60 Seconds” (2000) and mainly portraying gangsters and tough guys, an image that is not too different from his personality on the football pitch, and off of it. Jones was arrested multiple times for bar brawls and fights, but is now a convinced family man. He played a Manchester United fan in the 2004 comedy “Eurotrip”.
As it seems, there is no end to this man`s talents, as Vinnie is also a singer, and actually a pretty decent one. He released an album in 2002 and his covers are really pleasant to hear. As of now, Jones is focusing on his acting career and charity events. He became even more of an icon at Wimbledon after donating his FA Cup winners medal to the fans in 2010.
Vinnie is a celebrity in the United States now, but for british football fans he will always be that devoted, hard-working, sometimes over the edge midfielder who led Wimbledon in its last years on the biggest stage of british football.
