Vinnie Jones overlooked Manchester United legend Roy Keane when naming his hardest XI in football.
Jones, 60, played for the likes of Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers during a career that spanned more than 15 years.
The Englishman was part of the Wimbledon squad that was labelled as the ‘Crazy Gang’ and won the 1988 FA Cup by upsetting Liverpool in the final.
Over the years, Jones built up a reputation due to his no-nonsense style of play and has often been described as one of the hardest men to ever grace English football.
Back in 2020, Jones was tasked with coming up with a starting XI containing the hardest and toughest players for easyodds.com.
As reported by Yorkshire Live, Jones opted for United legend Peter Schmeichel as his goalkeeper, with a defence which was made up of Julian Dicks, Martin Keown, Paul McGrath and Stuart Pearce.
When talking about England greats Pearce and Keown, Jones said: “Pearcey wears his heart on his sleeve, even now. Patriotic and fiercely competitive, those pictures of him at Euro 96 will live long in the memory – he stepped up for that penalty again Spain with all that pressure and bang! What a celebration, too.
“Keown was an Arsenal invincible, won Premier League titles aplenty and was involved in some great battles between Man Utd and Arsenal – Sir Alex v Arsene Wenger. What a rivalry they had – and Keown was right at the front.”
Vinnie Jones in action. Image: Getty
In midfield, there was no place for United legend Keane as Jones went for a trio of Graeme Souness, Jimmy Case and himself.
Explaining the decision to include himself, the former Chelsea man said: “I’d be roaring, turning up the heat from the dressing room as usual. We’d be mad for it, come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough, I’d be saying. We’d have won the game before a ball was kicked – just like in the 1988 FA Cup Final!”
Finally, Billy Whitehurst, Duncan Ferguson and John Fashanu were selected as the attacking trio.
Speaking about Whitehurst, Jones said: “Billy Whitehurst might catch a few people out, because he didn’t play for a top six club – but I spent time with him at Sheffield United. They called him ‘Big Bad Billy’ and are spot-on. Just ask him about the night a few of us ran into some Wednesday fans!”
