Former Wimbledon midfielder and football hardman Vinnie Jones has already revealed the one tackle he ‘regretted’ making during his career – and it wasn’t his infamous challenge on Roy Keane.
Jones, 60, was a fierce competitor during his playing days and is best known for his time at Wimbledon as part of the ‘Crazy Gang’ team that won the 1988 FA Cup final against Liverpool at Wembley.
He featured for several other clubs such as Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chelsea, and Queens Park Rangers before becoming an actor after hanging up his boots in 1999.
And despite being a top-flight footballer, he is widely known for being a hardman rather than his on-pitch ability.
In 1996, Jones faced fellow hardman and ex-Manchester United captain Roy Keane.
During the game’s seventh minute, Jones attempted to deliver a crunching slide tackle on his opponent, but Keane, 53, calmly evaded the challenge before assisting Eric Cantona‘s goal.
But it was another challenge which Jones later admitted that he regretted.
In 1988, Spurs ran out 3-2 winners against Jones’ Wimbledon side and during the game the midfielder delivered an awful challenge on Gary Stevens. The England defender was never the same player and retired aged 30 after battling back from injury.
Speaking years later [via the Mirror], Jones gave his take on the incident, he said: “Maybe I was a bit reckless to go in, but I took the ball and he had bad knees anyway and he tried to hang that on me.
Vinnie Jones was a fierce competitor (Credit:Getty)
“But, f*** me, there was a lynch party that day. I had to lie on the back seat of (assistant manager) Don Howe’s car, and they put a blanket over me, to get me out of the stadium in one piece.
“There were hundreds of Spurs fans waiting for me by the coach, and they wanted to tear me to pieces, so the security people took me out through the kitchens, put me in Don’s car and I slipped out of a side exit. Good old days.”
He added: “People talk about hard men, but we all had a little black book. A lot of clubs had a player who would put his foot in and most of them were brave – Terry Hurlock, Steve McMahon, Lawrie Sanchez here at Wimbledon… they didn’t mind a tackle, they just got stuck in. Not until the late 1990s did players really roll about and squeal if they got caught. In my time, if someone stayed down you knew they were hurt.
“I used to get up, smash some gaffer tape around it at half-time, pull your sock up and get stitched up after the game. Then you’d get on the bus with your fish and chips and a can of beer and go home.”
