FOOTBALL’S most notorious tough Vinnie Jones is happy to put his “crazy” drinking past behind him which included run-ins with the law at the craziest moments.
Twelve years sober, the 59-year-old former Wimbledon midfielder-turned-Hollywood star reveals all is now “quiet” in his life with new partner Emma Ford at his farm in West Sussex.
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Vinnie Jones is happy to put his ‘crazy’ drinking past behind him Credit: Perou/WBD/discovery+.
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Vinnie filming a commercial for the British Heart Foundation Credit: Submitted
But when I meet the actor at his former club’s stadium, where he is filming a commercial for the British Heart Foundation charity, there is still a mischievous glint in his eyes.
Memories of a three-decade feud with Gary Lineker suggest that although he is no longer in Wimbledon’s Crazy Gang of wildman players, there may still be a bit of the Crazy Gang in the man who was sent off 12 times in his career.
Last week, Gary revealed that Vinnie was the only player to “snap” at him for critical comments he made on Match of the Day.
And according to the man himself, it was much more than “pop”.
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Vinnie — whose best-known roles include the 1998 crime series Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels and this year’s hit Netflix series The Gentlemen — recalls how Gary “said he’d rather watch [now-defunct teletext service] Ceefax than watching Wimbledon”.
Vinnie wasn’t amused, so he said, “If I got my hands on it, I’d rip it into a new hole.
Christmas list
“So when I saw him in a hotel in Dublin, I threw him a fucking dinner and said, ‘Well, are you going to say something now, big ears?'”
The 1995 performance also included Vinnie throwing slices of toast at Gary.
But the Ceefax attack was not Gary’s only attack on the Crazy Gang, and a year later he said Vinnie was “no use to the game”.
The club then hit back at former England striker Gary, saying he had the “charisma of a jellyfish”.
Former football star Vinnie Jones is urging men to learn how to perform CPR
Three years later, all seemed well when the pair appeared together in a Walkers crisps advert.
But today Vinnie says with a smile: “It’s not on my Christmas card list. I’m sure I’m not on his.”
The in-demand actor — who has a second series of The Gentlemen coming up, as well as the Paramount+ docu-series Vinnie Jones In The Country — admits he used to be too aggressive.
And he reveals that Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones turned his life around.
Vinnie’s problems began when he was 12, with the divorce of his parents Peter and Glenda.
He said: “It was the first kind of trauma in my life, because it was not common back then. It was looked down upon.
“As a young man I had a lot of aggression. And when I went to a psychologist, we determined that it was about aggression, mental health and frustration.
“Put that in a glass and pour a beer with it, and you’ve got a madman with fingers on your hands.”
Capturing Gazza’s goals
When Vinnie turned semi-professional with non-league side Wealdstone in 1984, aged 19, there was an ingrained drinking culture in football.
Four years later, after signing for Wimbledon in 1986, he became famous when he famously grabbed Paul Gascoigne’s private parts during a match against Newcastle United.
After retiring from football a decade later at the age of 34, he made his film debut in Lock, Stock and went to Los Angeles.
There he founded the famous football team called Hollywood United, whose players were Steve Jones and Robbie Williams.
The drinking and partying lifestyle continued until ex-punk Steve told him some home truths.
Vinnie recalls: “One night we were drinking a lot and I called Steve. I said, ‘I have no problem’. He said, ‘Yes, you have.’ He knew.
He said, ‘we all have a dog.’ He said, ‘Yours is a big bastard. You have to control it. You have to keep him in a kennel
Vinnie on the advice he got from Guy Ritchie
“Steve has been sober now for 30, 40 years. And he was the one I turned to.”
But on the rocky road to quitting alcohol, he fell off the wagon, helped by Guy Ritchie, director of Lock, Stock, with an alcohol analogy about his “dog” being out of control.
Vinnie recalls: “He said, ‘We all have a dog. Yours is a big bd. You have to control it. You have to keep him in a kennel.
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Jones had a long-running feud with Gary LinekerCredit: PA: Press Association
“What Guy said helped me.”
Now sober, Vinnie is happy to put past drama behind him, such as community service for a drunken air rage incident in 2003.
He says: “When you take a shower at nine o’clock at night and rush out and go to sleep, you know you had a great day, you didn’t cause any pain.
“The next morning there is no copper. You don’t call a florist on a Monday morning to send flowers to people you’ve upset.
“And your morals are intact, right?”
Vinnie’s composure is even more amazing considering the pain he’s faced over the past decade.
In July 2019, his wife Tanya died at the age of 53 from cancer.
Her health problems were the reason he first got involved with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) in 2012.
Tanya’s heart stopped while giving birth to her daughter Kaley and she needed a heart transplant.
Vinnie says: “We’ve definitely had heart issues. We had our fair share.”
Vinnie met Tanya when they were both 12, when they first became neighbors in Watford, Herts, and says: “We were dating at 16.”
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Wimbledon footballer Vinnie with the FA Cup in 1988. Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
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Vinnie with partner Tanya Credits: Rex
But both found other partners.
Tanya gave birth to Kaley in 1987 with footballer husband Steve Terry, and Vinnie had a son, Aaron, in 1991 with his then-girlfriend Mylene Elliston.
However, the relationship did not last and eventually he and Tanya tied the knot and got married in 1994.
The first thing I do in the morning is to make my bed. I have that level, it’s absolutely intact
Vinnie
In his first ad for the BHF, he urged people to perform life-saving cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, on anyone suffering cardiac arrest by “hard and fast” chest compressions to the beat of the Bee Gees’ Stayin’ Alive.
That campaign, he says, “saved a lot of lives” and now he hopes to encourage 270,000 people to learn the five steps of CPR through a new ad on social media.
Entitled Every Minute Counts, it was made in association with bookmaker Sky Bet, who are donating £10,000 to charity for each winner of this season’s compensation.
A quieter life
After Tanya died, Vinnie said it would be “impossible” for him to remarry because their marriage was “perfect”.
However, he has grown close with personal assistant Emma, 47, who works on his TV show Vinnie Jones In The Country.
Together they solve all the problems that come with running a farm.
Vinnie has not publicly commented on the relationship, but when asked if he will settle down with Emma, he answers: “Everything will be nice and quiet. Everything is nice and quiet on the farm, so to speak.”
It’s harvest time right now, so they’re busy getting the crops in.
He continues: “This is my favorite time of the year, the harvest. I love it when they cut all the corn.
“I’ll jump on the tractor and help the guys bale. It’s great.”
He reveals that he has sold his home in Los Angeles and only has a golf course in Palm Springs, where he spends three months of the year.
In January, the former wild man of football will turn 60 years old, but there will be no big party with old friends Guy, Steve and Brad Pitt.
He says: “Old Vinnie would have a big fight. I’m really done with everything.
“I love being in Sussex, where I’m out of my bubble. I’m off the radar.”
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Vinnie Jones and Emma Ford in the country Credits: Discovery +
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Vinnie Jones and Frank Leboeuf with Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, who Vinnie says turned his life around Credit: Firsttouchonline
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Grant Rollings with Vinnie Credits: Delivered
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