Five maddest moments from Vinnie Jones on his birthday

Lee Gormley | January 5, 2016

Vinnie Jones’ maddest moments

Vinnie Jones, one of the hardest men ever to grace a football pitch, is celebrating his birthday today on January 5th, with the former Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United and Chelsea midfielder turning 51 years of age.

The Watford-born football-turned-actor previously captained the Welsh national side and was most famously part of the ‘Crazy Gang’ which won the 1998 FA Cup final against Liverpool, playing over 200 games for Wimbledon during two spells.

To celebrate one of the most intimidating players ever to feature in England’s top divisions, here are five of Jones’ most maddest, yet entertaining moments from a fascinating career. Enjoy!

Savage but fair FA Cup tackle against Liverpool

In that historic 1998 FA Cup victory as part of the ‘Crazy Gang’, Jones was one of the stars and featured alongside the likes of fellow bruisers Dennis Wise, John Fashanu and Lawrie Sanchez in a truly intimidating team.

During that winning cup final over the Reds, watch as Jones goes in for a trademark lunge on Steve McMahon, but somehow avoids any punishment from the referee. Liverpool will hope to have better luck this year in the FA Cup and are 11/2 to triumph.

Happy Birthday to Vinnie Jones. Throwback to this tackle, he didn’t even get booked! https://t.co/aKge7KhC1h
— Coral (@Coral) January 5, 2016

Jones ends Gary Stevens’ career with lunge

Opponents were fully aware what lay ahead of them on the pitch when they came up against Jones, but even his teammates sometime had to watch their backs too.

While Fashanu was already contesting Gary Stevens for the ball in a match-up between Portsmouth and Wimbledon in November 1988, Jones came flying in for a tackle which also took down his teammate and ultimately ended the former Pompey defender’s career.

Five second booking leads to Sheffield red card

In a league clash with Manchester City, then-Sheffield United skipper Jones was shown a yellow card after just five seconds back in January 1991, when he went in for a crushing tackle immediately after kick-off.

The aggressive midfielder was then given his marching orders, unsurprisingly, in the second-half for another late tackle in the central area, with his Sheffield side eventually tasting a 2-0 defeat.

Grabbing Gazza in the sore spot

In an FA Cup encounter with Newcastle United, Jones was involved in a close-marking job on former England international Paul Gascoigne, and could not have got tighter to his man.

With Gazza trying to hold Jones off, the latter midfielder leaned back into him and infamously grabbed a hold of his lower region for some special treatment. The pair have since laughed off the incident and become good friends, so watch here as Gazza explains the hilarious moments leading up to, during and after it.

Cantona challenge leads to Man Utd tussle

Eric Cantona once shocked the footballing world with a Kung-Fu style kick during his Manchester United career, but he was one the receiving end of one himself when he came face-to-face with Jones in 1994.

The Frenchman took control of the ball and looked to be creating some space for the Red Devils until he was blatantly chopped down by Jones, leading to a slight tussle amongst the players. Relive the moment here!