Vinnie Jones facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Vinnie Jones
Jones in 2013
Born	Vincent Peter Jones (1965-01-05) 5 January 1965 (age 60) Watford, Hertfordshire, England
Occupation	Actor presenter footballer
Spouse(s)	Tanya Terry ​ ​ (m. 1994; her death 2019)​
Children	2
Association football career Position(s) Midfielder Youth career 1975–1977 Bedmond Senior career* Years Team Apps (Gls) 1984–1986 Wealdstone 38 (2) 1986 → IFK Holmsund (loan) 22 (1) 1986–1989 Wimbledon 77 (9) 1989–1990 Leeds United 46 (5) 1990–1991 Sheffield United 35 (2) 1991–1992 Chelsea 42 (4) 1992–1998 Wimbledon 177 (12) 1998–1999 Queens Park Rangers 9 (1) Total 446 (36) International career 1994–1997 Wales 9 (0) *Club domestic league appearances and goals

Vincent Peter Jones (born 5 January 1965) is a famous British actor and former professional footballer. He was also a TV presenter.

Vinnie Jones played as a defensive midfielder from 1984 to 1999. He played for well-known clubs like Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chelsea, and Queens Park Rangers. He also played for and captained the Welsh national team. He was part of the famous "Crazy Gang" at Wimbledon. With them, he won the 1988 FA Cup final. He played over 200 games for Wimbledon in two periods between 1986 and 1998. He played 184 games in the Premier League, scoring 13 goals.

Vinnie Jones was known for his tough and physical style of play. This earned him a "hard man" image. After football, he started acting. His first film was Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998). He won an Empire Award for Best Newcomer for this role. He then won the Empire Award for Best British Actor for Snatch (2000). He often plays strong characters in movies.

Early Life and Beginnings

Vincent Peter Jones was born on 5 January 1965 in Watford, Hertfordshire. His parents were Glenda and Peter Jones. He went to schools in Bedmond and Abbots Langley. He was the captain of his school's football team. He has some Welsh and Irish family background.

Football Career Highlights

Playing for Clubs

Starting at Wealdstone

Vinnie Jones started playing football as a teenager. In 1984, at 19, he joined Wealdstone as a semi-professional player. This team was in the Alliance Premier League. Wealdstone won the non-league "double" in the 1984–85 season. Jones was part of the squad that won the FA Trophy final at Wembley Stadium in 1985. While playing, he also worked as a builder.

Playing in Sweden

In 1986, he played one season on loan in Sweden. He joined IFK Holmsund and helped them win the Division 3 Mellersta Norrland title.

Joining Wimbledon's "Crazy Gang"

In late 1986, Vinnie Jones became a full-time professional footballer. He was 21 when Wimbledon signed him for £10,000. He scored in his second game for Wimbledon on 29 November 1986. This was a 1–0 win against Manchester United.

He was a key player in the Wimbledon team that won the FA Cup in 1988. They beat league champions Liverpool 1–0 in the final. Wimbledon became a strong team in the First Division. Jones became known as a tough and energetic midfielder. He was a main member of Wimbledon's famous Crazy Gang.

Moving to Leeds United

In June 1989, Jones moved from Wimbledon to Leeds United for £650,000. He played almost every league game. Leeds won the Second Division title and were promoted to the First Division in 1990. Under manager Howard Wilkinson, Jones showed he could play well. He received only three yellow cards that season.

Time at Sheffield United

Jones left Leeds United early in the 1990–91 season. He joined Sheffield United in September 1990 for £700,000. His former Wimbledon manager, Dave Bassett, signed him. He played 35 matches for Sheffield United, scoring two goals.

Playing for Chelsea

A year later, on 30 August 1991, Jones was sold to Chelsea for £575,000. He played his first game for Chelsea the next day. He scored his first goal for Chelsea on 18 September 1991. He played 52 games for Chelsea, scoring 7 goals. He received only 3 yellow cards during his time there.

Returning to Wimbledon

After one season at Stamford Bridge, he returned to Wimbledon. This was in the early part of the 1992–93 season, when the Premier League had just started. He helped Wimbledon achieve their best league finish in 1993–94, finishing sixth in the Premier League. In another strong season, the club reached the semi-finals of both the FA Cup and the League Cup. They finished eighth in the Premier League. That season, he scored the winning goal against Arsenal at Highbury.

Finishing at Queens Park Rangers

He left Wimbledon for the second time in early 1998. He became a player/coach for QPR. He scored in his first game against Huddersfield Town. Vinnie Jones announced his retirement from football in late 1998 at age 34.

International Career for Wales

In December 1994, Vinnie Jones was chosen for the Welsh national squad. He qualified because his maternal grandfather was born in Ruthin, Wales. He played his first international game for Wales on 14 December 1994. This was a Euro 96 qualifier against Bulgaria. He played nine times for Wales. His last game was on 29 March 1997 against Belgium.

Playing Style and Records

Vinnie Jones was known for his "hard man" image on the football field. He was sent off 12 times during his career. He also holds the record for the quickest booking in a football match. He received a yellow card after just three seconds. This happened in an FA Cup game between Chelsea and Sheffield United in 1992.

Acting Career Journey

Jones with Keith David in 2010

In 1998, Vinnie Jones started his film career. He appeared in Guy Ritchie's crime comedy Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. He played a character called Big Chris. For this role, he won the Empire Award for Best Newcomer in 1999.

Since then, he has often played similar roles. These include criminals or villains. He played "Bullet-Tooth Tony" in Guy Ritchie's 2000 film Snatch. For this, Jones won the Empire Award for Best British Actor in 2001. American audiences got to know him in the 2000 movie Gone in 60 Seconds. He played Sphinx, a tough character who had only one line of dialogue. He worked with director Dominic Sena again in Swordfish.

Jones played Danny Meehan in Mean Machine (2001). This was a British version of the film The Longest Yard. He played a former captain of the England national football team. His character goes to prison and leads a team of inmates against the prison guards. In the 2004 Japanese film Survive Style 5+, he played a hitman. He also played Mad Maynard in the 2004 film EuroTrip.

In 2006, he was in the film X-Men: The Last Stand. He played the comic book villain Juggernaut. He also appeared in another football film, She's the Man, as a coach. In 2007, he played McStarley in The Condemned. This film was about prisoners forced to fight on an island.

Jones was a housemate on the TV show Celebrity Big Brother 7 in 2010. He finished in third place. In 2011, he was in the Kazakhstani film Liquidator. His character was mute, so he didn't speak. He also voiced Freddie the Dog in Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted in 2012. He acted alongside Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in Escape Plan (2013). In 2021, Jones was on the Australian version of The Masked Singer as "Volcano".

Personal Life Overview

Vinnie Jones met Tanya Terry when they were 12 years old. They were next-door neighbours. They got married in 1994. Tanya had a daughter from her first marriage. Vinnie Jones has a son, Aaron, born in 1991.

In November 2013, Jones received treatment for skin cancer. His wife had also been diagnosed with skin cancer many years before. Tanya passed away from cancer on 6 July 2019. Jones has said he does not plan to remarry.

Jones wrote an autobiography called Vinnie: The Autobiography. He now lives in both Los Angeles and Petworth, West Sussex.

Career Statistics

Club

Football Honours and Awards

Wealdstone

• Alliance Premier League: 1984–85

IFK Holmsund

• Division 3 Mellersta Norrland: 1986

Wimbledon

• FA Cup: 1987–88

Leeds United

• Football League Second Division: 1989–90

Filmography

Film Roles

Television Appearances

Stage Performances

Music Videos

• Westlife - "Bop Bop Baby" (2002)
  • As Duke Vincent, a villain who imprisons the band members.
• Steve Aoki & LOOPERS - "Pika Pika" (2018)
  • Footage was reused from an unreleased video.

Discography

Studio Albums

• 2002: Respect

Singles

• "Wooly Bully" (1993)

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Vinnie Jones para niños