50 facts about Vinnie Jones: British actor and former professional footballer

Vinnie Jones and 50 things you didn't know about him.

1. Vincent Peter "Vinnie" Jones was born on 5 January 1965. He is a British actor and former professional footballer who played as a midfielder from 1984 to 1999 notably for Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United and Chelsea.

2. Born in Watford, Hertfordshire, Jones represented and captained the Welsh national football team, having qualified via a Welsh grandparent.

3. As a member of the "Crazy Gang", he won the 1988 FA Cup Final with Wimbledon, a club for which he played well over 200 games during two spells between 1986 and 1998.

4. Vinnie Jones also played for Chelsea, Leeds United, Sheffield United and Queens Park Rangers.

5. Vinnie Jones was a defensive midfielder who was especially noted for his very aggressive style of play, earning him a "hard man" image on the field.

6. Since his retirement from football, he has capitalised on his tough man image and is now known as an actor for his aggressive and intimidating demeanour, often being typecast into roles as violent criminals and thugs.

7. Vinnie Jones appeared in Celebrity Big Brother 2010, where he finished in third place behind Dane Bowers and Alex Reid.

8. Vinnie Jones was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, to Peter (a gamekeeper) and Glenda (née Harris) Jones, and attended Chancellor's School in nearby Brookmans Park.

9. Jones' career in football began in 1984, when he was 19 years old, at Alliance Premier League side Wealdstone.

10. Vinnie Jones combined football with working as a hod carrier on building sites

11. Vinnie Jones played one season with Swedish club IFK Holmsund in 1986, helping to lead the team to a Division 3 victory.

12. In 1986, aged 21, he moved to full-time professional status with Wimbledon, who paid Wealdstone £10,000 for him. He scored on only his second appearance for Wimbledon on 29 November 1986, in a 1-0 win over Manchester United in the First Division.

13. He was transferred to Leeds United in 1989. He was promoted to the old Division One from the Second Division. After helping them win promotion to the top-flight as champions of the Second Division, he proved he could thrive, and under the stewardship of Howard Wilkinson and the captaincy of Gordon Strachan, received only three yellow cards during the entire season.

14. Vinnie Jones left Leeds United early in the 1990-91 season after losing his first-team place to youngsters David Batty and Gary Speed, as well as new signing Gary McAllister.

15. Vinnie Jones returned to Leeds for Lucas Radebe's testimonial in 2006.

16. His former Wimbledon manager Dave Bassett signed him for Sheffield United on his exit from Elland Road, before selling him to Chelsea a year later.

17. His second exit from Wimbledon came when he became player/coach of QPR in early 1998, scoring on his debut against Huddersfield Town.

18. In December 1994, Jones was named in the Wales squad qualifying via his Ruthin-born maternal grandfather. He made his debut under Mike Smith for Wales on 14 December 1994, three weeks before his 30th birthday, in a 3-0 home defeat to Bulgaria in the Euro 96 qualifiers. Despite being born in England, he qualified to play for Wales through his Welsh grandfather.

19. Vinnie Jones was known for his "hard man" image.

20. Vinnie Jones was sent off 12 times in his career, as well as holding the record for the quickest ever booking in a football match, being booked after just three seconds for a foul on the opposition player Dane Whitehouse in a F.A. Cup tie between Chelsea and Sheffield United in 1992. In his autobiography, he recalls: "I must have been too high, too wild, too strong or too early, because, after three seconds, I could hardly have been too bloody late!"

21. In one notorious incident in 1988, Jones was photographed grabbing Paul Gascoigne by his testicles in order to faze him during an FA Cup tie for Wimbledon against Newcastle United.

22. Vinnie Jones made an appearance in Ireland for Carlisle United, coming on as a second-half substitute in 2001 against Shelbourne, teaming up with friend Roddy Collins who was manager at the time.

23. In June 2010, Jones released a press statement stating that he was donating his 1988 FA Cup winners medal to the fans of A.F.C. Wimbledon, wishing their fans the best for the future. The medal will be displayed in the club's Kingsmeadow Stadium.

24. In 1998 Vinnie Jones made his film debut in Guy Ritchie's crime comedy Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Playing an enforcer and collector for "Hatchet" Harry Lonsdale, Jones would go on to be type-cast for similar roles as criminals or villains.

25. Vinnie Jones became known to American audiences in the 2000 film remake of Gone in 60 Seconds, where he played "the Sphinx."

26. Although Jones had a major role as well as significant on-screen time, he only had one line in the entire film, as his character was portrayed as a silent, tough brawler.

27. Vinnie Jones went back to his football days to play Danny Meehan in Mean Machine, a 2001 British take on the Burt Reynolds' film The Longest Yard (a.k.a. Mean Machine for its UK release). He played a former captain of the English National Football Team, who is sent to prison and subsequently takes control of a team of inmates who play the guards.

28. Vinnie Jones played another football role as Mad Maynard the leader of a Manchester United football hooligan firm, with scenes in a fictional London pub (the Feisty Goat), Paris and Rome in the 2004 film EuroTrip.

29. His next big piece was in the 2006 film, X-Men: The Last Stand, as the X-Men villain, Cain Marko, A.K.A., Juggernaut.

30. Vinnie Jones was featured in another football film, She's the Man as the coach of the Illyria team.

31. In 2012, Jones voiced "Freddie The Dog" in Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted.

32. He co-starred alongside Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the action/thriller Escape Plan, released in 2013.

33. Vinnie Jones also appeared in the US series Chuck - in episode 2 of the third series he plays an arms dealer (the main villain).

34. In 2010 he was added to the cast of the NBC superhero/crime drama series The Cape.

35. He narrated the TV series Vinnie Jones' Toughest Cops. The series commenced airing in 2008 on ITV4 in the UK. Each episode to date has examined the work of a police force in a different country in the world, concentrating on dangerous aspects of the work.

36. Vinnie Jones was the first guest host for The Friday Night Project when it first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005.

37. He also appeared in an episode of Extras playing an exaggerated version of himself.

38. Vinnie Jones appeared on the first episode of the second season of Top Gear in their Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segment. He managed to make it around the track in 1 minute 53 seconds.

39. On 6 December 1998, he appeared at the World Wrestling Federation pay-per-view Capital Carnage, where he played up his 'hard man' image, acting as a special guest enforcer for the main event.

40. Vinnie Jones guest starred in The Musketeers on BBC One on 16 March 2014 as 'Lebarge'.

41. In 2015 Jones played the DC Comics villain Danny Brickwell/Brick in the third season of CW's Arrow, based on the DC Comics superhero Green Arrow, from episodes "Left Behind" to "Uprising".

42. Vinnie Jones was a housemate on the reality television show Celebrity Big Brother 7, and celebrated his 45th birthday while he participated. He received loud cheers as he entered the house and was the favourite to win going into the house, but he did not maintain popularity with the public, the crowd chanted 'Get Vinnie Out' on the final night and booed him as he left the house after he finished in third place. Speaking of his experience on the show, he said: "It was like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in there - and I was Jack Nicholson."

43. In 1998, Jones penned an autobiography, Vinnie: The Autobiography, which was later revised and reprinted a year later to include information on his first film appearance in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

44. During his football career Jones resided in Dronfield, near Sheffield.

45. Vinnie Jones married Tanya Terry (born 1966) in 1994 in Watford.

46. Tanya Terry has a daughter by her first husband, footballer Steve Terry.

47. Jones's son joined the British Army, completing his training in August 2008, and serves in the Life Guards.

48. In November 2013, it was revealed that both Jones and his wife are being treated for skin cancer; his wife has suffered for several years, whereas Jones only discovered that he had cancer after a malignant melanoma below his eye was found.

49. Jones was convicted in June 1998 of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage against a neighbor in November 1997.

50. Was convicted in December 2003 of assault and threatening behavior on an aircraft for an air rage incident, during which he slapped a passenger in the face and threatened to murder the cabin crew while drunk on an aircraft. He was fined £1100 and ordered to perform 80 hours of community service.

Source: Wikipedia.org