JONES ON HOW Vinnie: I’ve learned.. I’m enjoying the joy in life
Vinnie Jones will forever be remembered for his hardman image both on and off the football pitch, a reputation that landed him in trouble more than once.
And despite the trappings of fame brought on by being a top player who switched to acting on the big screen, his career was also dogged by alcoholism and mental health problems.
But those hedonistic days are gone and Vinnie this week celebrates 11 years of sobriety, as he talks about his past troubles in a bid to help football fans and players alike open up about theirs.
It’s 8.30am and the former “Crazy Gang” Wimbledon star has escaped his rainy West Sussex farm for sunny Palm Springs, Florida, where he’s looking forward to playing a relaxing round of golf and celebrating his booze-free anniversary by “chilling out”.
Vinnie, who is starring in Guy Richie’s Netflix hit The Gentlemen, says: “I’m enjoying the joy in life. I think I’ve learned a bit that ego is not your amigo.”
The 59-year-old shot to fame in 1986 when he signed for Wimbledon, before going on to play for Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chelsea and QPR.
His aggressive style of play was highlighted by the infamous photograph of him grabbing Newcastle United player Paul Gascoigne’s genitals in 1986. But his life off the pitch was even wilder, and Vinnie blames just one thing – booze.
He says: “I was 19 or 20 before I even had a drink.
“But it didn’t take long for addiction to take over. It’s all rot. You’re rotting from the inside out. I didn’t talk about it to anybody.”
Vinnie struggled with his mental health from a young age, after bottling up childhood trauma that stemmed from his parents’ tricky divorce. But while his boozing started out as fun, some acts were impossible to laugh off.
In 1997 he was arrested for drunkenly beating up his neighbour, and convicted of assault and criminal damage.
The following year he bit late Mirror journalist Ted Oliver’s nose and in 2003 got community service for attacking a passenger on a flight.
He says: “You drop all your morals. It’s all about the fact I didn’t have anyone to talk to.”
Vinnie’s mental health got so bad he considered suicide in the late 90s, embarrassed by his behaviour and the strain he put on his personal relationships, including with beloved late wife Tanya.
He adds: “I think it clouds the passion. Other people say in AA, you’re a functioning alcoholic. Yes, you can have a few pints because you’re in your 20s.
“You can run it off and you can get on with it, but drinking is a young man’s sport.”
Vinnie, who has starred in nearly 100 films including Lock,
helped him earlier. He adds: “During my football career, I spent a lot of time in pubs. And the talk was mainly about football, to be honest.
“That’s why we’re trying to say to football fans now, let’s also talk about each other a little bit.
“I think people can relate to me because I’ve actually put my heart on my sleeve, and kind of come out if you like.” Vinnie points out the laddish culture that surrounds football can make it a hard environment in which to talk about mental health, or sexuality. He adds: “I’m passionate about this. My daughter came out six years ago. She’s getting married in June to her girlfriend. It’s nice not to be a dinosaur.”
Vinnie still often sees friend Gazza, who has also struggled long and hard with booze addiction.
He says: “He’s up and down. It’s how the disease is activated, and that’s what these diseases do.”
Speaking about Tanya, who lost a six-year battle with cancer in 2019, Vinnie adds: “The grief is always going to be there.
“For me, grief was always black and grey, but it doesn’t have to be. It can be colours and happy memories.” The couple had two children, Kaley, 37, and Aaron, 33.
But the Watford-born star, recently seen renovating his farm on Amazon TV series Vinnie Jones in The Country has found love again with Emma Ford, his PA.
He says: “Moving forwards, we meet other people that we are fond of and we fall in love with.”
Vinnie’s life is such a calm oasis now he even skipped the The Gentlemen premiere, despite Richie and cast texting him to go. He says: “They were saying ‘you are missing out’. But I am in a really good place and I am fine.”
The man once dubbed a “human rottweiler” seems far more like a friendly puppy dog now.
Of those who will not let go of his hardman image, he says: “I can’t influence how people think about me, and I don’t give a sh*t about it.”