Old football rivals team up for event

HE HAS a special place in the affections of Leeds United fans thanks to his part in the club’s promotion-winning campaign of 1989/90.

But, across the wider footballing world, Vinnie Jones, inset, is perhaps best known for the famous photograph showing him adopting a very hands-on approach to the job of marking Paul Gascoigne.

Now, 30 years on from that photo being taken, Jones and Gascoigne are set to be reunited on stage for an ‘evening with’ event in Leeds.

And organisers have told fans heading to the bash – happening at the New Dock venue next to the Royal Armouries on Thursday, November 8 – that they can expect an occasion to remember.

Sarah Bell, from Leicesterbased events firm KONG, said: “We’re extremely excited to host An Evening with Paul Gascoigne and Vinnie Jones in one of Leeds’s best event spaces.

“The night will see the two reminisce over old stories and plans for the future.”

The classic photo of Jones grabbing Gascoigne in an extremely personal place was taken in February 1988, while they were playing for Wimbledon and Newcastle United respectively. Speaking recently to TalkSPORT radio about the incident, the former midfield hardmanturned-film star described how he “snapped” after convincing himself he was about to be shown up by his Geordie opponent, who at the time was making a name for himself as one of the finest young talents in English football.

Jones told the station: “I thought, ‘I could be the laughing stock of this game. What if he scores four goals, what if he runs riot?’.

“Something snapped in me. I stretched in the dressing room and I am building up and building up and I thought, ‘when I see him, I’m going to kill him’.”