Vinnie Jones has declared that his FA Cup triumph will be the achievement etched on his gravestone. The 61-year-old former footballer and actor was part of the Wimbledon side that famously defeated Liverpool in the 1987 final at Wembley. A new Netflix documentary chronicles his remarkable journey from working as a hod carrier and playing semi-professional football to becoming a Premier League star and later a Hollywood actor.
FA Cup Triumph
Reflecting on his career, Jones stated: “I think the biggest achievement is the FA Cup. The odds, you know? Leeds was magnificent, but we built a good team and that was 'shit or bust'—we had to get up that season. But Jack and the Beanstalk was a great story of mine as a kid, and that's what we did at Wimbledon when we beat Liverpool.” He recalled the early rounds: “I remember the first round being 1-0 down against Mansfield away. Fast forward a few months, and you’ve beaten one of the greatest teams in the last 50 years. 1-0 in front of a hundred thousand people. It was some achievement. It will probably be on my gravestone, I should think.”
New Netflix Documentary
The documentary, titled UNTOLD UK: Vinnie Jones, also covers his acting career, his reality TV show In the Country, and personal struggles. His wife Tanya died of cancer in 2019 after battling the disease multiple times. Jones opened up about his mental health, revealing he once considered suicide. He described taking a shotgun into the woods near his home: “I was on the bed and I was just curled up like the baby position and I was like, enough. I can't keep doing this to people, can't do it to the family. So far, I thought I could go for a walk up the wood…. I took the gun, walked up the wood, and then all stupid things go through your head. And the easiest thing to do was just to stop it right there and then, that would be it. And then I sort of came round, like being knocked out I suppose like in boxing, when you come around and miss all the scream and the shouting and everything is slow motion and you're kind of back, you go right f*** this.”
Life Lessons and Regrets
Jones admitted his biggest regret was not giving up drinking earlier: “The biggest regret is not giving up drinking probably 20 years beforehand. I tried it but never stuck at it. I think I'd have achieved a lot more without the booze. When I first went to Wimbledon on that trial, I never had a drink for a year. I wanted to be the fittest I could be. And then I fell into the culture.” He added: “I wasn't a drinker or a smoker growing up; it was just football. It was all part of being part of the Crazy Gang. I think I'd have been a lot better player if I hadn't drunk through my career. But when you're a young lad from a building site and the next minute you're playing in front of 50,000 people, you never think it's going to end.”
He also shared advice: “Talk to the universe and be straight with the universe. Ask for what you want and don't let it down when it gives you that chance. That's what it is. There’s a reason why the chance to win the lottery is a billion to one. To build on your dreams is up to us. I think we're the bricklayers and the carpenters of our own dreams.”
The documentary UNTOLD UK: Vinnie Jones is available on Netflix from Tuesday, May 26.
