Emotional ex-Wales captain:'I've got nothing in my arms righ

'I've got nothing in my arms right now' - Emotional ex-Wales captain Vinnie Jones opens up on losing his wife as he plays for England in Harry's Heroes




In the ITV programme, former Wales and Wimbledon footballer Vinne Jones spoke candidly about the loss of his wife Tanya to skin cancer



Wednesday 20th May 2020



Former Wales football captain Vinnie Jones has given a heart-wrenching insight into how he is dealing with life after the tragic death of his wife Tanya.

Jones started his career as one of football's notorious hardmen on these shores in the 1980s before becoming a hugely-successful Hollywood actor.

And on Tuesday night he appeared on the ITV show Harry's Heroes: Euro Having a Laugh, a documentary which centres around the mental and physical well-being of former professional footballers.

In one particularly poignant scene, Jones and ex-Arsenal star Paul Merson, both of whom have struggled with alcohol problems and depression, act as counsel to former Aston Villa favourite Lee Hendrie, who opened up about attempting suicide after being declared bankrupt following the end of his footballing career.

The show, which aired at the start of Mental Health Awareness Week, aims to get men talking about serious issues and, following the conversation with Jones and Merson, Hendrie agreed that sharing his problem, however reluctantly, most certainly halved the mental burden.

Vinnie Jones : Did you struggle when you came out of the game?

Lee Hendrie : Yeah. I just thought it would continue, you'd have gone money and it would last forever.

Jones : What troubles have you had? Because obviously me and him (Merson) have had the alcohol, he's (Merson) had the gambling and that...

Hendrie : I just fell down into deep depression. I ended up going bankrupt, my house got repossessed, they repossessed my mum's house.

Jones : That must have been a killer?

Hendrie: That just destroyed me.

Jones : That would destroy anyone, wouldn't it?

Hendrie : That was it the. I just got up one day, got p***ed, too much to drink and tried to kill myself. I just woke up on a life-support machine. My body just shut down. And then I tried to do it again, just because I couldn't grasp what was going on. I just felt that was the only way I could get away from it.

Jones : Coming off being a footballer, the crowds and the rest of it, it is hard just to go 'click'. I had the same thing, but I came out of it the other end. Day by day, you do progress.

Hendrie : Still, now, every day I struggle. I still take anti-depressants. I didn't even want to talk about it.

Paul Merson : What you've got to grasp is, is it your fault? What I'm hearing now is you beating yourself up about your mum and your mum's house. I tell you, your mum would have been more disappointed if you didn't make it than losing her house.

Jones : Well, I tell you what, I lost my wife, we had a six-year battle and she lost it in the end. I've got nothing in my arms right now and there ain't no houses, or money, that could come in between that and that's what you grasp.

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In the show, Harry Redknapp is the manager of an England veteran team, of sorts, as he cobbles together a group of former Three Lions internationals to take on other international veteran sides.

In Tuesday night's episode, a number of Redknapp's squad, including Matt Le Tissier, Mark Chamberlain and David Seaman, were all stricken with injuries and it forced the manager to call in reinforcements ahead of their match against San Marino.

Ex-Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour was flown in and brought with him Jones, who earned seven caps for Wales in the 1990s. The uncompromising, Watford-reared Jones qualified for Wales through his maternal grandmother, who was born in Ruthin.


Wales captain Vinnie Jones (r) is joined by Dean Saunders (l) Gary Speed and Neville Southall (2nd r) in singing the national anthem before the World Cup Qualifier against the Netherlands on November 9, 1996 in Eindhoven, Holland
Jones always played with pride for Wales, despite earning only seven caps, and when Bobby Gould put it to a vote who should captain the team against the Netherlands, it was the Wimbledon enforcer who got the backing of his peers, a moment he has described as 'emotional'.

They lost 7-1 against the Dutch, but he remained a fan favourite in Wales, such was his commitment to the shirt - he even endeavoured to learn the national anthem.

So, Wales fans will likely not begrudge him turning out for the country of his birth against San Marino.

Upon his arrival, the squad jokingly acknowledged that they had a ringer in their ranks, given Jones' allegiance to Wales, but Redknapp knew he was add some much-needed steel to his side.

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Vinnie Jones always played with pride for Wales, despite earning only seven caps, and when Bobby Gould put it to a vote who should captain the team against the Netherlands, it was the Wimbledon enforcer who got the backing of his peers, a moment he has described as 'emotional'.

They lost 7-1 against the Dutch, but he remained a fan favourite in Wales, such was his commitment to the shirt - he even endeavoured to learn the national anthem.

So, Wales fans will likely not begrudge him turning out for the country of his birth against San Marino.

Upon his arrival, the squad jokingly acknowledged that they had a ringer in their ranks, given Jones' allegiance to Wales, but Redknapp knew he was add some much-needed steel to his side.

And, despite now being 55 and having spent the last two decades on the big screen, Jones certainly has not lost any of his no-nonsense footballing side.

A key component of Wimbledon's notorious 'Crazy Gang', who won the 1988 FA Cup and were famed for administering the dark arts of intimidation and physicality, Jones certainly lived up to his reputation when he donned the England shirt for the first time.

Following a stint in goal after Seaman was dragged off through injury, Jones took his place in the heart of defence against San Marino, who in 1993 denied England, who needed to win by seven goals, World Cup qualification when they lost 7-1.

And it wasn't long before Jones was back into the swing of things. With Redknapp's ageing team tiring in the second half, Jones clattered into a San Marino winger in a bone-crunching challenge which was anything but friendly, as the match was billed.



But following a hat-trick from Hendrie, England emerged triumphant in a 5-3 win over their opponents and Jones was presented with his first ever England cap.

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