Vinnie Jones refutes Gary Lineker 'pop' comment as truth behind bitter feud revealed
Vinnie Jones threw his dinner over Gary Lineker in a hotel
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Vinnie Jones revealed that his old spat with Gary Lineker was far more than a 'pop', as the Match of the Day presenter recently claimed.
Lineker began working in the media during the 1990s while the 'Crazy Gang' of Wimbledon were in their heyday.
The former England international became the main presenter of Match of the Day in 1999, a position he has held ever since.
During that time, Lineker claims not many footballers have taken exception to his sometimes to-the-point analysis.
Vinnie Jones threw his dinner over Gary Lineker in a hotel
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Speaking last week, the 63-year-old named Jones as the only footballer who 'had a pop'.
"I've never experienced from a player any kind of grief, except Vinnie Jones who had a pop one day," he said.
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"But it was just Vinnie being Vinnie. It was fun and it was fine."
However, it appears as though the flare-up was far more than a 'pop' from Jones.
The former 'Crazy Gang' star revealed his anger with Lineker was following derogatory comments he made about Wimbledon.
Lineker said he would 'rather watch them [Wimbledon] on Ceefax', which infuriated some of the Wimbledon gang.
Joe Kinnear, who managed Wimbledon between 1992 and 1999, branded Lineker an 'a******e' at the time while former chairman Sam Hammam called him a 'coward'.
Jones was similarly furious and took it one step further when he bumped into Lineker in a hotel lobby.
Gary Lineker said he'd rather watch Wimbledon on Ceefax
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“If I’d got hold of him I’d have ripped him a f***ing new a***e," he told The Sun.
“So when I saw him in a hotel in Dublin, I threw me f***ing dinner at him and said, ‘Well, you want to say something now, big ears?’”
Jones suggests the two have buried the hatchet since, but stopped short of calling him a close friend.
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He said with a smile: “He’s not on my Christmas card list. I’m sure I’m not on his.”
Lineker's 'Ceefax' comment wasn't the only time he ruffled up Jones and the Wimbledon team.
While presenting Match of the Day as Des Lynam was on holiday, Lineker took a strong approach on critiquing Jones by stating he offered 'no benefit to the game' and had a 'self-hyped personality'.