Vinnie Jones confronted by 'football's hardest man' who sent seven-word message

Daily Mirror

11-05-2025

Carlton Palmer also opened up on his own run-in with Billy Whitehurst during a West Brom clash with Sunderland, where he was told he had "more balls than sense"
Billy Whitehurst, a prominent footballer in the 80s and 90s, once left Vinnie Jones speechless by asking, "What are you going to f****** do about it?" after an alleged car crash. Well-known for his aggressive style of play, Whitehurst was often referred to as the 'hardest man in football' due to his no-prisoners attitude on the pitch.
His career saw him playing for teams like Hull City, Newcastle United, Sunderland and Sheffield United, where his six-foot stature made him a formidable opponent.
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One player who had a memorable encounter with Whitehurst was Carlton Palmer, who was at West Brom when he faced off against Whitehurst at Sunderland.
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Speaking on the Under the Cosh podcast, Palmer shared his admiration for Whitehurst and how standing up to him earned his respect.
Palmer recalled: "I'll tell you a story about Billy, I f****** love that boy to death. I just got in the first team at West Brom, we've got to play Sunderland. Guess who's up front? Billy f****** Whitehurst.
"Who do you not want to play against ever? Billy Whitehurst, John Fashanu and Mick Harford. Three players straight off the top of your head you don't want to fucking play against. So I'm thinking, 'How am I going to approach this one with Billy?'
"I'm centre-half, how am I going to approach this one? Well, fire with fire. So I went, 'F*** it,' I'm just going to have to go toe-to-toe with him. He's f****** elbowing me and all that.
"Half-time, I'm walking off, and he said to me, 'You know something, son? You've got more balls than sense.' That's what he said to me! And then we became mates, I f****** love him, Bill."
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Palmer added: "Then he tells me the story about when Vinnie [Jones] came to the club because Vinnie thought he was a f****** hard man. I love Vinnie to death as well, another great lad, Vinnie. Vinnie was coming in, so Billy's got this old f****** car.
"Vinnie's turned up in a 7 Series, brand new BMW. Billy drives straight into the side of it with his old car. He walks in there and he said to Vinnie, 'Somebody's just f****** driven straight into the side of your car.' He said, 'Which c*** done that?', and he said 'Me, what are you going to f****** do about it?' That's f****** Billy for you."
Whitehurst has since settled down post-retirement, training greyhounds and running several public houses in South Yorkshire. But nobody could quite forget the staggering force he was up front in football - certainly not Palmer or Jones.