Manchester United legend Norman Whiteside has recalled a moment when he feared he was going to be throttled by football hardman-turned-Hollywood movie star Vinny Jones. The brilliant Belfast-born winger was speaking on the Manchester United podcast as he celebrated his 60th birthday on Wednesday. He was speaking about the toughest opponents he faced in a career that was sadly cut short at the age of just 26 by injury. The conversation turned to Wimbledon icon Jones, and Whiteside brought up an incident which saw him floor the Crazy Gang star - and led to him fearing retribution. Jones’ reaction, however, wasn’t what he expected. “Vinny came up against me down at Wimbledon and we both go into this challenge, and I manage to catch Vinny just above the kneecap, to be honest, and he went down like a bag of cement,” Whiteside recalled. “I’ve backed off 20 or 30 yards, getting out of the way, and Vinny’s gone, ‘Where’s that Whiteside gone, I’ll have him’. “The physio comes on, gives Vinny all the treatment, and Vinny’s looking out for me. He throws the physio out of the way, he gets up and he comes running at me, and I’m thinking, bloody hell, he’s a nutcase, isn’t he? You know what he’s like. “He gets closer and closer, he gets right up beside me, turns around and shouts in my ear at the top of his voice, ‘Great tackle big man’. He is a decent guy.” Whiteside, who played in the 1982 and 1986 World Cups with Northern Ireland. He joined United in 1978 and stayed with the club until 1989, when he moved to Everton. However, a series of knee injuries brought the curtain down on his career in the summer of 1991. Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email.