Terry Gibson is sitting in a restaurant in Wimbledon, recalling the 12 absurd and wonderful chapters of his life that were spent in this part of town. ‘It was nuts,’ he says. ‘You didn’t need Fash and Jonesy to lie about what went on — the reality was mad enough.’ In time, Gibson will come back to the sore point of how the Wimbledon side of the Eighties was represented in a recent documentary. Terry Gibson laughs whilst recalling his eventful spell playing for Wimbledon's Crazy Gang . He will address the myth that the Crazy Gang was ruled by the bullying of John Fashanu and Vinnie Jones, even if there is a memory of the former stripped to his underpants and covered in baby oil ahead of a dressing-room fight. But, for now, Gibson wants to laugh rather than seethe. The little striker, who won the Cup, once told Alex Ferguson where to go and pocketed £200 for scouting Pablo Zabaleta, wants to present a fuller picture of life at Plough Lane. ‘I remember Dennis Wise,’ he says. ‘Just after we won the FA Cup in 1988 players were getting sold and he was desperate for Bobby Gould to give him a big move. We went on a trip to Sweden and he’s bought a load of fireworks. Back at the hotel, Wisey is letting them off from the fifth floor into a crowded street. The locals are running for cover. Unbelievable. Bobby knew he was trying to force a move and wouldn’t budge. Just another day at Wimbledon.’ The Wimbledon players celebrate having won the 1988 FA Cup at Wembley against favourites Liverpool . Gibson poses for the camera when speaking to Sportsmail's Riath Al-Samarrai about his career . Gibson laughs. ‘There was a time when Fash was telling the newspapers he was getting threatening letters at the training ground,’ he says. ‘We all knew it was rubbish so one day I cut out letters from a newspaper, like in the films, and spelled, “Meester Fash, we are watching your every move”. I slipped it in his pocket and when he found it he starts panicking. He disappears with his big mobile phone and the next day’s papers say Fash has had another threat. He always was a drama queen.’ Gibson adds: ‘My first day at the club, I saw Wisey pinching the Volkswagen badge off Vinnie Jones’s dad’s truck. Vinnie was panicking that his dad was going to kill him. ‘There were a lot more laughs than people might have thought based only on the documentary.’ John Fashanu, in action during his Wimbledon playing days, was certainly a character in the Crazy Gang . Gibson, like most associated with the programme, The Crazy Gang, has taken exception to claims from Fashanu that he was ‘the leader’ and ruled by fear. ‘The truth is we tolerated Fash,’ says Gibson, who spent six years at the club. ‘He was a bit of a clown. He was the perfect player for us but he always tried to present himself as something he wasn’t, even then. ‘Yes, you had to be very tough to survive at the club. Grown men would cry. But there was so much more to how Wimbledon achieved what we did. For Fash to imply he controlled our dressing room with intimidation is just false. ‘Of course there were fights but Fash exaggerated. Jonesy told the story about Fash locking the dressing room and throwing an unnamed player against a bench and splitting his leg open. Stitches, etc. Gibson was former team-mate Lawrie Sanchez's assistant at Wycombe, Northern Ireland and Fulham . ‘The lad was Robbie Turner and, as I remember it, Fash strips to his pants and covers himself in baby oil. They slipped around a bit and no punches were thrown. Yes, Robbie badly injured his calf on the bench but it was not split open with blood everywhere. ‘The stories were all embellished. It was no Mafia, it was more a boarding school of very naughty boys.’ A deeper perspective is found in Gibson’s new book, Giant Killer. It’s a wonderful autobiography, self-written across three years. The book charts his rise from Tottenham, to Coventry, to Manchester United and on to the high points at Wimbledon, before Gibson became Lawrie Sanchez’s assistant at Northern Ireland, Fulham and Wycombe. The 52-year-old, in action for Wimbledon (right) works for Sky Sports, commenting on Spanish football . ‘The game changed a bit in those three decades,’ he says. ‘When Spurs signed me as a kid they offered my parents a holiday and I was hoping they would choose somewhere abroad — they asked for this camp in Dovercourt! At least the club sent a limo.’ It was at Coventry that Gibson played alongside Sam Allardyce and Stuart Pearce. ‘We went to Bisham Abbey once,’ Gibson says. ‘Pearce and Micky Adams were sharing and Ashley Grimes was in with Sam. We’d all had a drink one night. ‘Somehow Micky and Pearcie got into the others’ room at something like 3am and tossed all their gear in the courtyard. Sam and Grimes go to fetch it but get locked out in the rain. God, they were out there for maybe an hour. Sam was getting all this abuse, Pearcie and Micky calling him a northern so-and-so and laughing at him, saying, “No wonder Millwall got rid of you”. Wimbledon players in training during the Crazy Gang era with Fashanu (centre) and Vinnie Jones . ‘Next thing there is a huge crash. Sam has found a fire extinguisher and thrown it through their window. I can still hear Sam saying, “Oh s***. I didn’t mean it. It slipped”. Priceless.’ After three good years at Coventry, Gibson joined Manchester United for a difficult 18 months, in which he repeatedly felt ‘belittled’ by Ron Atkinson. ‘You could see the glow of his sunbed from the training pitch,’ Gibson says. ‘He just picked on me for reasons I never understood.’ At one point, Gibson pulled out of a move to Watford because he correctly anticipated Atkinson would be sacked and a fresh start might await. Atkinson’s exit meant Alex Ferguson’s arrival. ‘Alex was always honest with me — a good man,’ Gibson says. ‘I got the hairdryer once after a reserve game and told him to shove it all up his a***. Gibson endured a difficult 18 months at Manchester United (left) and was brought to Wimbledon in 1987 . ‘The next morning I went to apologise and he said he admired my spirit. I liked him but it never worked out for me at United.’ Gould brought Gibson to Wimbledon in 1987 — the manager allegedly ate 12 sheep testicles to get Sam Hammam to sanction the move — and his playing career re-started. ‘I could have done a book on Wimbledon alone,’ he says. In retirement Gibson went on to form a fine coaching partnership with Sanchez at Northern Ireland, which included capping Jonny Evans from United after ‘my son realised from playing Championship Manager on the computer that he was eligible for us’. Gibson has detailed his eclectic career in a book called Giant Killer, which is available at terrygibson.london . In a career of surreal moments, it seems about right. There was also a £200-a-week scouting position for Manchester City in Spain that saw him recommend Zabaleta. ‘The club did OK out of it,’ he says. These days the 52-year-old commentates on Spanish football for Sky and is happy to be out of the thick of it. ‘I think I’ve had probably enough of that craziness in my life,’ he says. He’s probably right. Terry Gibson’s book Giant Killer is available at www.terrygibson.london .
Former Wimbledon striker Terry Gibson talks about the Crazy Gang . Gibson helped Wimbledon beat favourites Liverpool in the 1988 FA Cup final . The 52-year-old commentates on Spanish football for Sky Sports .