[dropcap style=”circle” bgcolor=”#000000″]T[/dropcap]he brilliance of youth. The hope of a legendary career; everything, everything went up in smoke for Paul Vaessen. Paul closed in on one of Arsenal’s greatest triumphs ever against the Old Lady aka Juventus. His moment of glory 22 years ago was short-lived. Injury wrecked his career and led him to the depths of drug addiction and crime.
[quote font=”palatino” font_size=”18″ color=”#dd3333″]It was the most dramatic of wins. Vaessen’s header past the formidable Dino Zoff at the far post a minute from the end put Arsenal into the final of the Cup Winners’ Cup and turned a working-class boy from Bermondsey into a classic footballing hero[/quote] Former Arsenal player Paul Vaessen was found dead at 39 in his home by a friend after overdosing on drugs, a sad end with lots of questions on what could have been.
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