Les Crang
The author of our series of articles this week spoke to Paul’s manager and one of his team-mates from his time at Arsenal to follow up on the story. Here are the results of those interviews…
Terry Neill interview
On January 16 of this year, I finally got to interview Terry Neill, Arsenal manager from 1976-1983 at his local pub. He kindly gave me an hour of his time and many stories of his time at Arsenal, both as a manager and player. He discussed his friends there, his signings and Paul Vaessen. I would like to take the opportunity of thanking him for making time for me and offering to help on any future interviews. It was a pleasurable and enlightening hour for an Arsenal fan, and also a pleasure to meet the man who was manager when I first supported started supporting the club all those years ago.
I asked some questions concerning Paul Vaessen, but Terry also gave me some other anecdotes. Some of them are pretty funny too.
LC: Jon Spurling wrote in his book ‘All Guns Blazing’, ‘The '80s are also fairly easy to carve up, beginning with Paul Vaessen’s historic header against Juventus in Turin and Mickey Thomas’ last-gasp goal from the gods in '89. Both goals are enduring images.’ Terry, is this how you see the period?
Terry Neill: For me it was a great victory having drawn 1-1 at home [in the first leg]… I’d had to deflect attention away from the team, after a [disappointing by European standards] 1-1 result. To deflect attention from the team, I attacked Juventus and Bobby Bettega’s [whom he later said was a friend he still kept in contact with] challenge on O’Leary..... I even appeared on Bobby’s show in Italy before the match. He knew what I doing. Attacking Juventus to protect my team, so by the time of the match no one remembered the result. To me it was water off a duck’s back. Juventus criticising me was just mind games. Fergie most likely learnt from me. When the team played in Turin it was with supreme discipline and organisation.
So when and why did you put on Paul?
Well, we’d played well, but 0-0 was no good and we had to win. I didn’t want to go out with a whimper. So I spoke to Don [Howe] with 15 minutes left. We agreed to throw on Paul, I can’t remember for who [David Price], but he was a big lad and an unknown quantity to them.
So what do you remember of the goal?
What I remember was [Graham] Rix whipping a great cross. Everyone remembers Rix for missing the penalty in the shoot-out. But Rix always put in great crosses. Paul was at the back post and waited, with time for the ball, and nodded in. A typical Rixy cross.
What happened after the final whistle in the stadium?
We celebrated, but my abiding memory is of the Juventus manager Trapattoni coming in and shaking our hands. Totally magnanimous in defeat. Sad Juventus lost. We are still friends to this day. A tremendous touch.
What is your memory of Paul Vaessen?
Paul was a good promising young player. Tall, powerful and full of prospects.....But not long after the Juventus game, he got his knee injury. Look, my job was for Arsenal FC. I could not be a guardian to every player. It’s unfair on other players. I got criticism from people for not looking out for Paul, but I was not his keeper. I can’t be all things to all men. It comes down to the individual.
When Paul left the sanctuary of Arsenal, the togetherness of Arsenal, he went to a place of no standards [to underline this, Terry and Frank McLintock keep ties in their breast pockets, since they are representing Arsenal, as Bertie Mee would tell them]. We had spoken to the doctors but his knee had gone. He wasn’t the same player he had been before; we tried to get him to other clubs and even had Crystal Palace lined up [something I never knew].
[Terry then explained his own experience of the footballer’s life, how short the career can be and how it may have affected Paul Vaessen in losing his own career to injury. Terry pointed out how he invested his energies in doing a engineering course whilst an apprentice, the importance, back then, of looking out for a future career. In other words, Terry had seen careers come and go, but you still needed to work afterwards. It seems Paul didn’t realise this until too late].
Paul Vaessen said after the game that the team went wild, with John Hollins driving a buggy stark naked around the hotel. What was your recollection?
It was a joyful night. A superb night. No rubbishing the place [the ‘we are Arsenal’ ethos again]. I remember sitting with the players until 3.30 a.m. The staff at the hotel were superb, but they made a lot of money that night. I’m still waiting for [his long time friend] Ken Friar to give me the bar bill. I came down the next morning, and some of the players were still there. Not drinking beer, they’d moved onto the wine. The expensive stuff too. On my bill. But look, they bloody deserved it.
When did you learn about Paul’s death?
A few days, I expect. The press were looking for quotes. What could I say? It was all very sad.
Paul felt he was barracked mercilessly, especially against Winterslag. What’s your view?
(Terry looked me in the eye as if I was mad) Well, last time I looked I thought we lived in a democracy? You pay your money in the stadium, you are welcome to boo. It is their right. Winterslag? S**t team. S**t Pitch. S**t game. I remember the game [I read this story, but Terry told it better] as the barracking was constant. Right behind the dugout I could hear them. So I think - I’ll tell 'em to get behind the team. I come out the dugout, and half a brick hits me on the head. Terry looks up and an Arsenal fan shouts ‘F**k off you Irish c**t, get 'em playing.’ [I can’t see this happening at the Emirates]
Were you upset at the brick?
No. I was an idiot for doing it and trying to calm them.
Brian McDermott interview
Reading manager Brian McDermott was at Arsenal at the same time as Paul. He agreed to answer a series of questions by email. My thanks to Angela Corrado for making this possible, and of course Brian McDermott for his time.
LC: When did you first meet Paul?
Brian McDermott: I met him in 1975/76. I was an apprentice; he was a schoolboy
What kind of player and person was Paul Vaessen?
Big strong, and tall; athletic striker – target man really – old-fashioned target man as a youngster. Excellent at holding the ball up – and could score a goal. He was a very confident boy, and coming from what was really, in comparison, the country I was coming from, he had no problem in a difficult environment. His confident demeanour meant he got to play in the first team at a very young age.
In an interview with Jon Spurling in 1996 you said to him how you used to get barracked by the home fans but never as much as Paul did? I’ve heard and read he was harshly treated against Winterslag, but was it really that bad?
I for one was fortunate enough never to get barracked by the Arsenal Highbury crowd – Paul for some reason did, in particular one game at home to Winterslag. I played up front with him that game and it was audible that the crown wanted Paul to be substituted with a vast majority of the crowd shouting ‘Vaessen off!’. As a player, generally you don’t hear too much from the crowd, but on that occasion it certainly registered with me.
