Stuck in a Moment: The Ballad of Paul Vaessen

by Stewart Taylor

Stuck in a Moment is a tale of seduction and abandonment as young Paul Vaessen works his way through the ranks to the Arsenal first team of Brady, Jennings et al. One minute the world is at his feet, the next he's on the scrapheap. One of football's dirty secrets, Paul descends into a world of addiction and towards an inevitable conclusion.

Genres: Football

320 pages, Paperback

First published August 8, 2014

Reviews

[John Newcomb · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sad story about a young man who scored a very important goal but then after 40 games his career was prematurly cut by injury aged 20 and there followed 20 years of crime and drug addiction before his early death. No upside to this one,

[Joe Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an Arsenal fan too young to remember that moment I lived the tale through my father: "One of Arsenal's most famous moments, away against THE giants of European football, trailing on away goals when in the 88th minute we headed the ball home. The first time Juventus lost on home soil to a British team. Paul Vaessen scored that..." he used to tail off. Now I know why.

This book is raw, it's hard to read, it's heart breaking. A true story of a man who could never achieve the high of that moment without a fix. It brilliantly details the pitfalls of addiction and it's devastating impact on the addict and all those around them, with the right tone.

This is a must read for Arsenal fans in my opinion. Especially for those that remember that moment. Our moment. Paul's moment.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terry Neill's Arsenal away to the giants of Juventus and with the seemingly impossible task of winning away from home - all relayed on the atmospherically crackling, fading in and out of volume, Radio 2 that was the sound of European nights in the 70s and 80s. A relatively unknown member of the squad Paul Vaessen, scores a late and winning goal, to the delighted incredulity of the commentators and young Arsenal fans listening at home.

This book details what happened next - an interesting and powerful tale which brings out Vaessen’s various addictions – perhaps most of all to fame and football (always trying to recreate the high of his goal in Turin).

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable book following the descent into addiction and finally death of a young man that normally had everything in life that he wanted. Difficult to review without adding spoilers so I'll just say if you have any interest in football at all, read this and then Tony Adams' bio and with a bit of luck you won't end up where they did.