A is for Adams, B is for Bastin and C is for Chapman. This summer, you can build up your very own Gunners dictionary with our Arsenal A-Z.
From the obvious to the obscure, discover a host of facts and stats about the club you love. And if we miss anything important, you'll have the chance to let us know by clicking on the link at the foot of the page.
VAESSEN
The name 'Paul Vaessen' is
synonymous with a famous night in Turin in 1980 when Arsenal became
the first club for a decade to beat Juventus on their own ground in
European competition. Vaessen's late header snatched a 1-0 win
and propelled Arsenal into the final of the European Cup
Winners' Cup. Vaessen, on as a substitute for David Price, was
just 18 at the time but his joy was short-lived. Not long after,
Vaessen suffered a severe knee injury and was forced to quit
football two years later having made just 41 appearances for
Arsenal, scoring nine goals. Tragically, Vaessen died in August
2001 at the age of 39.
VALENCIA
Valencia have emerged as Arsenal's
nemesis in European competition. In 1980, the Spaniards beat the
Gunners on penalties in the European Cup Winners' Cup final.
Arsenal, playing their 70th game of a marathon season, drew 0-0 at
the Heysel Stadium before Liam Brady and Graham Rix failed from the
spot. Twenty-one years on, John Carew's header knocked Arsenal
out of the Champions League on away goals in the quarter-finals
after Thierry Henry and Ray Parlour had given the Gunners a 2-1
lead from the first leg. Carew struck twice more at the Mestalla
Stadium in March 2003 to inflict a 2-1 defeat on Arsène
Wenger's men and deny them a place in the last eight of the
same competition.
VICTORIA CONCORDIA CRESCIT
The words 'Victoria Concordia
Crescit' first appeared on the Arsenal crest in the first
matchday programme of the 1949/50 season. Its emergence can be
traced back a year or so earlier to when Harry Homer, the programme
editor of the day, coined the Latin quotation to sum up
Arsenal's successful 1947/48 campaign. The choice of
'Victoria Concordia Crescit', which translates as
'Victory grows out of harmony', so impressed the Club it
was officially adopted by Arsenal and featured on the Club crest
until 2002.
VIEIRA
Patrick Vieira was Arsène Wenger's first
- and arguably best - signing. The Gunners manager plucked Vieira
from relative obscurity among the fringes of AC Milan's squad
and moulded him into the fulcrum of Arsenal's midfield. Since
his arrival in August 1996, Vieira has been an inspiration at
Highbury and pivotal to the Club's continued success. He
succeeded Tony Adams as captain in the summer of 2002 and finished
last season by lifting the Premiership trophy. Strong in the
tackle, powerful in the air and a springboard for so many attacks,
Vieira is among the finest midfielders of his generation.
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