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When Graham Rix arrived at Highbury as an apprentice in 1974, some thought he was too skinny to compete in the physical world of professional football.
But the slender left-winger was a first-team regular by the time he was 20. He made his debut in April 1977, and marked the occasion with a goal against Leicester City.
Rix's controlled passing, ferocious shooting and ability to ghost past his markers made him a crucial part of the Arsenal team. The fact he was left-footed made him invaluable.
Between 1978 and 1980 he played in three successive FA Cup Finals for Arsenal but the Gunners won just one, the 1979 Final in which Rix played an important role in the defeat of Manchester United.
With the game poised at 2-2 and extra-time looming, Rix surged down the left to collect a perfectly-weighted pass from Liam Brady before picking out Alan Sunderland at the back post. The striker found the back of the net and Arsenal had their hands on the Cup.
That victory earned the Gunners a place in the European Cup Winners' Cup the following season and it was Rix who picked out Paul Vaessen to defeat Juventus in the Semi-Final.
But the midfielder did not take away such happy memories from the Final.
After a goalless draw against Valencia in Brussels the game went to penalties. Brady had already missed his spot kick, making Rix's decisive. He too missed.
Brady departed that summer leaving Rix as the team's main playmaker. He impressed enough to earn an England call-up and he started in every one of his country's games at the 1982 World Cup.
At the start of the 1983/84 campaign Rix was handed the captaincy by Terry Neill but that November he suffered an Achilles tendon injury and, though he returned to the team two months later, he missed most of the following season.
Chances became limited under Don Howe and then George Graham and in 1988 Rix moved to Caen in France on a free transfer.
