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Leon Vaessen

Leon Vaessen
Personal information
Full name Leon Henry Vaessen
Date of birth (1940-11-08) 8 November 1940 (age 84)
Place of birth New Cross, England
Position(s) Half-back
Youth career
?–1958 Chelsea
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1958–1961 Millwall 26 (2)
1961–1963 Gillingham 29 (0)
1963–1965 Dover
1965–? Crawley Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Leon Henry Vaessen (born 8 November 1940) was an English professional footballer of the 1950s and 1960s. He made over 50 appearances in The Football League.

Playing career

Born in New Cross, he joined Chelsea as a youngster, but was not offered a professional contract.[1] In January 1958 he signed for Millwall and went on to make 26 Football League appearances for the "Lions",[2] but never established himself as a regular starter.[1] At the end of the 1960–61 season, he was transferred to Gillingham.[1] He was initially a regular in the team, but fell out of favour, playing just once in the 1962–63 season,[3] before being sold to Dover for a fee of £500.[1] His last known club was Crawley Town.[1]

Family

His mother was English and his father was Dutch.[4] His son Paul played for Arsenal but was forced to retire due to injury and fell into a life of crime and drug addiction before dying at the age of 39 in 2001.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Triggs, Roger (2001). The Men Who Made Gillingham Football Club. Tempus Publishing Ltd. p. 323. ISBN 0-7524-2243-X.
  2. ^ Hugman, Barry J. (1984). Canon League Football Players' Records 1946-1984. Newnes Books. p. 486. ISBN 0-600-37318-5.
  3. ^ Brown, Tony (2003). The Definitive Gillingham F.C.: A Complete Record. Soccerdata. pp. 71–72. ISBN 1-899468-20-X.
  4. ^ Taylor, Stewart (2014). Stuck in a Moment: The Ballad of Paul Vaessen. GCR Books. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-909050-06-8.
  5. ^ Mitchell, Kevin (17 March 2002). "The terrible death of a forgotten hero". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 September 2010.


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