A Great Send Off For A Great Legend…
Yesterday was a wonderful event – the first game at Arsenal’s new home was the setting for the departure of one of Arsenal’s true legends Dennis Bergkamp.
And it was emotional to see players like David Seaman, Lee Dixon, Nigel Winterburn, Martin Keown, Steve Bould, Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, Edu, Kanu, Marc Overmars, Ray Parlour, Gio and of course Ian Wright.
And even Alex Manninger, Oleg Luzhny and Glenn Helder turned up!
And Thierry took time out from his family holiday in America to pay tribute to Dennis – simply amazing stuff.
Yesterday was everything that was good about football – the passion, the emotion, the respect and the appreciation of a player who was gifted and special, but on top of that was a true professional and a real role model.
You couldn’t ask for anything more from Dennis Bergkamp on or off the pitch.
On the pitch, Bergkamp was outstanding and was for me the greatest ever foreign import in this country.
And when legends like Frank Rikjaard, Japp Stam, Edwin Van Der Sar and the de Boer brothers want to be involved then you know how much of a contribution to the game Bergkamp gave everyone.
Even Spurs player Edgar Davids braved the Emirates Stadium!
And when Johan Cruijff and Marco Van Basten made a surprise appearance on the Emirates turf it must have made Bergkamp’s year!
The great Dutch legend Johan Cruijff was the manager when he gave Dennis Bergkamp his debut at Ajax and Marco Van Basten was the man who Bergkamp eventually replaced.
And they were on the pitch at the same time.
Stuff dreams are made of!
And off the pitch, Bergkamp was an example to others. He kept himself to himself and concentrated on football – refreshing by todays football players.
No signs of celebrity weddings or late night clubbing here then.
And of course, Arsenal Football Club have done another great job making it a special day for Dennis Bergkamp and the Arsenal fans, with the presentations, organisation and even the Dennis Bergkamp T-shirts to give the crowd a great red and white atmosphere.
I recorded the Channel 5 coverage of the testimonial, and when Spurs players and managers such as Paul Robinson, Teddy Sheringham, Jamie Redknapp and Martin Jole pay glowing tributes then you must be a special, special player.
Dennis Bergkamp is an Arsenal legend because of his huge influence over our success over the last 11 years and his unquestionable loyalty to Arsenal Football Club.
We all wish him the very best in the future in whatever he does.
Back to the testimonial, and it was Thierry Henry who scored the first ever Arsenal goal at the Emirates Stadium after 8 minutes of the second half. Bergkamp played it to Dixon on the right, who floated a cross into the area, which Henry coolly controlled and slotted past Van Der Sar.
It felt just like the double winning season of 2001/2002!
And how fitting that Arsenal’s highest ever goalscorer got the first goal of our new home!
Edgar Davids managed to get through the Arsenal defence a few minutes later and chipped the ball over David Seaman and looked certain to score.
But then Gilles Grimandi hacked down the Spurs player and prevented Davids from tapping it in.
Brilliant stuff!
Then Ronald De Boer stepped up and blazed the penalty over the bar!
It really was Bergkamp’s day.
Then Kanu made his appearance, and on 80 minutes strolled down the left hand side and his deflected shot crept in at the near post.
He was almost in tears – seemingly overawed by the occassion.
Then Bergkamp was through in the last minute but Menzo saved it!
Nevermind.
And at the final whistle Bergkamp made an emotional speech thanking the Arsenal Football Club, the fans and the players. He also thanked Ajax, the club he started at and his family including his mother, father, wife and kids.
He also said goodbye to the Arsenal fans and paid his respects.
Vieira, Henry and Gio got Bergkamp onto their shoulders and lifted him to the centre circle – it was an amazing sight!
A great day for a great player.
it was a great day, I was so pleased for dennis. I was a little disappointed by the singing at times in certain parts of the stadium. where i was in the east lower, if i sang I could really hear my own voice and that of the bloke next to me. I felt a bit self conscious. At highbury when there was singing I cant remember being able to hear my own voice, it just merged with the other voices. I hope I am being paranoid and it will be OK when we get a proper game in there. by all accounts with the good acoustics, the sound out on the pitch is great though.
Others can only be jealous because we had Dennis Bergkamp, we had Dennis Bergkamp.
he may have been a huge influence, probably the starting influence on the success of us for 11 years, and many more to come. But lets not forget he has also had a huge impact on making the premiership one of the best 2 leagues in the world
Did bergies match finish on 80 mins and not 90? i saw the game on ch5 and sure it said 81 mins when the ref blew?!
Yeah, I thought that too! I think it was only 80 minutes, because the official Arsenal website says Kanu scored in the last minute which was 80.
Must have been because of the legends not being able to last much longer! Although I thought it would have been good if they waited until Bergkamp scored a goal!
The 80 minutes was due to the TV TIME factor… the intro of so many stars on pitch, just before second part, take longer than planned. Sad, but may be only mistake in a Wonderful day for Dennis, Arsenal, and all Gooners around world.
Thank you Dennis Bergkamp for 11 amazing years.
Something I love is that now and forever will be true that:
THERE IS ONLY ONE DENNIS BERGKAMP
and
WE GOT DENNIS BERGKAMP!
A great tribute to a great player. (Great to see Vieira back in the Arsenal kit to)
Is it me or did Patrick Vieira look really comfortable in an Arsenal kit? 🙂
Apparently Gilberto used to play centre-back when he was back in Brazil and wasn’t a bad defender either. Maybe we could play him at the back and put Paddy next to Cesc – then we’d have a midfielder who could actually tackle!
Great day for Dennis – the least he deserves after the loyalty and sheer pleasure he’s given us over the last decade.
Great to see Titi take time out to respect the great man as well.
WE GOT DENNIS BERGKAMP!
What a great day. A wonderful new stadium and a chance to say goodbye to a ‘true’ Arsenal legend. It was obvious how much DB10 commands when you looked at the line ups of the legends teams, including Van Basten and Johan Cruyff.
Well done Gilles for hacking down Davids and not letting him have the satisfaction of scoring. Also well done to Ron De Boar for the obvious blasting of the ball over the bar and into the north bank.
I just wish Dennis could have scored, espcially right at the end.
I am not ashamed to say I shed a tear or two at the end and IMHO, Dennis is THE greatest ever to wear the shirt of Arsenal.
Thank you for 11 fantastic years.
We will miss you Dennis!
You are still the man!
Arsenal’s greatest ever player? You bet!
All the best Dennis!
Bergkamp is GOD…… who can forget hes magical skills, ie at leicester(the best hattrick ive ever seen) and he was LOYAL!!! not a word familiar these days. Db Thank you so much for your services, i like millions of other Gooners worldwide were priviledged to see you in action……. May yourself and your family enjoy your entertainment..Stewie stratton Gooner in Dundee