July 22nd, 2016 marks 10 years since Dennis Bergkamp’s testimonial at Emirates Stadium

Can you believe it has already been 10 years at the new stadium? It has gone by so fast. But, today’s topic is not the Emirates, it’s the man that had the honour of opening it.

Dennis Bergkamp is a player that every football fan loves (or at least likes), no matter who he or she supports. His style of play was simply beautiful and fantastic, and Arsenal fans everywhere need to feel lucky to have had such a player in their club for 11 seasons.

Arsenal’s manager, Bruce Rioch, signed the shy Dutchman back in 1995. He was playing at Inter for two seasons and didn’t quite fit in there. A famous quote from Dennis himself shows that he didn’t even think about staying once Arsenal contacted him.

And we are forever grateful.

In his 11 years at Arsenal, he made over 400 appearances, and won 10 trophies, including the golden Premier League trophy in 03/04. He was the key man in Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal, even though he didn’t sign him himself.

Bergkamp was a great goal scorer. He scored 120 goals, 68 at Highbury. He scored a lot during winter periods of season. One of the “pub quiz” facts regarding his goals is that in August 1997 all top three goals of the month in BBC’s show Match Of The Day were his. Never happened before, or since.

Dennis managed to score twice in a match 13 times, but only got one hat-trick. His favourite way to score was with right foot, and he wasn’t too good in air – only three headers.

Naturally, most of his goals came in Premier League, but he was almost equally as good at scoring at home as he was away. Add to that the fact that he didn’t travel to European away trips due to fear of flying.

Bergkamp scored against 49 different teams in four different competitions with Arsenal. He loved scoring against Middlesbrough – eight goals against them.

Of course, Dennis didn’t just score goals, he made goals happen for other players as well (especially Thierry Henry). He made 166 assists in 11 seasons, which means he was responsible for almost 300 goals. His most prolific season was 1997/98, where he managed to score 22 goals and provided 20 assists. As seasons went by, he started scoring less and assisting more.

All that and more can be found in the infographic below. Hope you like it.

LONDON - SEPTEMBER 14: A portrait of Dennis Bergkamp of Arsenal prior to the UEFA Champions League, Group E match between Arsenal and PSV Eindhoven at Highbury on Septemner 14, 2004 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
(Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)