Feature

Dennis Bergkamp

Behind the Numbers

July 22 marks 10 years since Dennis Bergkamp's testimonial, so in this article, first published in and with stats correct as of February 2014, we're taking a look at the great man's Arsenal career in numbers.

Dennis Bergkamp has gone down in history of one the Club's greatest players of all time, having scored 120 goals from 423 appearances over 11 trophy-laden seasons with Arsenal.

After joining from Inter Milan in June 1995, Bergkamp, then 26, made his Gunners debut on the opening day of the 1995/96 season - a 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough at Highbury on August 20, 1995. For the last 20 minutes of the game, after Ray Parlour was subbed, Bergkamp was the youngest player in the side.

"During his 11-year Arsenal career, Bergkamp won 10 major honours"

Incidentally, Bergkamp’s first ever game for Arsenal was a pre-season friendly, against Kristianstads in Sweden on July 26, and the Dutchman scored a six-minute hat-trick in an 8-1 win.

His first competitive goal for the Club came 17 minutes into his eighth game - a fine volley in front of the Clock End in a 4-2 Premier League win over Southampton on September 23, 1995. He added a stunning second on 68 minutes.

In all Bergkamp finished with 16 goals in his debut season, from 41 games - including 11 in 33 league games - second only to Ian Wright that term.

He only beat that goalscoring tally once during the following 10 years at Arsenal (1997/98) and never started more games in a season than he did in that debut campaign.

On average Bergkamp played 38.5 games a season for Arsenal (never fewer than 30) and scored 10.9 goals. He started 345 of his 423 games, and appeared in six different competitions.

During his 11-year Arsenal career he won 10 major honours (three league titles, four FA Cups and three Charity Shields) and a host of individual awards. Chief among them were the Football Writers' Association and Professional Footballers Association Player of the Year awards in 1998, and two Premier League Goal of the Season awards.

Bergkamp's Premier League record was P315 W186 D79 L50, so he took more than two points a game on average with a win rate of 59 per cent.

 

Dennis Bergkamp Season-by-season

Dennis Bergkamp Season-by-season

 

By competition

League 353+62 87
FA Cup 34+5 14
League Cup 16 8
Champions League 29+11 7
UEFA Cup 8 4
TOTAL 345+78 120




Bergkamp scored 69 (58 per cent) of his 120 goals at home, 50 away and one on neutral ground - but his actual strike rates for home and away games were very similar, claiming one in every 3.46 games on the road, and one every 3.39 at home.

Only nine players in history scored more goals at Highbury than Bergkamp (68) though one of these counts as an 'away' goal as the FA Cup match against Farnborough in 2003 was classed as away fixture. He also scored twice at Wembley in what were officially home games in the Champions League.

Famously Bergkamp has a fear of flying, so he only travelled to six European away games with the Gunners (not including Chelsea away in 2003/04) and although he didn't score in any of those games, Arsenal remained unbeaten in all six, including a draw at the Nou Camp.

The vast majority (73) of Bergkamp's 87 Premier League goals came via his right boot (84 per cent) and he scored three headers. He netted 15 times from outside the area in the league (17 per cent of the total).

Bergkamp scored his 120 goals against 49 different teams - his favourite opponent was Middlesbrough, against whom he scored eight times.

He joined Arsenal's '100 Club' on January 4, 2003 when he scored against Oxford United in the North Bank goal at Highbury.

Bergkamp scored 13 braces and one unforgettable hat-trick - away to Leicester City in 1997/98.

The Dutchman particularly liked the winter period - his most prolific months were January and February (18 goals each), followed by March (16).

Whereas those months may be notable for the quantity of goals he scored, in terms of pure quality, August 1997 will always stand out. That month Bergkamp was voted first, second and third in Match of the Day's Goal of the Month competition - a unique feat.

 

When he scored

When he scored

 

 

Where he played / Where he scored

Where he played / Where he scored

 

 

Dennis Bergkamp's Premier League assists

Dennis Bergkamp's Premier League assists

 

 

All-time Arsenal Premier League assists

All-time Arsenal Premier League assists

 

 

Arsenal players with more than 100 Premier League goals and assists combined

Arsenal players with more than 100 Premier League goals and assists combined

 

Bergkamp retired as the Club's 10th all-time leading scorer (he's now 11th in the list) with 120 goals to his name, but he also contributed an impressive number of assists.

In fact the former Ajax forward assisted 94 Premier League goals for Arsenal, which is 20 more than the next most for the Club in the competition (Thierry Henry). It's also the third most in Premier League history, behind Ryan Giggs (162) and Frank Lampard (101), who both played at least 250 more games.

 

"Bergkamp assisted 94 Premier League goals for the Gunners… 20 more than the next best Arsenal player"

Bergkamp averaged an assist once every 3.35 games, and his most prolific season in terms of assists was 1998/99 (13).

 
Although it took him eight games to find the net for Arsenal, Bergkamp gave his first assist in just his second game - a 2-0 win over Everton at Goodison Park on August 23, 1995. He played a superb through-ball for Ian Wright to run onto and score late in the match.
 
Overall Bergkamp scored or assisted once every 122 minutes during his Premier League career on average, and is second only to Henry in terms of combined Premier League assists and goals for Arsenal.
 
Incidentally, in the history of the Premier League, Mesut Ozil has the best assists to games ratio of any player at any club, with one every 2.63 games (minimum 10 appearances).

All of Bergkamp's goals

2005/06    
Apr 15, 2006 v West Bromwich Albion 3-1 1
Dec 28, 2005 v Portsmouth 4-0 1
Sep 14, 2005 v FC Thun 1
2004/05    
May 15, 2005 v Birmingham City 1-2 1
May 11, 2005 v Everton 7-0 1
Feb 14, 2005 v Crystal Palace 5-1 1
Feb 1, 2005  v Man United 2-4 1
Jan 23, 2005 v Newcastle United 1-0 1
Aug 28, 2004 v Norwich City 4-1  1
Aug 22, 2004 v Middlesbrough 5-3 1
Aug 15, 2004 v Everton 4-1 1
2003/04    
Mar 20, 2004 v Bolton Wanderers 2-1 1
Feb 7, 2004 v Wolves 3-1 1
Jan 24, 2004 v Middlesbrough 4-1 1
Dec 14, 2003 v Blackburn 1-0 1
Nov 22, 2003 v Birmingham City 3-0 1
2002/03    
May 4, 2003 v Leeds United 2-3 1
Feb 22, 2003 v Man City 5-1 1
Jan 29, 2003 v Liverpool 2-2 1
Jan 25, 2003 v Farnborough Town 5-1  1
Jan 4, 2003 v Oxford  1
Nov 23, 2002 v Southampton 2-3 1
Sep 17, 2002 v Borussia Dortmund 2-0 1
2001/02    
May 11, 2002 v Everton 4-3 1
Mar 30, 2002 v Sunderland 3-0 1
Mar 23, 2002 v Newcastle 3-0 1
Mar 2, 2002 v Newcastle 2-0  1
Feb 27, 2002 v Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 1
Jan 30, 2002 v Blackburn 3-2 2
Jan 27, 2002 v Liverpool 1-0 1
Jan 5, 2002 v Watford 4-2 1
Oct 24, 2001 v Real Mallorca 3-1 1
Oct 20, 2001  v Blackburn 3-3 1
Sep 15, 2001 v Fulham 3-1 1
Aug 18, 2001 v Middlesbrough 4-0 2
2000/01    
Feb 21, 2001 v Lyon 1-1 1
Feb 3, 2001 v Coventry 1-0 1
Jan 27, 2001 v QPR 6-0 1
Oct 28, 2000 v Man City 5-0 1
Sep 23, 2000 v Ipswich Town 1-1 1
1999/00    
Apr 6, 2000 v Lens 1-0 1
Mar 12, 2000 v Middlesbrough 1-2  1
Mar 2, 2000 v Deportivo 5-1  1
Feb 26, 2000 v Southampton 3-1 1
Nov 25, 1999  v Nantes 3-0 1
Nov 20, 1999 v Middlesbrough 5-1 2
Oct 19, 1999 v Barcelona 2-4 1
Aug 10, 1999 v Derby 2-1 1
Aug 7, 1999 v Leicester 2-1 1
1998/99    
Apr 19, 1999 v Wimbledon 5-1 1
Apr 14, 1999 v Man United 1-2  1
Apr 6, 1999 v Blackburn 1-0 1
Mar 13, 1999 v Everton 2-0 1
Mar 9, 1999 v Sheff Wed 3-0 2
Feb 23, 1999 v Sheff United 2-1 1
Feb 6, 1999 v West Ham 4-0 1
Jan 31, 1999 v Chelsea 1-0 1
Jan 24, 1999 v Wolves 2-1 1
Dec 20, 1998 v Leeds 3-1 1
Dec 13, 1998 v Aston Villa 2-3 2
Oct 21, 1998 v Dynamo Kiev 1-1 1
Oct 4, 1998 v Newcastle 3-0 2
1997/98    
Apr 25, 1998 v Barnsley 2-0 1
Apr 18, 1998 v Wimbledon 5-0 1
Apr 13, 1998 v Blackburn 4-1 1
Mar 28, 1998 v Sheff Wed 1-0 1
Mar 8, 1998 v West Ham 1-1 1
Feb 25, 1998 v Crystal Palace 2-1 1
Feb 18, 1998 v Chelsea 1-3 1
Jan 31, 1998 v Southampton 3-0 1
Jan 17, 1998 v Coventry 2-2 1
Jan 14, 1998 v Port Vale 1-1 1
Nov 18, 1997 v Coventry 1-0 1
Oct 4, 1997 v Barnsley 5-0 2
Sep 30, 1997 v PAOK Salonika 1-1 1
Sep 24, 1997 v West Ham 4-0 1
Sep 21, 1997 v Chelsea 3-2 2
Aug 27, 1997 v Leicester  3
Aug 23, 1997 v Southampton 3-1  2
1996/97    
May 11, 1997 v Derby 3-1 1
Apr 5, 1997 v Chelsea 3-0 1
Mar 8, 1997 v Notts forest 2-0 2
Mar 1, 1997 v Everton 2-0 1
Feb 19, 1997 v Man United 1-2 1
Jan 19, 1997 v Everton 3-1 1
Jan 15, 1997 v Sunderland 2-0 1
Jan 1, 1997 v Middlesbrough 2-0 1
Nov 24, 1996 v Tottenham 3-1 1
Nov 13, 1996 v Stoke 5-2 1
Oct 26, 1996 v Leeds 3-0 1
Aug 24, 1996 v Leicester 2-0 1
Aug 17, 1996 v West Ham 2-0 1
1995/96    
May 5, 1996 v Bolton 2-1  1
Mar 16, 1996 v Wimbledon 3-0 1
Mar 2, 1996 v QPR 1-1 1
Feb 14, 1996 v Aston Villa 2-2 2
Feb 10, 1996 v Notts Forest 1-0 1
Feb 3, 1996 v Coventry 1-1 1
Nov 21, 1995 v Sheff Wed 4-2  1
Nov 18, 1995 v Tottenham 1-2 1
Nov 4, 1995 v Man United 1-0 1
Oct 24, 1995 v Barnsley 3-0 1
Oct 14, 1995 v Leeds 3-0 1
Oct 3, 1995 v Hartlepool 5-0 2
Sep 23, 1995 v Southampton 4-2 2

 

Who he scored against

Who he scored against

Stats correct as at February 20, 2014. With thanks to Opta

 

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