View Full Version : Emirates Stadium - Countdown to Kick Off
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Arsenal Football Club's fantastic new Emirates Stadium has reached practical completion with final preparations being made ahead of the first ever match to be held there in only five days time, Dennis Bergkamp's Testimonial on Saturday, 22 July.
After 123 weeks and two days, and six million man hours since work began on the new stadium, Emirates Stadium is now just five days way from hosting it's first ever match, 68 days after the final farewell to Highbury.
20,000 supporters will also get the chance to have the very first look at the new stadium ahead of the Testimonial, as part of a 'Members' Day' initiative for Arsenal members on Thursday, 20 July.
Arsenal Manager, Arsène Wenger, commented:
"Everyone at the Club has worked really hard on the stadium project and have done so well in getting it ready on time. It has been seven years since the Club first announced the initial plans for the new stadium but I'm sure the fans will agree it has been worth the wait when they experience the fantastic new facilities and great views as they take their seats for the first time.
"We are delighted that the stadium has reached practical completion and are really looking forward to what we hope will be a very successful first season and future at our new home. It is a fitting tribute that the first match at Emirates Stadium and a new chapter in the Club's history gets underway with a match in honour of a true Arsenal Legend, Dennis Bergkamp."
Arsenal's new 60,000 capacity Emirates Stadium is 41.4 metres from ground level to its highest point and covers a site of 17 acres. The four tiers of seating will all be covered by a roof of approximately 27,200m2.
Over 9,300 construction employees have worked on site at the stadium in which 55,000 cubic metres of concrete, 10,000 tons of steel reinforcement and 15,000m2 of glazing has been used. 3,000 tons of tubular steel in the main roof and 4,500 metres of metal hand railing are included within the stadium which also has over 2,000 doors and 100 flights of stairs.
Emirates Stadium has the capacity for up to 250 Wheelchair Users and 250 Ambulant Disabled spaces, provided at all public and corporate levels throughout the building. There are 150 Executive Boxes, compared to 48 boxes at Highbury, which have the total capacity to serve up to 2,000 meals on a matchday. 250 catering serving points feature around Emirates Stadium and over 900 WCs, together with 370 metres of urinals and 113 Disabled toilets will be in use.
The overall project, which cost £390 million in total and required 2,500 legal documents to be signed to get clearance, will create 2,600 new jobs and over 2,500 new homes in the London Borough of Islington.
Emirates Stadium by day
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...and by night
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http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=News&article=403693&lid=NewsHeadline&Title=Emirates+Stadium+-+Countdown+to+Kick+Off
I'm looking forward to the game its live on channel 5 on Saturday should be a good game.
Dennis Bergkamp was a great player for Arsenal over the years and hope he has a great retirement
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Arsenal supporters will sing “we’ve got Dennis Bergkamp” for the last time on Saturday
The 37-year-old Dutch striker is one of the greatest players to play the game let alone pull on a red and white shirt. So it is fitting that his final match should be a star-studded testimonial game to open Emirates Stadium.
Bergkamp and the new ground have much common. They are both huge in footballing stature, Arsenal to the core and very accommodating. At his final press conference as a professional footballer, Bergkamp seemed touched to have been granted the honour of having the first match.
“It feels right to have a taste of Emirates Stadium,” he said. “It says a lot about the club and the people I have worked with. You see the fans buying tickets and then others saying they can’t get any because they are sold out. When that happens it really comes to your mind that people do appreciate what you have done and they want to pay that back in some sort of way.
“Last season I slowly got into the idea that I was retiring. But this game really will be my last one. You are always going to miss a lot of things: the simple things - the dressing room, the humour then the going into training then there are the big things playing in full stadiums and feeling the pressure.
“I have been playing football as a professional since I was 17 and I joined Ajax when I was 12. So it is 25 years football has been my life. That will end on Saturday afternoon and that will be strange.”
It must be remembered that when Bergkamp broke the mould when he came over here. He was not only a foreign player but a world name. Few of those had been seen in England before he moved from Inter in 1995. Technically excellent, wonderfully wise and deadly in the penalty area, the discipline and commitment that made him exceptional has now become the rule for any ambitious English footballer. He also helped change 'boring, boring Arsenal' into one of the most attractive sides in Europe. But he is quick to give others credit for that as well.
“Maybe in years to come and I will look back on this period maybe I will see the difference in the Club,” he said. “I do think I had a contribution to the attacking style. The statistics are certainly good in my Arsenal career. But there are so many other factors as well. Maybe I was part of it at the start but then the boss came. After that Overmars, Vieira, Petit, came in too.
“If you look at this team now they are all world-class players. Maybe they would not have played 15 years ago but they do now.”
Saturday’s friendly will be a game of two halves; the current Arsenal and Ajax squad contesting the first, all-time XIs from the two clubs contesting the second. Ian Wright, Patrick Vieira and Johan Cruyff are confirmed, a host of big names will join them.
“It is going to be special,” said Bergkamp. “I had a little bit of an experience with DB10 Day last season. That was quite emotional, this going to be a bit more. The most important thing is that I enjoy the day and share it with some of the other players.”
It is customary for the testimonee to get a goal on his big day. Some of the proceeds of the gate are going to charity but Bergkamp does not want the same from his fellow players.
“I don’t think they will [gift a goal] and if they did I would feel a little bit embarrassed. If it is my own effort then fine.”
To be honest the best defences in the world have barely been able to stop Dennis Bergkamp so Saturday’s sides don’t stand much of a chance.
* Event starts at 4.15pm - Saturday 22nd July 06
Dennis Bergkamp Testimonial Match - Arsenal v Ajax (http://www.arsenal.com/matchreport.asp?thisNav=fixtures&fxid=295613)
Match Menu
http://www.arsenal.com/matchmenu.asp?thisNav=The+Match&fxid=295613
If Anyone Wants To Watch The Match Switch over to Channel Five Now
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Come On Bergkamp & You Gunners.... :bigsmile:
Arsenal 2 - 1 Ajax
It was the end of an era and the start of another.
Arsenal Football Club played their first game at their new home on Saturday but, alas, it was a farewell testimonial for Dennis Bergkamp
After 11 years, 423 games, 120 goals and millions of wonderful memories, it was time for this exceptionally talented footballer to hang up his boots. Only something massive and memorable would be good enough to rightly reflect his impact on Arsenal Football Club and fortunately this occasion fitted the bill perfectly. The ground, the atmosphere and the legendary level of the players involved were just right.
Emirates Stadium was limited to 54,000, around 6,000 below capacity, but the demand for tickets had been incredible. Specially-made T-shirts were left on the seats as they had been for the final game at Highbury so the ground was a sea of red, white and orange when the stadium was formally opened with a small ceremony 45 minutes before kick-off.
At the start of the game, the current squads of Ajax and Arsenal came out and formed a guard of honour for Bergkamp, along with his family, to walk out and wave their hello’s. The goodbyes would be for later.
Dennis’ father Wim ceremonially kicked off the match and the first few flicks were exchanged by three generations of Bergkamps with 10-year-old Mitchell playing a role.
This would be a proper game of two halves. The first 45 minutes was current Arsenal v current Ajax. The second 45 minutes would be Arsenal Legends v Ajax Legends. In truth no one would care about the result as long as Bergkamp got a goal.
The current Arsenal was shorn of the vast majority of its World Cup players. Alex Hleb, Mathieu Flamini and Pascal Cygan provided the bulk of the experience. The visitors, backed by a few thousand fans in the south-east corner of the ground, captured the early initiative.
In the ninth minute Klaas Jan Huntelaar unleashed a shot that Manuel Almunia fisted wide from the corner, Hedwiges Maduro steered a header around the post.
On the quarter-hour Arsenal got their first chance. Armand Traore had already produced a couple of thumping challenges. The left back impressed further when he got to the by-line and cut the ball back for Jeremie Aliadiere to swivel on the six-yard box and fire off a shot that Maarten Stekelenburg held high above his head.
A few minutes later Hleb’s pull-back allowed Bergkamp to go for one of his famous chips. For once it drifted just over the bar.
The game did not really match the occasion after that with neither side creating much in front of goal. Eight minutes before the break, Edgar Manucharyan found some space on the left and cross the near post where the leaping Hunterlaar volley past Mart Poom. A minute later the Estonian keeper did just enough to stop the unmarked Manucharyan adding a second.
At the break ex-Arsenal keeper Bob Wilson announced the Legends team for the second half. Ajax included Frank Rijkaard, Jan Wouters, Wim Jonk, the De Boer brothers, Edgar Davids and Edwin van der Sar in their side. Johan Cryuff was their manager. Arsenal included Thierry Henry, David Seaman, Lee Dixon, Nigel Winterburn, Patrick Vieira, Ian Wright, Steve Bould, Marc Overmars, Edu, Ray Parlour, Kanu and Emmanuel Petit. The stars truly had come out to honour Bergkamp.
Eight minutes in the second half, Arsenal equalised. Bergkamp fed Dixon on the right, who floated a cross to the near post as he had throughout the ‘90s at Highbury. Henry latched on to it, held off his marker and side-footed a shot past Van der Sar from close range.
Arsenal now had the upperhand. Gilles Grimandi sprayed a perfect long ball to Overmars and the little winger cut inside to thump a drive into Van der Sar’s chest.
Just past the hour, Davids burst through and flicked the ball past Seaman. All he had to do was tap the ball into the net but Grimandi raced up and brought him down. Given that the ex-Tottenham midfielder had been getting so playful stick from the crowd ever since he came on, this was a very popular move. However justice was not served when Ronald de Boer hoofed the penalty over the bar.
With 10 minutes left, the crowd was sprung two surprises. Ajax brought on two players from whom the word ‘legend’ is not good enough — Johan Cryuff and Marco van Basten.
The latter showed his class almost immediately, flicking the ball over the head of Bould at the near post and forcing a fine one-handed save out of Alex Manninger.
Ian Wright hit the sidenetting then, in the final minute, Kanu darted inside and saw his shot deflect off Jaap Stam and beat keeper Stanley Menzo at the near post for the winning goal.
All we needed now was a Bergkamp goal. It almost came with the last kick of the match but Menzo saved with his legs.
After the final whistle, Bergkamp received a special presentation from the chairman of Arsenal and the board of Ajax. He said a few words to the crowd, did a lap of honour and was lifted on to the shoulders of the Legends.
With that, and a fanfare of fireworks, Bergkamp’s career ended.
Some players elicit admiration, some provide inspiration, a precious few can do both. But this man was one of them. His cast-iron technique was forged on the youth team training ground at Ajax and his steely character developed at Inter but his best years will always belong to Arsenal.
And we were so, so lucky to have him.
Arsenal goalscorers: Henry 55, Kanu 80
Ajax goalscorers: Huntelaar 37
First-half Arsenal: Manuel Almunia, Justin Hoyte, Pascal Cygan, Matthew Connolly, Armand Traore; Alex Hleb, Alex Song, Mathieu Flamini, Ryan Smith; Dennis Bergkamp, Jeremie Aliadiere
Subs: Mart Poom, Sebastian Larsson, Nicklas Bendtner, Fabrice Muamba, Joe O’Cearuill, Mark Randall, Vincent Van den Berg, Arturo Lupoli, Anthony Stokes.
Second-half Arsenal squad: David Seaman, Lee Dixon, Nigel Winterburn, Steve Bould, Gilles Grimandi, Marc Overmars, Emmanuel Petit, Edu, Ray Parlour; Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, Ian Wright, Oleg Luzhny, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Alex Manninger, Patrick Vieira, Glenn Helder, Kanu.
First-half Ajax: Maarten Stekelenburg, Zdenek Grygera, John Heitinga, Jaap Stam, Thomas Vermaelen, Hedwiges Maduro, Kenneth Perez, Wesley Sneijder, Jan Vertonghen, Tom de Mul, Klaas Jan Huntelaar
Subs: Olaf Lindenbergh, Urby Emanuelson, George Ogararu, Ryan Babel, Edgar Manucharyan, Robbert Schilder, Markus Rosenberg.
Second-half Ajax squad: Edwin Van der Sar, Stanley Menzo, Danny Blind, Wim Jonk, Frank de Boer, Marciano Vink, Aron Winter, Ronald de Boer, Edgar Davids, Jan Wouters, Stefan Pettersson, Bryan Roy, Johan Cruyff, Frank Rijkaard, Marco Van Basten.
Bergkamp greets Van Basten
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The final farewell to an Arsenal legend
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Arsenal chants of "We've got Dennis Bergkamp" are a thing of the past now the Dutchman has played his final game for the club.
One of English football's greatest imports bowed out after 25 years in the game with a testimonial between the Gunners and Ajax.
Having started out at the Ajax academy as a 12-year-old, Bergkamp worked his way into the first team before moving on to Inter Milan and Arsenal, where his virtuoso displays have made him a club legend.
BBC Sport reflects on Bergkamp's life in football with photos and statistics from his career and quotes from the man himself.
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Bergkamp's £12m move from Ajax to Inter proved a disaster as Italy's stifling catenaccio style of football suffocated his fluency and flair.
Arsenal breathed new life into the Dutchman and Bruce Rioch's capture of the striker for £7.5m looks like one of the game's great bargains. But why the Gunners?
"The decision I made was to leave Italy and the first team that knocked on the door was Arsenal.
"They were a solid team and that's what you want, a base where you can fit in before you try to add something. Straight away I thought 'This could work' and I didn't know anything about 'Boring, Boring Arsenal' at that time."
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When Bergkamp moved to Arsenal in August 1995 he left with the words of Inter president Massimo Moratti ringing in his ears: "They will be lucky if he scores 10 goals this season."
At first that seemed prescient with "Desperate Den" headlines accompanying each match that passed without a goal.
But after seven blanks he scored a brace against Southampton at Highbury to set the ball rolling.
"You could call it a bad start if you compare it to everything that came after. It took time to get used to the change from Italy, but I enjoyed it and once that first goal went in it took the pressure off."
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The goals have kept coming and he is in the top 10 of Arsenal's all-time goalscorers.
Bergkamp has notched 120 goals in 423 matches, a collection that would make fine viewing in his dotage on a DVD. As Thierry Henry has said: "When Dennis Bergkamp scores, it's not a common goal, it's always what we call 'a Dennis Bergkamp goal'."
The 'Non-Flying Dutchman's' return would have been greater but for aviophobia which prevented him from playing away in Europe.
How does his Arsenal return match up to those at his former clubs?
Inter Milan: 11 goals in 52 games
Ajax: 103 goals in 185 games
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Arsene Wenger became Arsenal boss in Bergkamp's second season and with his arrival the Highbury revolution began in earnest.
That 'Boring, Boring Arsenal' tag was soon nothing more than a distant memory with Bergkamp orchestrating proceedings.
"I feel I had a contribution to Arsenal's attacking style but there are so many other factors.
"I was part of the start and then the boss came, Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, Marc Overmars and then on to this team where they're basically all world-class players. Maybe 15 years ago they wouldn't have played for Arsenal, but they do now and I helped that."
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Bergkamp's precision finally won prizes in 1998 when he guided Arsenal to their second double.
At the start of the season manager Arsene Wenger said: "Can you not say he is the best player in the world right now? If there is a better one then I have not seen him."
His number 10 lived up to the billing and the 'Iceman' showed cool composure in front of goal scoring 22 in all competitions as well as setting up numerous others.
The club swept all before them with a style and swagger far removed from their previous successes and the fans were "Walking in a Bergkamp Wonderland".
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Along with all the silverware, Bergkamp memorably recorded a clean sweep in Match of the Day's Goal of the Month competition that season, a haul that included his favourite in Arsenal colours.
Late in injury time at Leicester he collected a clipped pass on the left, brought the ball down with his right foot, flicked it past the defender with his left and slotted a sumptuous side-footed shot home.
"When you play you have certain things in your mind you want to achieve and when the ball came there was something in my mind and I wanted to do it like that.
"It worked out exactly as I planned in my head two seconds before."
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At the end of that mercurial season he went to the World Cup where he lit up Holland's march to the last four with another stunning goal.
In a mirror image of his Leicester effort, he collected a deep pass with one touch and scored with the next to beat Argentina.
"You have to make the movement first to get some space and then the control and finish should be good. There's a lot of skill involved and it all has to come together so I'm proud of those sorts of goals."
Bergkamp quit international football two years later after the Euro 2000 semi-finals having scored 37 goals in 79 internationals - then Dutch record.
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That 1997/98 season was Bergkamp's most productive for Arsenal in front of goal.
His return slowly tailed off after turning 30 in May 1999, but he remained a key component of the squad, scoring decisive goals.
In his final season he came off the bench to secure wins against FC Thun and West Brom, in which he scored his last goal.
Facts: 23% of his goals were from outside the box and 85% came off that superlative right foot. His 0.29 ratio of goals-per-game is better than the 0.2 he managed at Inter, but falls short of the 0.56 at Ajax.
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But Bergkamp's game is about much more than just goals, as highlighted by his tally of assists.
He has kept every team he has played in ticking over, threading passes through the eye of a needle to release team-mates with an all-seeing vision and in his first four years at Arsenal he played a part in more than 40% of their goals.
Manager Arsene Wenger has described him as having "intelligence and class" on the field.
"Class is linked to what you can do with the ball, but intelligence makes you use the technique in an efficient way. What he does, there's always a head and a brain."
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It comes as no surprise that Bergkamp's time at Arsenal has coincided with his major strike partners breaking the club's scoring record, not once, but twice.
First came Ian Wright. His verdict: "He's the messiah. We told him to get us into Europe when he joined and that's exactly what he did."
And Thierry Henry: "Dennis is the best player I have ever played with as a partner. It is a dream for a striker to have him in the team with you."
The ever-diplomatic and modest Dutchman on his favourite partner: "It's difficult to compare but I've been lucky. They helped me to become a better player."
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What were you doing on 22 August 2004?
Bergkamp, along with Thierry Henry, was presiding over a remarkable comeback against Middlesbrough in what he regards as his favourite Arsenal match.
"I was captain and it made me proud. It was one of the few times in my career I really felt like the leader on the pitch, leading by example and leading younger players.
"We went from 3-1 down to winning 5-3. It was special and there was a fantastic atmosphere in the dressing room afterwards as it kept our unbeaten run going."
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That run of wins eventually came to a halt on 49 with a defeat at Manchester United, but by then the Gunners had gone a whole season without losing in securing the title - a feat Bergkamp describes as "amazing".
But was the Arsenal team that lifted the title in 2004 better than the ones that won the double in 1998 or 2002?
"It's difficult to make comparisons as football always move on.
"The achievement in 1998 was good, we didn't use more than 18 players. But on the other side, to go unbeaten in 2004 was an amazing thing and we did it playing some fantastic, fluent football."
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As well as the memories, Bergkamp also has a haul of honours on which he can reflect.
At Ajax he won a title, two Dutch Cups, the European Cup Winners Cup, a Uefa Cup and was twice Player of the Year and European Player of the Year in 1993.
With Inter he again lifted the Uefa Cup: "Somehow we managed to win it, which was a positive, but I can't think of many others."
And then at Arsenal there have been three Premiership titles, four FA Cup victories, Player's Player of the Year and Football Writers Player of the Year awards in 1998 and he has scored the goal of the season in 1998 and 2002.
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Bergkamp has insisted down the years that he harbours no ambition to become a manager and is happy to walk away from the game - and who can blame him with a reported £37m in the bank.
But is the 37-year-old having second thoughts now that retirement looms large?
"It will be hard to let go but there are other things out there to do and I'm going to take a break. When I get bored of that I'll see what happens.
"A lot of people say you always come back to what you are good at. Football has been 25 years of my life, so maybe I'll come back to it in some sort of way."
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