IT is always easy to forget that Dennis Bergkamp was not an Arsene Wenger signing, so perfectly suited was he to the Frenchman’s beautiful football philosophy. It was actually Bruce Rioch who rescued the Dutchman from his unhappy spell at Internazionale when he brought him to Highbury for £7.5m in 1995.

Wenger joined the club a year later and set about building the rest of the playing staff into a team worthy of playing with Bergkamp. Today in 2006 Bergkamp and the Gunners bade each other a tearful farewell when Arsenal took on his first club Ajax in his testimonial game.

Former stars such as Ian Wright, Emmanuel Petit, Patrick Vieira and Marc Overmars were some of the names to return for the Gunners while Johan Cruyff and Holland manager Marco van Basten came on for Ajax in the last 10 minutes. Thierry Henry even chartered a private jet to fly back from a family holiday in the USA for the match.

Bergkamp’s last competitive match for Arsenal had been the last ever match at Highbury when the Gunners had said goodbye to their former home with a 4-2 win over Wigan Athletic.

Fittingly, his testimonial was the first match to be played at their new Emirates Stadium. It was an opportunity for the fans to say goodbye to one of their best loved heroes, while also getting a first look at the new stadium - crucial to the future success of the club.

Ajax’s Dutch international striker Klass-Jan Huntelaar had the honour of scoring the first goal at the 60,000 capacity stadium in the first half before Thierry Henry netted the first Arsenal goal at the ground to equalise, with former Gunner Kanu scoring the winner for the hosts.

In an emotional speech after the final whistle Bergkamp said: “If I was to have a testimonial it was always going to be against Ajax and their fans have put in a lot of effort to come here.

“My mum and dad were always there from the beginning and have probably seen every game.

“And my wife has been amazing over the years. You can’t do a career like this alone and if it wasn’t for her I would not be here.

“It’s difficult to say goodbye. I’ve had a fantastic time over the last 11 years and a big part were the fans and how they treated me - they have been fantastic.”

In 11 years at the club the B.A. Baracus of football (I ain’t gettin’ on no plane fool!) scored 120 goals in 423 games, won the Premiership three times and the FA Cup four times.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for another tale from us, but before you go take a couple of minutes to watch Bergkamp’s greatest hits below - it’s well worth it.

Also on this football day, Fergie was splashing the cash at Manchester United.

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