With a club as global as Arsenal, there are often a few heartening stories surrounding places in the world where some stars of years past have met up with current sporting legends.
It’s no different for Dennis Bergkamp, who was recognised for his role at Ajax, Inter Milan, and the Netherlands national team before he joined the Gunners.
The attacking midfielder’s intricate play saw him become a fan favourite at Arsenal, where he spent 11 years at the club.
Bergkamp even has his own statue outside the Emirates Stadium, which was unveiled in 2014 for his over 300 appearances and six trophies won there.
His influence stretched far beyond north London though, with there even being an unexpected link to Michael van Gerwen.
Michael van Gerwen’s tiling link to Arsenal icon Dennis Bergkamp
There is plenty of overlap between darts and football, not just in terms of the fanbase, but the players themselves too.
Both sports are upwardly mobile in terms of social mobility and offer a chance to move from everyday workman to superstar overnight.
While Michael van Gerwen was touted as a talent from a young age, he still put in plenty of graft in his youth, becoming a tiler.
While he has since won countless titles, including three PDC World Championships with a fourth in his sight this winter, there was a time when he was the one awestruck by sporting icons.
Speaking about his time as a tiler, and the job he once did for Arsenal legend Bergkamp, he told the Mirror in 2013: “Yes, it’s true – when I was a teenager, I used to work as a tiler back home in Holland, and the biggest job I ever had was putting up the tiles in Dennis Bergkamp’s bathroom.
“He lived in a massive house near Hilversum, it was a beautiful place and the kind of luxury you can only dream about when you are a kid starting out as a darts player.
“We had to make sure we did a really good job on it. You don’t want to mess up when you are working for a legend like Bergkamp.
“Of course, I do not expect to earn as much from playing darts as one of the world’s top footballers, but after winning the Players Championship a couple of weeks ago I was told my career earnings had gone past £1 million.
“When I was fitting those tiles, I never thought I would be a millionaire by the time I was 24.”
It’s a bizarre link, but one that doesn’t appear to stop there between Arsenal players and their darts counterparts.
Arsenal links with PDC World Darts Championship
While some players like Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and Stephen Bunting all show their support for other clubs in England, there is a slightly closer link between Arsenal and darts players.
Former striker Robin van Persie was a keen fan of Raymond van Barneveld, with the forward watching his fellow countryman on several occasions.
In 2007, he revealed to the Arsenal programme, via the PDC, how the darts inspired him just before a brace for the Gunners against Charlton the following day, stating: “I started watching the final when Phil Taylor was 3-0 up, and it was a brilliant match, amazing for Barney and Holland.
“It inspired me because when I got home I went to find the dartboard my dad had bought me last year.”
On top of that, during the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship, Arsenal stars Declan Rice and Aaron Ramsdale were seen posing with Luke Littler during his breakout year on the world stage.
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