‘True leader’ and ‘real captain’ – Premier League legend who bounced back from alcoholism is coming to Dublin

Dennis Bergkamp told a story about a bus journey home from an FA Cup tie with Middleborough in January of 1998. Arsenal won 2-1. Bergkamp provided the assist for the first goal, scored by his Dutch compatriot Marc Overmars.

As cultural highlights go, there wasn’t a crush of media moguls looking to buy the rights to the movie. It didn’t seem like the sort of occasion that might ignite a season or a career.

By then, Bergkamp was two-and-a-half years in North London but hadn’t a medal to show for it. Flashes of his genius were intense, but the glare just hid the fact that they were less frequent than Arsenal needed.

Tony Adams boarded the team bus, saw Bergkamp sitting alone, plonked himself down and said something that had been wandering his mind: “You've been here two-and-a-half years, Dennis. Isn't it about time you won something? It would be a shame not to, with your ability.”

Get your tickets for Indo Sport Football Live with Tony Adams and Joe Molloy on Wednesday, August 6 in Vicar Street here

Bergkamp has a reputation as an even cooler social customer than he was on the pitch. He had always respected Adams though. That dated back to a friendly at Highbury with Inter Milan, not long after Bergkamp signed from the Nerazzurri.

Inter captain Nicola Berti spent the game calling Bergkamp ‘Beavis’, after the titular character from the MTV show. Adams, as was his wont, made it clear to Berti that his afternoon wouldn’t end well if he kept it up.

Three months later, Arsenal had done the double. Bergkamp was crowned player of the year. His highlights reel that year are what you might describe online as footballing porn.

That famous hat-trick versus Leicester and that sublime strike to beat Holland in the World Cup, the most explicit material in the Bergkamp seasonal canon.

“He was the main man,” Patrick Vieira, the man who would inherit the Arsenal captaincy, once said of Adams, “just the way that he was standing there in the dressing room, or when he was leading the team walking through the tunnel, he was a true leader.

“He’s a true leader. That’s what I call a real captain, he would take all the responsibility, he’s really vocal and on the field of course he’s got this kind of leadership, he’s driving the players, but I loved Tony and how he was in the dressing room.”

It’s an easy image to conjure of Adams, who was made captain of Arsenal at the age of 21 and held it for 14 years. It is also totally juxtaposed against the person who spent four months in HMP Chelmsford in 1990 for drink-driving.

The same player who, after England were beaten in the semi-final of Euro ’96 by Germany on penalties, went on a 44-day bender. Forty-four days? Even allowing for the cultural adjustment of the past 20 years, that is some stint.

It started within an hour of Gareth Southgate missing his penalty on June 26 and ended on August 16. That was when he gave up alcohol. A month later, Arsène Wenger was appointed Arsenal manager.

Adams commitment to sobriety was such that he once drank 27 cappuccinos at an Arsenal Christmas party having pledged to match his teammates’ drink count. What is it that they say about people with extreme tendencies?

Despite enjoying a wonderful renaissance under Wenger, the two fell out years later when, after some ill-fated attempts at translating all that big captain energy into management, he was turned down for a coaching role at Arsenal.

Effectively, he couldn’t get a job at a club that has a statue of him outside their stadium. Eaten bread, etc.

Don’t miss Tony Adams speaking to Joe Molloy at Indo Sport Football Live on Wednesday, August 6 in Vicar Street in association with Sky Sports. Damien Delaney and Gary Breen will also be on hand to preview the new Premier League season. get your tickets here.

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