Speaker 1: It's July nineteen ninety four.
Speaker 2: The Dutch national team have just been knocked out of
Speaker 2: the FIFA World Cup in the USA. After topping their group.
Speaker 2: The Netherlands comfortably defeated Ireland two nil in the round
Speaker 2: of sixteen, but the quarterfinals was where their campaign ended,
Speaker 2: losing three to two to eventual champions Brazil.
Speaker 1: It was a grueling match.
Speaker 2: In the heat of Dallas, Dutch striker Dennis berg Camp
Speaker 2: is exhausted off the back of a difficult season for
Speaker 2: his club in Italy. Dennis was spent physically and mentally.
Speaker 2: All he wanted to do was go home, But sitting
Speaker 2: in his hotel room after the game, Dennis felt sick.
Speaker 2: He started trembling. Thoughts of the flight back to Amsterdam
Speaker 2: filled him with panic. He basically had to drag himself
Speaker 2: onto the plane. This was the beginning of something that
Speaker 2: would change dennisburg Camp's football career, a fear of flying. Hey,
Speaker 2: welcome to the ballroom where we celebrate the winners, losers
Speaker 2: and the weird stuff between.
Speaker 1: I'm Tony Armstrong.
Speaker 2: Dennisburg Camp was one of the greatest footballers of his generation,
Speaker 2: and his talent was clear to see from an early age.
Speaker 1: He was just eleven years old when he joined the.
Speaker 2: Youth academy at Ayas, the most successful club in the Netherlands.
Speaker 2: The young striker eventually worked his way up to the
Speaker 2: senior team, becoming a regular starter. By his early twenties,
Speaker 2: he'd won a league title and back to back Dutch
Speaker 2: Player of the Year awards.
Speaker 1: Dennis was a star in the making.
Speaker 2: In nineteen ninety three, he moved to Italy, signing with
Speaker 2: Inter Milan for seven pounds, an absolute steal by today's standards.
Speaker 2: It was especially good business given the nineties were very
Speaker 2: lean years for Inter, but they'd managed to lure one
Speaker 2: of the most exciting talents in world football. Dennis Bergkemp
Speaker 2: could have easily gone to Juventus or Barcelona, where trophies
Speaker 2: were almost guaranteed, but into Milan's style of play and
Speaker 2: club culture buddy him over. Dennis's first year in Italy
Speaker 2: was a challenging one. Into Milan struggled in the league,
Speaker 2: finishing thirteenth on the table. The only silver lining was
Speaker 2: winning the Yue for Cup. Then came USA ninety four.
Speaker 2: Dennis was already a key player for the Dutch national team,
Speaker 2: but not even his brilliance could overcome a classy Brazilian side.
Speaker 2: He helped his team fight back from Touneil down drawing level,
Speaker 2: but a cracking free kick sealed the win for Brazil
Speaker 2: and booked the Netherlands on the next flight home, and
Speaker 2: that's when aviophobia, a fear of flying began to emerge
Speaker 2: for dennis burg camp. Upon boarding the plane from Dallas
Speaker 2: to Amsterdam, Dennis's body felt heavy, like it was made
Speaker 2: of lead. It was only when the plane had taken
Speaker 2: off and climbed above the clouds that the feeling began
Speaker 2: to subside. When he finally got home, Dennis was so
Speaker 2: tired that he slept for two days, but still a
Speaker 2: general feeling of exhaustion lingered. Preseason training was due to
Speaker 2: commence in just ten days, and Dennis asked into Milan
Speaker 2: if he could take some extended leave, but his manager
Speaker 2: wasn't having it. Dennis pleaded, but no exceptions would be made.
Speaker 2: After a medical checkup, Dennis was cleared for training and
Speaker 2: as the new season got under way, he was soon
Speaker 2: required to fly for matches around Italy, often in small
Speaker 2: propeller planes. As Dennis recalled, this was not an enjoyable experience.
Speaker 2: They were those nasty little planes that stay in the
Speaker 2: clouds and shake all the time. When you looked out,
Speaker 2: all you could see was white or gray. Dennis began
Speaker 2: to low the way matches. He'd be looking up at
Speaker 2: the sky during games, dreading the flight home. It was
Speaker 2: impacting his football. He had to do something. Dennis flew
Speaker 2: a few more times until he just couldn't take it anymore.
Speaker 2: I saw that bone shaker with its propellers standing on
Speaker 2: the runway, and I broke out in a cold sweat.
Speaker 2: Dennis decided that he'd never fly again. For him, it
Speaker 2: was the right thing to do. He felt a weight
Speaker 2: lifted off his shoulders, his anxiety subsided, and his football improved,
Speaker 2: and most people were understanding. But Dennis's choice to remain
Speaker 2: grounded wasn't without its challenges. In nineteen ninety five, Dennis
Speaker 2: Berghamp was set to join English club Arsenal. He was
Speaker 2: excited about moving to North London and playing in front
Speaker 2: of the fans at Highbury Stadium, but contract negotiations hit
Speaker 2: a snag when Dennis declared that he was unable to
Speaker 2: fly for domestic games. This wouldn't be a major issue,
Speaker 2: but for European Cup matches. It meant that unless Dennis
Speaker 2: could easily reach the destination by train, he'd be staying
Speaker 2: at home. Arsenal respected his decision, but it also meant
Speaker 2: Dennis would be unavailable to play in some of the
Speaker 2: most important fixtures on the calendar. So the club cut
Speaker 2: his wages. If I said a million, Dennis explained, they
Speaker 2: automatically deducted one hundred grand. But Dennis didn't care as
Speaker 2: long as he didn't have to board another plane ever again.
Speaker 2: He'd go to any length to travel to as many
Speaker 2: games as possible, whether by car, train or ferry. If
Speaker 2: he had to leave a few days earlier to make
Speaker 2: it to a match in time, he'd do it. On
Speaker 2: the pitch, Dennis was lighting it up, scoring goals and
Speaker 2: helping Arsenal win games, but the mystique around him only
Speaker 2: grew among fans when his occasional absence from away matches
Speaker 2: caused confusion.
Speaker 1: But Dennis was open.
Speaker 2: About his phobia. I've got this problem and I have
Speaker 2: to live with it. I can't do anything about it.
Speaker 2: It's a psychological thing and I can't explain it. Fortunately,
Speaker 2: Arsenal and even the Dutch national team, where overseas travel
Speaker 2: was unavoidable, was sympathetic, but the same couldn't be said
Speaker 2: of the media. Dennis's phobia was regularly called into question.
Speaker 2: He was told he should do something to cure it,
Speaker 2: like taking a special course. That annoyed Dennis. There were
Speaker 2: even rumors he was afraid of trains two, which he dismissed.
Speaker 2: Why has my fear of flying been turned into.
Speaker 1: This soap opera? Surely it isn't such a big deal.
Speaker 1: I'm sick of it. It was frustrating, but he tried
Speaker 1: to let his football do the talking.
Speaker 2: That's what endeared him to the fans, his sublime skill
Speaker 2: and a deadly eye for goal.
Speaker 1: Dennis was affectionately named the non flying Dutchman.
Speaker 2: Many origin stories have been told about Dennis Bergham's fear
Speaker 2: of flying. Separate incidents that speculation says may have contributed
Speaker 2: to his phobia engines briefly cutting out midflight, a bomb
Speaker 2: thread on board, and a tragic nineteen eighty nine plane
Speaker 2: crash where fifteen Dutch footballers were among those who died.
Speaker 2: But following his retirement from the game, Dennis made it
Speaker 2: clear in his biography it all started in the summer
Speaker 2: of nineteen ninety four with those tiny propeller planes in Italy.
Speaker 2: When asked about how his aviophobia impacted his ability to play,
Speaker 2: Dennis responded, when I stopped flying, it freed me. Dennis
Speaker 2: Berghamp finished his career as an Arsenal legend after more
Speaker 2: than a decade with the club, a rarity in modern football.
Speaker 2: He helped the Gunners to three Premier League titles and
Speaker 2: a bunch more trophies eleven years, four hundred and twenty
Speaker 2: three games and one hundred and twenty goals. He may
Speaker 2: be the non flying Dutchman, but Dennis still reached summer
Speaker 2: football's greatest heights. Thanks for hanging out in the poolroom.
Speaker 2: This has been an iHeart production. We're going to take
Speaker 2: a break for a few weeks, then I'll be back
Speaker 2: with more cracking stories.
Speaker 1: I'm Tony Armstrong and I'll speak to you soon.