Bromley Football Club are ninth in the National League, enjoying a solid season in a league otherwise dominated by Hollywood-backed Wrexham and Notts County.

In their squad, however, they have Mitchel Bergkamp, son of the Arsenal legend Dennis. In Mitchell, there’s the story of a talented 24-year-old midfielder trying to make his way through English football, independently from his father’s greatness.

This is Mitchell’s first senior club, signed as a free agent after a spell with Watford under-23s. He also went through the age groups at Almere City in the Netherlands, after initially starting at Spakenburg Youth.

 

Bergkamp will never escape comparisons to his father, who earned 79 international caps for the Netherlands and made 552 appearances for Ajax, Inter Milan and Arsenal. His father is renowned as a legend of the game, but for Mitchel, the focus is helping Bromley to make it to the football league.

This season he has made seven appearances in the league and has one goal to his name.

This modest start suggests he is not setting the world alight at the London club, but in fairness he has only featured for 147 minutes since his move.

Just the name alone should not have indicated that Bergkamp was going to revolutionise Bromley’s season. And the club have been aware of that from the outset. 

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Manager Andy Woodman was Arsenal’s goalkeeping coach when Bergkamp was on trial with the club in 2021.

He told The Athletic: “He knows my thinking about where he is going to fit into our team, which he will do for sure.

“I spoke to him the other day, as I don’t want him to feel like he is on trial. He has come in on a short-term deal but the plan is for him to stay in London and play for Bromley for a couple of years.”

The pressure as a son of a great footballer does not just come from the fans, but within the team environment as well.

Mitchel’s teammate, goalkeeper Reice Charles-Cook said: “To us, Mitchel’s just another lad — if my dad was Dennis Bergkamp, I’d be letting everyone know!

“I’ve tried to test his mentality and he is very much, ‘I’m Mitchel Bergkamp, I’m my own person’.”