Arsenal have a long history of launching the careers of young players, with Ashley Cole, Cesc Fabregas, Jack Wilshere and Bukayo Saka having all progressed into the first team as breakout stars.
In January 2004, Gunners fans welcomed what they thought would be another prospect for Arsene Wenger’s starting XI at Highbury, during a 4-1 rout of Middlesbrough in the FA Cup fourth round.
With the game looking fairly comfortable for Arsenal, Wenger decided to throw on youngster David Bentley in place of Denis Bergkamp in the 84th minute, with the winger making just his sixth appearance for the club.
Arsenal supporters welcome David Bentley after stunning finish
He quickly made his mark on the game, too, delivering a sumptuous chip over Mark Schwarzer in the final minute of the match with his weaker left foot to ensure Arsenal were heading into the fifth round of the Cup without any late mishaps.
“My first goal for Arsenal, at Highbury, down the Clock End where I used to train in the youth team. It was a lovely chip that drew comparisons with Dennis Bergkamp – he was a player I was tipped to maybe emulate at the time,” Bentley tells FourFourTwo.
“It was a great goal, which always helps, but that feeling of scoring, at a place as iconic as Highbury, was like nothing else. Even though it was late in the game, the fans started singing my name: ‘We’ve got David Bentley!’.
“It felt like the moment I announced myself as a professional footballer – everything changed from the second that ball landed in the back of Middlesbrough’s net.”
Mentally, things may have changed for Bentley, but he still had to wait for more chances in the Arsenal first team. It took until May that year, nearly five months after his chip against Middlesbrough, before Bentley started his first game in the Premier League for Arsenal.
Ultimately, it proved his last for the club, with a loan spell at Norwich the next season leading to another loan at Blackburn, which was eventually made permanent by Rovers. After nine appearances in all competitions and one goal for Arsenal, Bentley departed Highbury as a 21-year-old in 2006.
In his first game for Blackburn after having made his loan move permanent, Bentley bagged a hat-trick in a 4-3 win against Manchester United. He earned a move to Arsenal’s bitter rivals Tottenham in 2008, where he spent the next five years interspersed with loan spells at Birmingham, West Ham, Rostov and Blackburn, before eventually retiring from professional football aged just 29 in 2014.