Thierry Henry – Career Overview

Thierry Henry is one of the greatest footballers of all time. A legend of the game, the Frenchman won a host of honours, including two Premier League titles and two FA Cups with Arsenal; La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League with Barcelona; and the World Cup and the Euros with France; as well as numerous individual awards.

Without wasting your time with a long introduction, let’s get into it.

Life in France

Thierry Henry was born on 17th August 1977 and is from Les Ulis, which Google Maps tells me is a southwestern suburb of Paris. He played for some local clubs, and unsurprisingly ripped things up there. He moved to Monaco’s youth academy when he was 13. Henry was handed his Monaco debut on 31st August 1994 by Arsene Wenger, who played him on the wing.

It didn’t take long for Henry’s career to kick off. In 1996 he won the French Young Player of the Year award. He won the league with Monaco in 1997, and scored seven goals during the club’s run to the Champions League semi-final in 1997/98. Henry made his France debut in the same season as a 20 year-old, and was in France’s squad for their 1998 World Cup win, during which he scored three goals in six appearances.

Juventus

Thierry Henry moved to Juventus in January 1999. Playing on the wing, he found it tough going against the solid Italian defences. After three goals in 16 Serie A games, Henry was on the move again: off to be reunited with his former manager, Arsene Wenger.

Arsenal

Wenger, well aware of Henry’s qualities having managed him at Monaco, brought him to Arsenal for a club-record fee of around £11m on 3rd August 1999. Henry was to be a replacement for Nicolas Anelka, who had left to sign for Real Madrid.

Henry had a tough start at Arsenal and it took him a while to get going. But once he did get going, he never really looked back. In his debut season in England, Henry scored 17 goals in 31 Premier League games as Arsenal finished second in the league and lost against Galatasaray in the UEFA Cup final.

Henry’s second season again ended in disappointment, as once again they finished second behind Manchester United and lost the FA Cup final to Liverpool. Henry was Arsenal’s top scorer with 17 Premier League goals in 35 appearances and was named in the PFA Team of the Year. One of those goals was this absolute screamer against Manchester United:

Random Screamer of the Day: This stunner by Thierry Henry for Arsenal against Manchester United#AFC pic.twitter.com/2eZUM7670P

— PremPlace (@PremPlace) June 24, 2024

Henry’s first success at Arsenal came in 2002 as they won the Premier League and FA Cup double. He scored 24 goals in 33 Premier League games and won the Premier League Golden Boot. Henry was again named in the PFA Team of the Year.

Arsenal and Henry retained the FA Cup after beating Southampton in 2003, but finished second to Manchester United in the Premier League. Henry narrowly missed out on the Golden Boot to Ruud van Nistelrooy, as the Dutchman’s 25 Premier League goals edged Henry’s 24.

But Henry did have an outstanding season. On top of his 24 Premier League goals, he made 20 assists, which was unprecedented. Twenty assists in a Premier League season went unmatched until 2019/20, when Kevin De Bruyne equalled Henry’s record. Henry won the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award and the Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year award. He finished second in the Ballon d’Or to Pavel Nedved and second in the FIFA World Player of the Year.

Henry also won the Premier League Goal of the Season with this stunning run against Tottenham (his statue outside the Emirates is based on this celebration):

This incredible goal from Thierry Henry won the Premier League Goal of the Season Award in 2002/03. #AFC pic.twitter.com/h5yqB035Xm

— PremPlace (@PremPlace) July 21, 2024

The 2003/04 season went down in history as Arsenal won the Premier League title unbeaten. Thierry Henry fired Arsenal to their unprecedented Invincibles season with 30 Premier League goals in 37 games. Henry was once again named the PFA Players’ Player of the Year, the Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season. He also won the Premier League Golden Boot and was again named in the Premier League Team of the Season, for the fourth consecutive time. He finished runner-up in the FIFA World Player of the Year for the second time.

Arsenal didn’t manage to win the Premier League in 2004/05 and finished second, behind Chelsea. They did win the FA Cup, beating Manchester United on penalties, although Henry missed the final through injury. Henry hit 25 Premier League goals in 32 appearances. His 30 goals in 42 games in all competitions saw him win the European Golden Boot as he finished level with Villarreal’s Diego Forlan. He picked up another Premier League Golden Boot, and do I need to say that he was named in the Premier League Team of the Season? This was his fifth time to be included.

Arsenal had no luck on the trophy front in 2005/06 as they only finished fourth in the Premier League and lost the Champions League final to Barcelona. It goes without saying that it was another stellar season for the Frenchman. Henry became Arsenal’s top scorer of all time on 18th October 2005 when he scored twice against Sparta Praha to beat Ian Wright’s record of 185 goals. Henry racked up an incredible 27 Premier League goals in just 32 games – with 33 goals in 45 appearances in all competitions. He added more trophies to his personal trophy cabinet, as he picked up the Premier League Golden Boot, the Premier League Player of the Season and the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year. Henry also made a sixth appearance in the PFA Team of the Year.

There were rumours that Henry would leave Arsenal after losing the Champions League final, but he stayed at the club. A 2006/07 season marred by injuries saw Henry net just 10 goals in 17 Premier League games. Causing complete and utter heartbreak for Arsenal fans, Henry left the club in 2007, signing for Barcelona for £16m. Henry cited the departure of David Dein, Arsenal’s Vice-Chairman, and uncertainty over Arsene Wenger’s future at the club as reasons for leaving.

In total, Thierry Henry scored 228 goals in all competitions for Arsenal, with 174 of these in 254 Premier League games. These stats include his loan spell at the club, which we’ll come to in a minute.

Barcelona

Henry’s first season at Barcelona ended trophyless as he scored 19 goals in 47 appearances in all competitions. His second season brought more success as he scored 26 goals in 42 appearances in all competitions and Barcelona won a treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League. They followed this treble by completing an unprecedented “sextuple” when they added the Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup. This achievement has only ever been matched by Bayern Munich, who did the same in 2020.

Henry’s playtime at Barcelona became limited in 2009/10 and he managed just four goals in 21 league games, with some of these coming as a substitute. He did win another La Liga and reached the Champions League semi-final, but he was told he would be allowed leave the club.

New York Red Bulls

Henry signed for New York Red Bulls in summer 2010, just before his 33rd birthday. He scored 16 goals in 27 games between 2010 and 2011.

Henry made a return to Arsenal on loan on the January 2012 during the MLS off-season. He had an immediate impact back in London, coming off the bench to score the only goal in a 1-0 win against Leeds United in the FA Cup third round on 9th January 2012. In his last league game on loan, Henry scored a dramatic injury-time winner in a 2-1 win against Sunderland. Henry said that his goal against Leeds was actually his favourite goal for Arsenal. “I scored the goal as a fan.”

Henry returned to New York after his loan and played for another couple of years. He scored a total of 51 goals in 122 league games, winning the MLS Eastern Conference in 2009 and 2013 and the Supporters’ Shield in 2013.

France

Thierry Henry made his France debut on 11th October 1997. Included in the French squad for the 1998 World Cup, Henry was France’s top scorer at the tournament, which France won, with three goals. Unfortunately for Henry, he didn’t get off the bench in France’s 3-0 final win against Brazil, as Marcel Desailly’s red card meant a defensive substitution was required instead.

Henry won Euro 2000 with France, again scoring three goals in the tournament, and was Man of the Match in the final against Italy.

Henry and France had no luck in the 2002 World Cup, as the defending champions were dumped out at the group stages without scoring a goal.

At Euro 2004, Henry played all of France’s matches as they reached the quarter-final. France were knocked out by eventual shock winners Greece.

Henry was part of the France squad that reached the 2006 World Cup final, which they lost to Italy on penalties. This was when Zinedine Zidane was sent off for headbutting Marco Materazzi in the chest.

On 17th October 2007, Henry became France’s top scorer of all time when he scored his 42nd and 43rd goals against Lithuania. He has since been surpassed by Olivier Giroud.

At Euro 2008, France were again eliminated in the group stage. Henry scored France’s only goal of the tournament in a 4-1 loss against the Netherlands.

There was massive controversy involving Henry in November 2009, when France played Ireland in a World Cup play-off. With Ireland winning 1-0 in the second leg in Paris, the tie was delicately poised at 1-1 on aggregate in extra-time and destined for penalties to decide who would qualify for the World Cup. Henry used his hand, not just once, but twice, to control the ball inside the Ireland penalty area before crossing to WIlliam Gallas to score the winner. This blatant handball was somehow missed by the referee and France went through.

“Naturally I feel embarrassed at the way that we won and feel extremely sorry for the Irish who definitely deserve to be in South Africa”, Henry said. “Of course the fairest solution would be to replay the game but it is not in my control.” Henry lost a huge amount of respect after the incident. He said that he is not a cheat and using his hand was just a reaction. The people of Ireland certainly don’t agree with this.

Another very poor showing by France saw them finish bottom of their group at the 2010 World Cup.

Henry, who wasn’t s starter for France by now and was generally on the bench, retired from international football after the tournament. He finished his France career with 51 goals from 123 caps.

Retirement

Thierry Henry announcement his retirement from football on 16th December 2014. He did some punditry work with Sky Sports in England and simultaneously worked as a youth coach for Arsenal.

Henry had two spells as Assistant Manager for the Belgium national team. He had a short spell as Monaco’s manager but this didn’t go particularly well and he was sacked. He also managed Montreal Impact, but left to be with his family back in London.

At the time of writing, he is managing France under-23s and will take them to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Legend of the Game

Thierry Henry is a football legend and one of the best players of all time. Just have a look at what he won during his career:

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Thierry Henry – truly electrifying.