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English Football Legends Series

A lightning-quick forward, with the ball skills to match, Thierry Henry started his career as a winger, before Arsene Wenger turned him into one of the most lethal central strikers in world football.

Thierry Henry

Clubs:
Monaco, Juventus, Arsenal Barcelona

Position: Forward

Appearances*: 457

Goals*: 232

Honours: Premier League, 2
FA Cup, 3
Ligue 1, 1
La Liga, 2
Copa del Rey, 1
UEFA Champions League, 1
World Cup, 1
European Championship, 1

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* League appearances and goals only

Monaco

A reluctant footballer as a youth, Henry was pressured by his father to attend training with his local team.

In 1990, Monaco sent a scout to watch Henry in a match where he scored all six goals in a 6-0 victory.

He was immediately offered a contract, and the club arranged for him to attend the elite Clairefontaine football academy.

Having completed the course, Thierry Henry joined Arsene Wenger's Monaco as a youth player, before signing professional terms and making his debut in 1994.

Because of his pace and great ball control, Monaco played Henry on the wing, where he excelled.

He was named the French Young Footballer of the Year in 1996, and the following season helped the club to the Ligue 1 title.

During the 1997/98 season, he played a key part, with 7 goals, in getting Monaco to the UEFA Champions League semi-final.

By his third season as a professional, Thierry Henry had won his first international cap, and he was a member of the World Cup winning team in the 1998.

After the World Cup, Henry left Monaco to sign for Italian giants, Juventus.

However, his single season in Italy was a frustrating one. He struggled against the disciplined defences in Serie A, and played just 16 games, scoring 3 times.

Arsenal

In August 1999, Thierry Henry was reunited with his former Monaco manager, Arsene Wenger, as he moved to Arsenal in a 10.5 million pound deal.

Wenger had decided beforehand that he wanted Henry to play as a central striker, but initially the player struggled, and failed to score in his first 8 games.

There were doubts raised about his ability to adapt to the quick and physical English game, but these were dispelled when he ended his first season in England with an impressive 26 goals.

Arsenal finished second in the league that season, while in Europe they lost the UEFA Cup final on penalties against Galatasaray.

In 2000, Henry was part of another triumph for the French national side, as they were victorious at the European championships.

However, on the domestic front, United again beat Arsenal to the title, this time by a substantial 10 point margin.

The Double

The following season, Henry finally won his first silverware with Arsenal. In the league they held off Liverpool and United to land the title, then beat Chelsea 2-0, to win the FA Cup.

In his third season with Arsenal, Henry had won the Double.

In 2002, he played for his country at the World Cup in Japan and South Korea, but the world champions suffered a shock exit at the group stage.

Back on the domestic front, Arsenal also failed to defend their title, but managed to again win the FA Cup.

On a personal level though, 2002/03 was a good year for for Henry, he scored 32 goals in all competitions and was named both the PFA Player of the Year and Football Writers' Footballer of the Year.

He was also runner-up for the 2003 FIFA World Player of the Year award.

The Invincibles

Arsenal entered 2003/04 determined to reclaim the Premier League crown, but would not have expected to create history.

With Henry again in brilliant goal-scoring form, the Gunners became only the second team in English football history to go through the entire campaign unbeaten.

Thierry Henry was again double Footballer of the Year in England, and was once again runner-up in FIFA World Player of the Year voting.

His 39 goals also won him the European Golden Boot.

The following season Arsenal started strongly and continued their unbeaten run until it was ended, on a record 49 games, at Old Trafford.

Shortly after that defeat they were overtaken by Chelsea in the title race, and the Blues cantered to a comfortable Premier League win.

Arsenal were left to console themselves with another FA Cup, although Henry missed the final through injury.

Henry maintained his great goal-scoring form though, winning a second consecutive European Golden Boot.

With the departure of compatriot Patrick Vieira for Juventus in mid-2005 Henry was given the club captaincy, while the retirement of Dennis Bergkamp saw him partnered with new signing Robin van Persie up front.

Record-breaker

2005/06 saw Thierry Henry reach, and exceed, a number of milestones. On 17 October 2005, he scored two goals against Sparta Prague in the Champions League to became the club's all-time top goal-scorer, overtaking Ian Wright.

On 1 February 2006, he scored against West Ham, taking his league goal tally to 151, breaking Arsenal legend Cliff Bastin's record.

Henry also netted his 100th league goal at Highbury, and was again voted Football Writers' Footballer of the Year.

However, Arsenal failed again in their pursuit of trophies. The league title again went to Chelsea, while in the UEFA Champions League, Arsenal reached the final, but lost 2-1 to Barcelona.

In the off-season, there was much speculation that Henry would leave the club. However, he quashed those rumours by signing a new four-year deal.

The 2006/07 season was disrupted by a catalogue of injuries, and he made just 17 domestic appearances, as the Gunners again finished the season trophy-less.

Again there was speculation about his future, and again he committed himself to Arsenal.

Barcelona

It was with surprise then that on 25 June 2007, Henry was transferred to Barcelona for 24 million euros.

In his first season at At Barca, he was played mainly as a winger, and despite not being able to replicate the goal-scoring form of his Arsenal days, finished as the club's top scorer with 19 goals.

2008/09 would prove to be a historic campaign for the Catalan club, as they collected 6 trophies - the Copa del Rey, La Liga, Champions League, the Spanish Supercup, the UEFA Supercup and the FIFA Club World Cup.

Henry, along with Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o played a major part, netting 100 goals between them, including 72 in the league.

The following season, the emergence of Pedro Rodriguez meant that Henry started only 15 league games.

On the international front, Henry was involved in a major controversy when his deliberate hand-ball set up William Gallas to score the winning goal against Ireland in a World Cup play-off match.

The incident sparked outrage and near universal condemnation of Henry, but the result stood, and France qualified for South Africa 2010.

However, in the tournament itself, Les Bleus were a huge disappointment and crashed out in the group stage.

On his return from the World Cup, Barcelona confirmed the sale of Henry to New York Red Bulls.

Thierry Henry made his MLS debut on 31 July, setting up both goals for Juan Pablo Angel in a 2-2 draw against Houston.

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