Thierry Henry
Left Winger / Centre-Forward · Arsenal · France
About Thierry Henry
Thierry Henry is widely regarded as Arsenal's greatest ever player and one of the finest strikers the Premier League has ever seen. A product of Monaco (MON)'s academy, he was transformed from a winger into a lethal centre-forward by Arsène Wenger at Arsenal, where he became the club's all-time top scorer with 228 goals. His pace, technique, and finishing made him almost unplayable during his peak years between 2002 and 2006.
Thierry Henry's story
Growing Up in Les Ulis
Henry was born to Antoine and Maryse Henry in the Parisian suburb of Les Ulis, a tough housing estate that also produced Nicolas Anelka. His parents separated when he was young, and football became his refuge. Spotted by Monaco (MON) at 13, he left home to join the academy.
The Wenger Transformation
At Juventus, Henry was deployed on the wing and managed just three goals in sixteen appearances. Arsène Wenger, who had coached him as a teenager at Monaco, brought him to Arsenal in 1999 and switched him back to centre-forward — his childhood position. The adjustment wasn't instant: he failed to score in his first eight games in England, and later admitted he had to "be re-taught everything about the art of striking." He finished that debut season with 26 goals.
Records, Invincibles and a World Cup
Between 1999 and 2007 Henry became the greatest striker of his era: Arsenal's all-time top scorer with 228 goals, the spearhead of the unbeaten 'Invincibles' title season of 2003-04, a four-time Premier League Golden Boot winner and back-to-back Footballer of the Year. With France he won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, finishing his international career as his country's then-record scorer. A 2007 move to Barcelona completed the set: La Liga, the Champions League and a historic sextuple-winning 2009.
Life After Football
After retiring in 2014, Henry moved into coaching and broadcasting. He worked as a Sky Sports pundit while coaching Arsenal's youth teams, then held two stints assisting Belgium's national team, either side of a brief 2018–19 head-coaching spell at Monaco and two years managing CF Montréal in MLS. He has since built a long-running broadcasting career and lives in New York with his family.
Did you know?
- 🏟️ Henry scored 226 of his 360 career goals with his left foot — yet he was originally a right-footed player who retrained himself as a teenager.
- 👑 He is the only player to win both the French league title (Monaco 1997) and the Premier League's unbeaten Invincibles season (Arsenal, 2003–04).
- 👨👩👧👦 Henry and English model Claire Merry divorced in 2008; they have a daughter, Téa (born 2005). He has three children — sons Tristan and Gabriel, and daughter Tatiana — with partner Andrea Rajačić, a Bosnian model he has been with since 2011. He is based in New York.
- ⚽ Henry was France's all-time record goalscorer for 15 years (2007–2022) until Olivier Giroud passed his tally of 51 during the 2022 World Cup; Kylian Mbappé has since gone on to become the country's all-time leading scorer.
- 🤝 After a Spain coach was caught making a racist remark about him in 2004, Henry and Nike launched the anti-racism campaign 'Stand Up Speak Up'; he also appeared in UNICEF-FIFA World Cup TV spots promoting children's rights in 2002 and 2006, and supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
- 🏅 Henry was named in the FIFA 100 — Pelé's list of the 125 greatest living footballers — in 2004.
- 🎯 In 2002–03, Henry became the first player to record 20 goals and 20 assists in a single season in one of Europe's 'big five' leagues — a feat Lionel Messi matched in 2020.
- 🌍 After his debut for France in 1997, Henry almost quit international football in 2004 but stayed on Wenger's urging.
- 🖐️ His handball goal that allowed France to beat Ireland in the 2010 World Cup play-off remains one of football's most controversial moments. Henry later admitted it was deliberate.
Honours
- Premier League x2: Arsenal (2002, 2004)
- FA Cup x3: Arsenal (2002, 2003, 2005)
- World Cup: France (1998)
- UEFA Euro: France (2000)
- La Liga x2: Barcelona (2009, 2010)
- FWA Footballer of the Year x2: 2003, 2004
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