Thierry Henry Biography

Thierry Henry was born on August 17, 1977, in Les Ulis, France, to Antoine and Maryse Henry. Right before his birth, his parents left the French Antilles to make a better life for themselves. They moved to a ghetto like neighborhood.

Henry’s family lived in a small apartment where the living conditions were not great. Antoine encouraged Henry to play sports and invest his energy in athletics. He used to take Henry to local soccer matches.

Soon, it became evident that Henry played way better soccer than other children of his age. He started playing for the junior teams of Les Ulis and Palaiseau. At the age of thirteen, Henry started playing for the Viry-Châtillon under fifteen team.

Around the same time, his parents separated and his mother took him to Orsay to get him admitted into the ‘Alexander Fleming School.’ Even after moving to Orsay, Henry’s focus was on soccer. At fourteen, he was elected into the French Football Federation’s ‘Clairefontaine Academy.’

At the academy, Henry signed an apprentice contract with Arsène Wenger, the manager of the Monaco team. He made his first professional appearance in football in 1994 in a 2-0 loss against Nice. He was put on the left wing by Wenger.

In 1996, Henry became France’s ‘Young Player of the Year’ under the guidance and training of Arsène Wenger. He led France’s under-18 team to ‘European Championship,’ scoring seven goals in the competition.

As a result of his splendid performance in other tournaments, he became part of the French ‘FIFA World Cup’ 1998 team. He continued to play for Monaco and impressed everyone with his brilliant performance. He scored 20 goals in 105 matches.

In 1999, Henry left Monaco and became part of the ‘Italian Series A’ club Juventus. He was paid a sum of 10.5 million pounds to join the team. In the same year, he scored his first goal for the team.

After some time, he was transferred to Arsenal for a sum of 11 million pounds where he was re-untied with his old mentor Arsène Wenger. Wenger played him as a striker and he helped his team win against Southampton.

In 2000, Henry’s second season with Arsenal was successful as he became the team’s ace goal-scorer. The team reached the finals of the ‘FA Cup’ but lost 2-1 to Liverpool. Henry was largely responsible for making his club a powerhouse.

In 2002, Henry became the top goal-scorer of the league and scored a total of 32 goals. He played a major role in Arsenal’s success and won his first silverware while playing for the club. He played against Uruguay in the ‘World Cup’ finals.

In 2003, he scored 32 goals in the season, which led his club to another ‘FA Cup’ and he was declared man-of-the-match in the finals. He was named the ‘PFA Players’ Player of the Year’ and ‘FWA Footballer of the Year.’

In 2004, he was the top scorer in the ‘Premier League’ and scored 30 goals which helped Arsenal win the title without losing even a single match; the feat was last achieved 115 years ago.

Around the same time, he was again voted the ‘PFA Player of the Year’ and ‘FWA Footballer of the Year,’ becoming the first player in 50 years to be named ‘FWA Footballer of the Year’ for two consecutive years.

In 2005, Henry helped his club Arsenal win the ‘FA Cup,’ but he suffered from a knee injury which kept him out of the final match against Manchester United. He became the top-scorer in the history of ‘Arsenal Football Club.’

2005–06 turned out to be a great season for Henry. On October 17, 2005, he became the club's top goal-scorer of all time as he broke Ian Wright's record of 185 goals.

In 2006, he scored his 200th goal for his club Arsenal in a winning effort against Birmingham. He was voted ‘Footballer of the Year’ for the third time, becoming the first player in 59 years to receive the award three times.

He also captained his club Arsenal in their first ‘Champions League’ final. In that match, Arsenal was beaten 2-1 by Barcelona. He signed a four-year contract and stayed with Arsenal, turning down two high-paying bids from Spanish clubs.

In 2007, Henry joined Barcelona for 24 million pounds. He scored his first goal for his new club in a 3-0 ‘Champions League’ win over Olympique Lyonnais. He could not score as well as he used to score for Arsenal.

In 2009, Barcelona won the ‘Primera Division’ and ‘Champions League.’ Henry helped his new team win a sextuple, consisting of ‘Supercopa de Espana,’ ‘UEFA Super Cup,’ and the ‘FIFA Club World Cup.’

In 2010, he signed a contract for multiple years with ‘Major League Soccer’ club ‘New York Bulls.’ He scored his first goal for the club in a 2-0 victory against ‘San Jose Earthquakes.’

From 2011 to 2012, Henry went back to Arsenal as part of a two-month loan deal; he covered for Gervinho and Chamakh while they were participating in the ‘Africa Cup of Nations’ that year. He played against the ‘Leeds United’ in the ‘FA Cup.’

In 2012, he went back to ‘Red Bulls’ and came up with his first hat-trick for the club in a 5-2 win against ‘Montreal Impact.’ He was named ‘MLS Player of the Month’ and was the highest paid player of MLS.

It was announced on December 1, 2014, that Henry had left ‘New York Red Bulls.’ On December 16, 2014, Henry announced his retirement as a football player. He also said that he would be working for ‘Sky Sports.’

In 2015, he started coaching Arsenal's youth team. The following year, he became the second assistant coach for the Belgium national team where he worked alongside Roberto Martínez and Graeme Jones.

Henry quit his position at ‘Sky’ in July 2018, to focus solely on his coaching career.

Henry signed a two-year deal with Major League Soccer’s ‘Montreal Impact’ on November 14, 2019.

He was a member of the ‘FIFA World Cup’ 1998-winning French team. He was also part of the ‘UEFA European Football Championship’ 2000-winning team. He also helped his team win the ‘FIFA Confederations Cup’ and ‘King Hassan II International Cup Tournament’ in 2000.

He won ‘FWA Footballer of the Year’ three times and ‘French Player of the Year’ four times. He has also received the prestigious ‘European Golden Boot’ twice and won the ‘MLS Player of the Month’ and ‘Best MLS Player ESPY Award.’

In 2003, Henry married Nicole Merry, also known as Claire, an English model. Two years after their wedding, they had a child named Tea. The couple divorced in December 2008, within five years of their marriage.

He also has a son named Tristan Henry with his girlfriend Andrea Rajacic.

Thierry Henry is an accomplished musician and has been known to play the piano with great skill.

He is a huge fan of comic books and has a collection that includes rare editions from around the world.

Thierry Henry is multilingual and can speak several languages fluently, including English, French, Spanish, and Italian.

He has a passion for cooking and is known to be quite the chef in the kitchen, specializing in French and Mediterranean cuisine.

Henry is an avid philanthropist and has been involved in various charitable initiatives to help underprivileged communities around the world.