Thierry Daniel Henry born 17 August 1977 is a French professional footballer who plays for the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer.
Henry was born in Les Ulis, Essonne (a suburb of Paris) where he played for an array of local sides as a youngster and showed great promise as a goal-scorer. He was spotted by AS Monaco in 1990 and signed instantly, making his professional debut in 1994. Good form led to an international call-up in 1998, after which he signed for the Serie A defending champions Juventus. He had a disappointing season playing on the wing, before joining Arsenal for £11 million in 1999.
It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer. Despite initially struggling in the Premier League, he emerged as Arsenal's top goal-scorer for almost every season of his tenure there. Under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 226 goals in all competitions. The Frenchman won two league titles and three FA Cups with the Gunners; he was nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year twice, was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year twice, and the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year three times. Henry spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club captain, leading them to the UEFA Champions League final in 2006. In June 2007, after eight years with Arsenal, he transferred to Barcelona for a fee of €24 million. His first honours with the Catalan club came in 2009 when they won the league, cup and Champions League treble. He went on to achieve an unprecedented sextuple by also winning the Spanish Supercup, the UEFA Supercup and the Club World Cup. In total, Henry has been named in the UEFA Team of the Year five times. In 2010, he joined New York Red Bulls.
Henry enjoyed similar success with the French national team, having won the 1998 World Cup, Euro 2000 and 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. In October 2007, he surpassed Michel Platini's record to become France's top goal-scorer of all time. Henry retired from international football after the 2010 World Cup. Off the pitch, Henry is an active spokesperson against racism in football, partially due to his own experiences. He married English model Nicole Merry in 2003 and had a daughter with her, but they divorced in 2007. Henry was also one of the top commercially marketed footballers; he was ranked ninth in the world in 2006.
Personal information
Full name: Thierry Daniel Henry
Date of birth: 17 August 1977 (1977-08-17) (age 33)
Place of birth: Les Ulis, Essonne, France
Height: 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position: Striker/Winger
Club information
Current club: New York Red Bulls
Number: 14
Youth career
1983–1989 CO Les Ulis
1989–1990 US Palaiseau
1990–1992 Viry-Châtillon
1992 Clairefontaine
1992–1994 Monaco
Senior career*
1994–1999 Monaco 105 (20)
1999 Juventus 16 (3)
1999–2007 Arsenal 254 (174)
2007–2010 Barcelona 80 (35)
2010– New York Red Bulls 12 (2)
National team‡
1997 France U20 4 (0)
1997–2010 France 123 (51)