FOOTBALL

Thierry Henry: I lied – throughout my career I was in depression

Former Arsenal and France forward says the ‘aura’ of his father played its part in his mental health troubles as a child
Henry was “was crying almost every day for no reason”
Henry was “was crying almost every day for no reason”
STUART MACFARLANE/GETTY IMAGES

Thierry Henry has opened up on his struggles with depression during his playing career and linked his issues to a traumatic childhood when his performances were criticised by his father.

Arsenal’s all-time leading goalscorer said that on one occasion he scored all six goals in a match for his junior side but his father, Antoine, was still not satisfied. He was able to reflect during the Covid-19 lockdown in Montreal in 2020, when he said that he cried every day.

Henry, 46, helped France lift the 1998 World Cup and now coaches the Under-21 side. “Throughout my career, and since I was born, I must have been in depression,” Henry told The Diary of a CEO podcast. “Did I know it? No. Did I do