| Bobbins Henry D: O: B 4/8/74 Height: 184cm Weight: 90kg Clubs: Olympic Lyon 1995-1997, Real Madrid 1997-98, Barcelona 1998-2000, Manchester City 2000-2001, Aston Villa 2001- International: Jamaica 1994- Bobbins Henry is a revered and respected member of the Jamaican side. He controls the game from the midfield, delivering precision through-balls, crosses, or cruising past defenders with his searing pace. Although cool and collected on the field, Henry is known as a wild man off it, his controversial personal life a constant source of tabloid material. Henry grew up in Jamaica but, like Aaron Boo, has mostly French descendants. A regular member of Jamaican age group sides, Henry was often out of favour with officialdom due to his total disregard for it. By the age of 19 it seemed Henry might drift out of soccer, but he was thrust back in when he was shockingly selected for the Jamaican international side against Bolivia in June 1994. The 19 year old wasn’t even contracted to a club, and frankly didn’t care. However, new coach Bob Worthington had coached Henry for the under-19s in 1993, and with Carl Simmons retiring and Whitmore, Hall, and Cargil injured, the midfield was depleted. Still, it was the biggest selection shock in recent history, after the Violet Kickers and other clubs ignored Henry’s obvious talents because of his terrible attitude to training and often inconsistent performances some attributed to hard partying, drugs, and alcohol. Henry played 17 fairly uninspiring minutes in a 1-1 draw, but it was heartening for the youngster to know he was in the selectors minds and he publicly announced his desire for more regular competitive soccer. French club Lyon, who offered Henry a short-term, performance based contract midway through the 1994-95 season, topped the offers of Jamaican clubs. After solid performances for the reserves, Henry was retained, both for Jamaica and Lyon. In 1995-96 he played 26 matches for Lyon’s top team, scoring 6 goals, and was named French rookie of the year. He first started for Jamaica in September 1995 against Canada, and after scoring a hat trick cemented his place. 1996-97 was another solid season for Henry, but many still felt he was reaching his full potential. In late 1997 he was offered a contract by Barcelona, and left for the tough Spanish league. He struggled to crack the tough Barcelona line-up, but some feel his commitment to making the side brought out all his undoubted skills. Now an experienced pro, Henry played the last 8 matches of the season and impressed all who saw him. With Nibblet Jones and Aaron Boo, Henry formed a brilliant attacking three for Jamaica. Prior to the 1998-99 season the other Spanish giants, Real Madrid, signed Henry. For the next two seasons Henry was not to be denied, and was the equal, if not better than stars like Roberto Carlos and Raul. By 2000 many considered him the very best midfielder in the world. While still “the wild man” off it (although he has somewhat cleaned up his act) Henry is as committed and professional, both at trainings and matches, as anyone else. Henry left Manchester City at the end Premier League for the 2000-01 season, and joined up with midfield Jamaican team mate Ricardo Jones at Aston Villa. |