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Last Thierry Henry NY Red Bulls Home Game May Go Largely Ignored

By Zac Wassink

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New York Red Bulls captain Thierry Henry may play his last home game with the club this coming Sunday. Will you care?

The 2014 New York Red Bulls have guaranteed a spot in the upcoming Major League Soccer postseason tournament that will begin later on in October.

That’s all that the team has earned heading into the third weekend of October.

Little separates the four MLS East teams in the conference standings with two league weekends left on the schedule. DC United are on 55 points, and they will likely end the regular season as conference champions. New England Revolution and Sporting Kansas City are on 49 points. New York are on 47 points, and Columbus Crew are on 46 points.

The Red Bulls may host playoff soccer in November. On the other hand, it’s possible that New York will be a one-and-done postseason side that finishes its season away from Red Bull Arena.

What does any of this have to do with Red Bulls captain and living soccer legend Thierry Henry? Plenty.

It has, for nearly two years, been rumored that Henry will end his Red Bulls tenure and perhaps his playing career, in general, following the conclusion of the 2014 season. Grant Wahl of SI.com recently reported that Henry won’t again play for RBNY past this year.

New York will play their final home contest of the regular season this coming Sunday afternoon when they host Columbus. The Red Bulls will end the campaign away to Kansas City.

Henry never again featuring for New York in a match played at Red Bull Arena past this weekend is a real possibility. Both Columbus and KC have objectives they’d like to achieve, and neither club can afford to “take it easy” when playing the Red Bulls.

Henry has been a loyal soldier for the Red Bulls and arguably the most talented player in MLS since joining the league in the summer of 2010. He has, to date, netted 51 total league goals, many of which have been highlight-reel hits worthy of SportsCenter mentions. Henry has also accumulated 42 assists. He has appeared in 121 league matches and made 117 starts, and Henry was the captain of the club for its Supporters’ Shield season during which New York ended the team’s long trophy drought.

May 24, 2014; Harrison, NJ, USA; New York Red Bulls forward Thierry Henry (14) congratulates Portland Timbers forwrad Fanendo Adi (99) after the Timbers defeated the Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena. The Timbers defeated the Red Bulls 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

Henry first became a household name outside of MLS.

He won league titles in France, England and Spain. Henry was a member of a Barcelona squad that won the Champions League. He was part of the France National Team that won the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Henry is widely regarded as one of the best footballers of his generation and as an all-time great.

Logic would suggest that soccer fans in the New York City/New Jersey area would flock to Harrison, NJ for what could be one last opportunity to watch Henry take the pitch for a meaningful match live and in-person. The Red Bulls aside, Arsenal and Barcelona are two extremely popular clubs in the region. A standing-room-only crowd should want to salute Henry a last time; just in case.

That probably isn’t going to happen.

The Red Bulls and Columbus will kick off at 3 pm ET on a National Football League Sunday. The NFL is king everywhere — everywhere — in the United States, and the New York market is no different. While the New York Giants and New York Jets are obviously beloved by their local fan bases, the truth of the matter is that every NFL franchise is represented in one way or another in the region.

October 19 is not just any normal NFL Sunday for New York viewers. The Giants and Dallas Cowboys, two of the most-watched and most-followed NFL teams in the country, will face off at 4:25 pm ET this coming Sunday.

Don’t for a second think that the Giants getting run out of the stadium by the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday night will deter Big Blue fans from watching their team. Giants-Cowboys is a massive rivalry, and New York quarterback Eli Manning has notched his share of memorable victories at

Cowboys Stadium

AT&T Stadium.

This will, of course, not be the first time that an important match taking place at Red Bull Arena is directly competing with local NFL franchises for attention. It was not that long ago that the Red Bulls hosted LA Galaxy for a playoff encounter at the same time that the Giants were in action. That match, which featured United States Men’s National Team player Landon Donovan and international superstar David Beckham, did not fill Red Bull Arena.

MLS competing with the NFL has become a cliche and a laughable practice. At the same time that the New York Jets are taking on the New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football, ESPN2 will show New England play against Houston Dynamo. ESPN will be airing the station’s weekly Thursday night football game.

Some may be quick to point out that MLS clubs can do nothing about how ESPN, NBC Sports, Univision and other stations choose to schedule and broadcast matches. That’s fair. It’s just too bad that what may be Henry’s last home game with the Red Bulls will be an afterthought for so many.

It’s also unavoidable.

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