Mark Clattenburg says Thierry Henry used to do something so ‘interesting’ that made him change the way he refereed

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Iconic former referee Mark Clattenburg has shared one experience he had when overseeing Arsenal’s games.

The ex-Premier League ref left PGMOL in 2017 to take on a new challenge in Saudi Arabia.

There are few better clued up on the trials and tribulations that referees face in today’s game than Clattenburg, who oversaw as many as 297 Premier League games.

Despite not being on the pitch, Clattenburg is still firmly invested in the Premier League, and Arsenal, for that matter, whom he has passed comment on over the years. 

• READ MORE: Mark Clattenburg reveals what it was really like refereeing Arsene Wenger and what the Arsenal boss once told him

Mark Clattenburg opens up about refereeing Thierry Henry

The Englishman oversaw many of Arsenal’s games in both the Premier League and cup competitions, where he came up close and personal with some club icons.

One player the former ref had a lot of knowledge about was Thierry Henry, who Clattenburg believed was the fastest he’d ever seen.

It wasn’t only Henry’s pace that Clattenburg was aware of, but also his ability to perform some ‘reverse psychology’ on match officials.

When speaking on the Whistleblowers YouTube channel, the iconic referee shared one ‘interesting’ thing he noticed about the Arsenal legend.

“It’s interesting, you talk about Thierry Henry, when I was reffing, when he was fouled, he wouldn’t take the penalty,” Clattenburg explained.

“Always, if he didn’t win the penalty, he’d take the penalty if it wasn’t him that was fouled. As a ref, you’re thinking he’s less likely to dive, but that’s probably reverse psychology.”

Henry opened Clattenburg’s eyes to the possibility that he was less likely to dive, so he could score more goals, with the Frenchman knowing he was guaranteed to get on the scoresheet if he was a penalty taker.

Henry’s record from the penalty spot in the Premier League

It’s rare that a player can be thought of as a guaranteed scorer from the spot, but Henry did just that.

In his Premier League career, Henry took 23 penalties and missed none, maintaining a 100% record in the English top-flight.

That didn’t, however, exempt Arsenal’s record goalscorer from experiencing blunders in penalty situations.

Robert Pires and Henry’s humiliating penalty routine failed catastrophically in 2005, when Arsenal clashed with Man City at Highbury.

It was Henry’s biggest blunder from the spot, which says a lot about his clinical streak in the box, considering he didn’t even take the spot kick.

Mikel Arteta would love to have a penalty taker as reliable as Henry in his squad, or just a carbon copy of the striker in all departments at that.