With a kung-fu kick against a fan, Eric Cantona caused one of the biggest football scandals in 1995. He did not regret his action afterwards.
Eric Cantona turned his collar down and looked back indignantly once more. Yes, the referee had indeed shown him, “Le Roi,” the King, a red card for a small foul.
Cantona trotted towards the changing room, the supporters in the stands of Selhurst Park jeered and roared – then it happened.
Cantona ran off, jumped, and rammed his right foot into a fan’s chest. Cantona fell onto a fence after this legendary kung-fu kick, he picked himself up again and followed up with his fists. The images went around the world.
Eric Cantona attacked a fan in 1995
Ferguson: “Then he takes the law into his own hands”
“When he believes that injustice is being done to him on the field, he can lose all control for seconds,” his coach Alex Ferguson once said about Cantona: “Then he takes the law into his own hands – and we are powerless.”
Cantona took the law into his own hands because a certain Matthew Simmons allegedly severely insulted him, his mother, and his origin on January 25, 1995, 31 years ago today. Cantona narrowly escaped prison later, was banned for months, and had to perform 120 hours of community service. Nevertheless: Even today, the genius, the diva, the enfant terrible, the legend of Manchester United, is proud of what he did back then.
The kick was the highlight of his career, the Frenchman once said. He let himself be carried away to “make the fans happy,” Cantona said, “perhaps many dream of kicking these kinds of people. I did it for them. That gives them a kind of freedom.” At a press conference after the outburst in the match against Crystal Palace, he had only said one sentence: “The seagulls follow the trawler because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.”
Cantona Kick: Fan Denies Insult
Simmons, by the way, denies that he insulted Cantona. “Bloody lie,” he once told 11 Freunde magazine: “Cantona is and remains a scumbag.”
Cantona remains unforgettable in any case. Despite, or precisely because of, his eccentricity and escapades, the now 59-year-old became a hero on the island. United fans voted him their Footballer of the Century – despite George Best, despite Bobby Charlton.
Eric Cantona moved from Leeds United to Manchester United in 1992
In the legendary Old Trafford, only one ruled in the nineties – His Majesty “King Eric,” “Le Roi.” In front of goal, he was a merciless finisher, notorious for his temper. He raged on the pitch, hit opponents or his own teammates, spat at opposing fans, and insulted his coaches.
Cantona was genius and madness. He brought United out of obscurity: Without Cantona, they hadn’t won the league for 26 years until 1993. In total, Cantona led the Red Devils to four championships, scoring 82 goals in 182 games.
From thousands of throats, supporters roared “Uuuuh – aaaah – Cantonaaaa” when this powerful striker marched across the pitch like a proud peacock with a straight back and raised collar.
Cantona Became a Politician and Actor
The grandson of Spanish-Italian immigrants had always mastered the grand gesture. No wonder Cantona discovered acting alongside politics after his professional career.
Eric Cantona 2024 at a film festival in La Rochelle
The United of recent years no longer amused Cantona. Watching the team was a bit like “watching an old man try to make love,” he said in 2020, when the Red Devils still finished second in the Premier League and were just at the beginning of a deep crisis.
The old man gives his all, but in the end everyone is “a little bit disappointed,” Cantona said.