Eric Cantona: Forever King

Eric Cantona – Forever King

Eric Cantona’s story is tale of two halves as far as his football career is concerned. In his younger days, he was discarded as the prodigal son, a talented lad who does nothing but wastes his gift for nothing. His days in France for Marseille and Montpellier were nothing but craziness.

He took a break from football post his one year ban in French football abusing the disciplinary committee. Yes! He called the entire disciplinary panel a ‘bunch of idiots’ on their faces. Such was the audacity possessed by this maverick!

Then he moved to England. And that’s where from Eric he became King Eric. Cantona was offered to Sheffield Wednesday but they declined to sign him after a trial of one week. Leeds United came and snapped him up. But he didn’t last there long as he was too ‘difficult’ to manage as per then Leeds manager Howard Wilkinson.

Sir Alex Ferguson's side were eighth in the table and Dion Dublin, their summer signing, had broken his leg. Ferguson tried to sign Alan Shearer, but he said no. So Ferguson met his chairman, Martin Edwards, to discuss transfer targets. In December 1992, Manchester United signed the maverick Frenchman for a paltry £1.2 million from Leeds.

And at United as they say the rest is history. United enjoyed a period of incredible success in his four and half years at Old Trafford. United won four titles in five years and would surely have won a fifth but for that fateful night at Selhurst Park, that night when Cantona kicked a Crystal Palace fan at Selhurst Park, who incessantly was abusing him and his family from touchline.

What was later on infamously came to be known as the ‘Kung Fu Kick’ which he pumped into a Palace fan named Matthew Simmons. This incident defined the lives of United fans in late 90’s where they were forced to defend their beloved King against the world.

The club and the fans stood by him as Sir Alex Ferguson tied Cantona for a four contract despite him being suspended for nine months. The King finally bowed out on a high as he retired for the second time after winning league title in 1997.

Eric Cantona retired and then ventured into various fields like acting, politics and also represented France in Beach Soccer World Cup, where he led them to their only World title till date. Cantona is famously remembered for his acting voyages. The mercurial Frenchman acted in two high profile movies post his retirement. They were Elizabeth and Looking for Eric.

Cantona played a French ambassador in the 1998 film 'Elizabeth', starring Cate Blanchett, and then himself in the Ken Loach film 'Looking for Eric' in 2009.