The history of this club is unmatched.
Cantona at Selhurst 30 years on
- Thread starter The Brown Bull
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Jamie (@Vault Dweller) are here to celebrate rare back-to-back victories for Manchester United! They analyse the late win in the Europa League vs. Rangers and then try and find things to analyse in a pretty dour game vs. Fulham. They also chat about the latest Marcus Rashford news, and look at the latest transfer news.
Could be. I tend to file these little snippets away in my memory and years later they turn out to be wrong.
I was wrong. There was an incident between United and Palace fans before the FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park. A Palace fan was killed when he fell under the wheels of a bus. Story is here: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/15...he-rarely-told-story-of-the-death-paul-nixon/
Had this quote on a black shirt with Cantona 7 on the back
No idea where I got it from or where it went to only I swore never to throw it out.
Loved that top
Cost me £30
Sorted.
From memory Fergie flew to France to talk him into coming back.
You can't go around kicking members of the public because they might say things you disagree with mate.
He wasn't even racist anyway unless telling someone they're due an early bath constitutes racism.
Didn't he score on his first game back against the scouser's? I always remember it being labelled as red October.
I'd kill to have someone 1% as driven as him right now
The police do it all the time.
I have grave doubts Eric would have kicked him if all he'd said was telling Eric he was due an early bath.
The guy attacked a service station attendant with a wrench a few years prior. Guy was/is an absolute weapon.
Yip. Penalty at OT.
He did. Fergie excelled in man-management. That was a good example and another was how he stuck by Ruud when his transfer was postponed.
Yes it does. Context is everything.
Do you honestly believe he said “due an early bath” ? How old were you when it happened?
While Cantona was adored at Utd, he was a red flag to opposition fans. It was a long time ago, I may have been a bit of a hot head myself in those days, everyone is now older and hopefully wiser.
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Calling someone a French bastard is racist though.Also calling their mother a whore is asking for trouble.
Especially if the subject of your abuse is a known hothead who has just been kicked from pillar to post by a big centre half without any intervention by the ref and is seething with the injustice of his sending off the first time he retaliates.
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Yeah, I’m pretty sure he was. The BNP back then were explicitly neo-Nazi. When Nick Griffin became leader in 1999, the party shifted away from neo-Nazism and outright antisemitism but remained firmly far-right.
Never knew Greaves said this at the time
I remember that .I think Andy Townsend said something along similar lines.
Referee completely to blame for Eric snapping
He allowed the palace defender (Shaw?) to kick Eric every time Eric had or got near the ball and the ref did nothing about it
Eric finally snapped and kicked out at him
He was already seeing red by the time he crossed the path of the hooligan
He allowed the palace defender (Shaw?) to kick Eric every time Eric had or got near the ball and the ref did nothing about it
Eric finally snapped and kicked out at him
He was already seeing red by the time he crossed the path of the hooligan
Matthew Simmons went into hiding for a bit after this went down. I know a couple of Cockney Reds who knew him and a few other lads knew where he worked and were after him.
Not sure if anyone got him, but, there's still time. There's always time, Matthew.
Not sure if anyone got him, but, there's still time. There's always time, Matthew.
Pretty sure he lost his job after the incident, and apparently some members of his family refuse to speak to him anymore.
I remember the incident like it was yesterday! At the time, I was so devastated at the length of his ban. I wish he didn’t do what he did. An absolute legend for us.
Remember it like it was yesterday. Eric was (rightly imo) annoyed that Akan Wilkie had given nothing - scarcely a free kick for all the niggling fouls he was taking from Shaw in particular. Recent article in the Telegraph, Wilkie records that Eric spoke to him at half time about it.
Simmons is living proof that sometimes being a gobshite fud has consequences.
Ince was all set to wade in and carry on where Eric left off.
Press did their usual faux outrage number and Eric's 'Seagulls' speech was so obviously about them it beggars belief so few seemed to get it.
Glad Sir Alex stood by Eric.
As a curious aside, given the rivalry between Brighton and Crystal Palace, Brighton fans often chant 'Ooh ah, Eric Cantona' when they play Palace.
Simmons is living proof that sometimes being a gobshite fud has consequences.
Ince was all set to wade in and carry on where Eric left off.
Press did their usual faux outrage number and Eric's 'Seagulls' speech was so obviously about them it beggars belief so few seemed to get it.
Glad Sir Alex stood by Eric.
As a curious aside, given the rivalry between Brighton and Crystal Palace, Brighton fans often chant 'Ooh ah, Eric Cantona' when they play Palace.
They're not very self-aware at the best of times.
It's weird seeing this story circulate via non-football sources, saying that Eric kicked him for doing a nazi salute. I know Simmons being a fascist and his National Front membership all came out after the fact, and the photograph of him reacting to the kick may look like a certain kind of gesture, but I'm certain that's not what he was doing.
I made the mistake of saying as much on a facebook comment, that the guy was outed as a fash after the fact, and that he ultimately deserved the kicking on a couple of levels, but he wasn't saluting nor was a salute the reason for the kick, and now I'm getting dogpiled by people who don't even know who Eric Cantona is, and weren't even alive when it happened. I really should delete facebook.
I made the mistake of saying as much on a facebook comment, that the guy was outed as a fash after the fact, and that he ultimately deserved the kicking on a couple of levels, but he wasn't saluting nor was a salute the reason for the kick, and now I'm getting dogpiled by people who don't even know who Eric Cantona is, and weren't even alive when it happened. I really should delete facebook.
He reached immortality that day.
I was at the match sitting on the opposite side of the ground and saw it happen. I turned to my mate and said "That's him out for the rest of the season". I wasn't wrong by much. One of those "I was there moments".
Yeag go out and tell another man to his face that he’s a bastard and that his mother is whore and then see what happens.
Always loved that picture. Shocked faces all around and one man in a black jacket: "This is fine."
Exactly the same. My radio 5 signal was coming and going and I was shouting at my radio, 'whats going on'.
I don't remember a highlights show though. I remember sitting waiting on news at 10 to see what had actually happened.
I think it was Mark Bright on Rafio 5 co-comms. He kept repeating 'I've never seen anything like it!' I too thought it was an exaggeration until Sportsnight.
Those interviews with Palace fans were priceless. 'And he did no more... than kick 'im in the chest! And then... he did no more... than panch 'im in the 'ead!'
The Guardian was the only paper on Eric's side... a little. They said that the more you learned about Simmons, the more it looked like the only thing Cantona did wrong was to stop hitting him.
Great times!
Those interviews with Palace fans were priceless. 'And he did no more... than kick 'im in the chest! And then... he did no more... than panch 'im in the 'ead!'
The Guardian was the only paper on Eric's side... a little. They said that the more you learned about Simmons, the more it looked like the only thing Cantona did wrong was to stop hitting him.
Great times!
Has to be one of the most iconic photographs of all time.
Always loved that picture. Shocked faces all around and one man in a black jacket: "This is fine."
30 years... remember staying up late to watch the highlights on and getting up early to see it on the news again. Caught him with a punch after the kick as well.
I was actually looking at something recently, I never really thought about.
Utd were 2 points away from winning the first 9 PL titles in a row. Those 2 years were with Cantona and Keane out only lost out by 1 point.
For all the talk about how great Arsenal were in 97/98, Utd had a +12 goal difference on them.
Between 06/07 and 12/13 lost out on 2 occasions by 1 point and goal difference.
It was incredible consistency.
Always loved that picture. Shocked faces all around and one man in a black jacket: "This is fine."
The Woman in the purple coat looks delighted and thrilled rather than shocked!
Is this because....
a) She has to sit next to that loudmouth Simmons cnut week in week out and he is finally getting a pasting!
b) She is at the perfect height to look up Eric's shorts and see Petit Eric fly freely?
c) She's married to a dull man (black jacket guy) and this is the most exciting thing to have ever happened on a night out with him?
d) All of the above?
Little did she know "Inspector Gadget" was on a night off and sat just above her too!
In the era of social media and the 24/7 news cycle, it's hard to even fathom what the reaction to this would have been in 2025. Doubt there would have been another (sports) news story given any airtime besides this one 
Aye, can still see Giggsy sliding to win the ball then in near enough a single movement he stands and crosses and Eric nods in at the far post, everything was on a knife-edge, amazing times...
The best of times. I'd go back in a shot.
Something new every time