Eric Cantona - Manchester United Legends

Nearly every Manchester United fan and finest pundits in the land unanimously agree that the purchase of Eric Cantona from cross-pennine rivals Leeds United was the catalyst for the club's first League title in 26 years, when they pipped Midlanders Aston Villa to the crown in 1993. And if that wasn't enough it can be said that Eric Cantona is one of the reasons why the club has dominated English and European football over the last 15 years, so it's little wonder why he's held in such high esteem by Manchester United fans worldwide.

Although the enigmatic Frenchman got himself into a fair bit of trouble during his stint at the Theatre of Dreams it was this which made United fans sit on the edge of their seats, because they didn't know what he was going to do next, whether he was going to control the ball on his chest and volley it into the back of the net, or whether he'd forget about the ball and just volley an opposition defender into the net instead, in fact I don't even think Eric Cantona knew what he was going to next. Players like this don't come along very often and when they do you know that you've been watching a true legend.

In 1986 - when his loan spell had ended - Eric Cantona was rewarded when he was offered a professional contract which he duly signed. In the first season after the player had signed he weighed in with an impressive 13 goals in 36 games, helping the club reach a respectable 4th in French 1st Division.

However, during this season the player showed both sides to his colourful career. His excellent form at club level led to French National Team coach Henri Michel calling the young Cantona up to the first team squad, eventually making his debut on 12th August 1987 against West Germany. However this fantastic achievemnet was overshadowed when the Frenchman punched team mate Bruno Martini in the face, which he was heavily fned by the club for.So began the turbulent career of Eric Cantona.

In 1988 he was drafted into the French U-21 squad for the 1998 European Championships which they won by beating Greece 3-0 on aggregate in the final with goals by Franck Sauzee (2) and Franck Sylvestre. The victory for the French showed the burgeoning influence what was begenning to develop within the player.

After the tournament Cantona joined the French hero of the U21 of the victory, Franck Sauzee at boyhood heroes Marseille after they had agreed a French record fee of £2.3m for the player. In his first season at the French giants he only managed to net five times in twenty-two games.

In January 1989 he was banned by his club when the old "red mist" descended after he was substituted in a charity match against Torpedo Moscow; his response was to rip his shirt off and throw it into the face of Marseille coach Gerard Gili. Bear in mind this incident occured just a few weeks after he was banned from playing for the French national side for 12 months after calling Henry Michel "a bag of shit" on live TV.

After the Marseille incident the club loaned him out to Bordeaux for 6 months where he notched an impressive six goals in eleven games. After this succesful spell in the wine capital of the world he immediately joined Montpellier - this time on a 12 month loan deal - where his temper got the better of him once more. After a League defeat to Lille Cantona got into a dressing room disagreement with team mate Jean-Claude Lemoult, which resulted in Eric throwing a boot at the player's head. After the incident a quite a few of his team mates demanded that Cantona be sacked, but he was probably saved from this action by Colombian legend Carlos Valderama and future Manchester United defender Laurent Blanc who fought his corner, and as a result was banned for just two games.

Although his time at Montpellier was firey he did manage to score 18 times in 41 appearances and his fantastic eight goals in as many games in the French Cup helped the side win their first piece of major silverware for 61 years.

This fine form led to Marseille coach Franz Beckenbauer into giving Eric Cantona another chance. The player repayed the faith shown in him by the German coach by helping the side to win the French title, with eight goals in eighteen league games. However the good relationship he enjoyed with Beckenbauer was brought to a close when the German legend was given the sack. Needless to say Eric didn't get on with his new manager Bernard Tapie and was quickly sold to Nimes.

As you might've come to expect by now, Eric Cantona's time at the French minnows was far from trouble free. In December 1991 he threw the ball at the referee after he took exception to a decision given by "man in black" and walked off the pitch even though he had not been given a red card at that point. The trouble didn't end there, Cantona allegedly attacked one of the opposition's players in the dressing rooms after the match had ended. As a result of his actions the player was summoned to a French F.A. disciplinary hearing and was handed a one month ban, which was increased to three months after he called each member of the committee an "idiot". This sense of injustice was the last straw for Cantona who immediately retired from football.

A couple of months later after more than a year out of the game Eric Cantona was gven the opportunity to resurrect his career in England by Sheffield Wednesday manager Trevor Francis who offered the Frenchman a trial. The player took him up on the offer and impressed during a behind closed doors match on astroturf. However, when Francis asked Cantona to show off his skills on grass the striker took exception to this and told him in no uncertain terms where he could stick his trial.

A few weeks later he signed for Leeds United where he was ins instrumental in them pipping Manchester United to First Division Championship with a string of impressive performances.

After being out of the game for more than a year Cantona's form began to get better and better with each game he played and in August 1992 became the first player since Tommy Taylor 35 years earlier to score a hat-trick in the Charity Shiled (F.A. Community Shield), doing so against Liverpool.

Two weeks later on 25th August 1992 Eric Cantona became the first player ever to score a hat-trick in the Premier League when his Leeds United side trounced Tottenham Hotspur 5-0 at Elland Road.

Alex Ferguson was in the room while the phone conversation took place and asked Edwards to cheekily enquire about the possibility of the Yorkshiremen selling Cantona to United. To the pairs surprise a fee of just £1.2m was quoted and the rest they say is history.

Eric Cantona made his Manchester United debut on 2nd December 1992 in a friendly match against Benfica to mark the 50th birthday of Portuguese legend Eusebio. He made his competitive debut four days later in the Manchester derby when he came on as a second half substitute in United's 2-1 victory.

The 19th December saw Eric Cantona give himself an early Christmas Present when he scored his first goal for Manchester United in the team's 1-1 Premier League draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. That season his superb form and his vital goals and assists were instrumental in United securing their first league title in 26 years - he would finsh the campaign with 13 goals in 24 games.

At that moment in time I and many Manchester United fans feared that the the United-harsh F.A. would hand the player a lifetime ban. Eventually after what felt like a lifetime of speculation in the British press the Frenchman was handed a two week prison sentence, which was reduced to 120 hours community service on appeal.

The F.A. responded in an un-surprising manner and increased Manchester United's three month ban - imposed on the striker - to 9 months. The player was banned from playing football at all levels for the period of his suspension, in fact he wasn't even allowed to play games behind closed doors, such was the F.A.'s stance. On top of the ban he was stripped of the French captaincy too.n

In the run-in to the league title that season Cantona's presence in the United team was severely missed as they were pipped to the crown by Blackburn Rovers after winning just 10 of their last 17 games. To add insult to injury a first half goal from Everton's Paul Rideout was enough to hand United a defeat in the 1995 F.A. Cup final. The Reds ended the season with no trophies.

During the close season of 1995 Eric Cantona contiplated his future in English football as Inter Milan were preparing a £7m bid to lure the Frenchman to the San Siro. However, there was no-way that Alex Ferguson was going to let the player leave without a fight. He flew out to meet the mercurial striker in Paris and persuaded him to give the English game one more go.

Eric Cantona returned from his worldwide ban in the cauldron atmosphere of the Manchester United, Liverpool clash at Old Trafford on October 1st 1995. The player made an immediate impact on his return and after just 2 minutes set-up Nicky Butt for the opening goal of the game. With game at 2-1 to Liverpool - after Robbie Fowler had netted a brace - Cantona picked up the ball in midfiled and threaded a ball through to Ryan Giggs who was felled in the box by Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp. The referree pointed to the spot and the script was written. The Frenchman stepped up and sent Liverpool goalkeeper David James the wrong way, what an impact.

For the remainder of that season Eric Cantona stayed out of trouble - despite intense provocation from players and fans up and down the country - and helped United to an F.A. Cup and League double, scoring numerous winning goals along the way and his winner in the F.A. Cup final against arch-rivals Liverpool was the icing on the cake.

After the title winning season of 1996-97 the enigmatic Frenchman called time on his football career playing his last game in the famous red shirt of Manchester United on 11th May 1997 in The Reds 2-0 home win against West Ham United.

During his five seasons at Manchester United Eric Cantona won four League titles and two F.A. Cups and became a legend in the process.