Why did cantona kick

The mood was that sombre. I was bitterly upset. That was it for Eric the King. After all, it was indefensible, was it not?

If he really was my hero, then I should support him, no matter what. Matthew Simmons, the man who Cantona kicked, claimed that he had merely said "Off! It's an early bath for you, Mr Cantona! Cantona was given a two week jail term, reduced to hours community service on appeal, but to me, this was irrelevant.

Why should a footballer have to put up with that sort of xenophobic abuse, just because he was playing for an opposition team? Why should he just have to stand there and take it, week-in, week-out? But who aside from Croydon Crown Court, of course could judge a man for standing up for himself and not accepting what was — unarguably — unacceptable abuse? Of course, the likes of John Barnes had never reacted to the constant racist abuse he received throughout his career — and all credit to him for that — but, equally, you could not blame a man for not tolerating what should not be tolerated and confronting it head on.

As defender Gary Pallister put it, "Eric was always the number one target for supporters around the country. It wasn't just players who tried to wind him up but fans felt as though they could do it as well.

Some of the abuse he got was terrible. Eventually it took its toll on him I think and it all came to a head that night. He was such a hate figure because he was such a good player.

No one deserves to be insulted like that, whoever they are, and Eric taught me that sometimes you need to stand up for yourself in life. In a later interview , Eric explained the incident in his own words, saying:. So I did it for [the fans]. But why, apart from the obvious loss of self-control, did Cantona do something quite so outrageous? Tom Carty, who was at the match, is one of the senior figures in the British advertising industry and has worked with Cantona, whom he describes as 'a warm, kind, genuine, creative man, a thinker', on film shoots.

He believes some good came of the kick. There was so much hate. If Simmons had stayed in. There would have been a riot. But it would have changed the way people behaved, some good would have come of it.

Maybe that's what happened with Cantona. There are those, particularly in south London, who believe Cantona got off lightly, that the Manchester United PR machine made racism an issue when it was not. John Barnes was never part of the Old Trafford spin machine. Here's his view in 'It's very ironic that it took a white Frenchman to bring home to the nation the issue of racism in football.

Download Eric Cantona's attack on Matthew Simmons. Designed and Maintained by Jim Jagger. It took a while for Beckham to win the sympathy vote, but he got there in the end.

As did the grey shirts of Bayern Munich, who provided one of the two unforgettable images from club football in the s: their defenders flat out in tears after conceding two goals in the last minute of the Champions League final, which Manchester United won to become the first, and to date only, English champions of Europe since the arrival of 'new football'. Gary was less cheerful. He feared the punishment would be draconian and the two points dropped were likely to be the least of our worries in terms of winning the league.

I asked my Dad whether what happened was likely to make the back page. The next morning saw the iconic football picture of the last twenty-five years grace the cover of every newspaper in the land.

The tabloids were particularly venomous; a certain little England attitude towards foreigners was still overwhelmingly prevalent. Simmons, twenty, had been convicted for assault and, it turned out, was a BNP and National Front sympathiser.

More amusingly, he was also a qualified referee. Most ludicrously off all, Paul Ince was accused of inciting the crowd and assaulting another Palace fan.

Gary, a keen letter writer and hater of injustice, contacted the appropriate authorities and ended up giving evidence in court.

Ince was proven innocent but Cantona was eventually sentenced to a nine-month ban. Journalists and philosophers filled column inches attempting to decipher the words of this enigma with attitude but it was really quite simple. Eric, as was his wont both on and off the pitch, was taking the piss.

The press were the seagulls, he was the trawler and the sardines represented a tasty soundbite. Except of course, he had, with a line so ingenious that it deflected attention away from the original act and allowed the legend to grow even greater.

The United manager, not for the final time, made the firm decision to back his player completely. Yet again, the truth is stranger than fiction. The image of the ageing manager winding his way through the French capital on the back of a Harley is almost as wonderful as the outcome.

The league was lost on the final day that season, as was the FA Cup final. It is impossible to argue that Cantona would not have been the difference but to quibble about that is hardly the point. In doing what he did, Eric transformed himself from favourite player to greatest ever human in the eyes of an entire generation of United fans.

It all added to the mystique. And without the ban, there would have been no glorious return.