On January 25, 1995, Eric Cantona did the most extraordinary thing English football had seen. He had just been sent off at Crystal Palace. As he walked off, a fan, Matthew Simmons, ran down to shout abuse at him. Cantona answered with a flying kung fu kick to the man's chest, in front of the cameras and the rest of the world. The King had lost his head.
What happened to Cantona after the kick?
He was banned for 9 months and sentenced to 120 hours of community service. At the press conference that followed, he offered only this: "When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea."
It was not his first brush with authority. In France he had been sent off four times playing for Nîmes, once for throwing the ball at a referee. The French Football Federation had already banned him for calling the national team manager "a bag of s***".
The forward played from 1983 to 1997 for Auxerre, Martigues, Marseille, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nîmes, Leeds United and Manchester United. At United he was the king, the player who transformed the club.
That kick remains one of the most shocking moments in any sport. Cantona was a genius and something of a philosopher. For a few seconds at Selhurst Park he was also a kung fu fighter.
Cantona at Selhurst Park
Tomorrow: villain number 10.
