25 Years Ago.

Arghus

I have mixed feelings to this day about this.

One one hand: it's pretty disgraceful that a professional footballer was out of control enough to kick a spectator. And, sure, I don't even support United.

On the other hand: C'mon... it was fucking amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHld_7DqMd8

I love the guy in the still image in the leather jacket who is just looking on like he's at mass or something. Talk about composure.

Agent Coulson

If you want to see the kick.

StringerBell

Shame he didn't do more damage to him is my only regret looking back at the incident itself.

Arghus

Imagine the media explosion if it happened today.

Richard Hillman

Arghus wrote: »

Imagine the media explosion if it happened today.

It was MASSIVE at the time.

If it happened now, I reckon Cantona would have gotten more support.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

All he'd have had to do is say he was racially abused, Palace would have been sanctioned.

Arghus

Richard Hillman wrote: »

It was MASSIVE at the time.

If it happened now, I reckon Cantona would have gotten more support.

Do you really think so?

I think there'd be a lot more condemnation. Football is a lot more sanitised today.

rossie1977

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

All he'd have had to do is say he was racially abused, Palace would have been sanctioned.

Except it was two white guys.

French isn't a race. if Cantona was muslim or jewish Palace would be in trouble but Cantona has never claimed to be any religion.

u140acro3xs7dm

rossie1977 wrote: »

Except it was two white guys.

French isn't a race. if Cantona was muslim or jewish Palace would be in trouble but Cantona has never claimed to be any religion.

Xenophobic then, in Ireland for example, there is a lot of xenophobia towards the brits. In the UK there is a lot towards the French, the brits ****ing hate them.

Anyway, I remember that night so well. I think it was Des Lynam later that night that showed it, it was so off the charts. Then he came back against liverpool and scored. Utd's big mistake was banning him until end of season, the FA had to out do that, so banned him until October. They should have banned him indefinitely, and seen what the FA did.

Cantona was the catalyst for Utd's success, he was the game changer that kickstarted it all. He might not have been the premier leagues best player, or even top 10,but what he did for Utd and their success, was off the charts.

Drumpot

I rememeber listening to BBC five live commentary at the time. They were describing it and I was like “ah I’m sure it’s nowhere near as bad as they are saying”.

I thought it was sports night back then (not match of the day midweek)? Usually 10.30 on BBC on a weds.

.G.

I'm a Liverpool fan, ir was amazing, and I still applaud him now for doing it. "it's an early bath for you cantona" fück off ye cretin. Deserved everything he got.

CrabRevolution

Richard Hillman wrote: »

It was MASSIVE at the time.

If it happened now, I reckon Cantona would have gotten more support.

It can only have been massive. I was too young to remember it, but I'd say if you asked who Eric Cantona was to someone my age, 90% would say something like "90s Man U player who kicked a fan one day". Might get a mention of wearing his collar up or being an actor.

I can also see him getting more support now. Contrarianism and polarisation seems to have grown with the internet, so a lot more would support him to be seen to be against the grain.

Kassandra Lively Eyelash

Kassandra Lively Eyelash wrote: »

Xenophobic then, in Ireland for example, there is a lot of xenophobia towards the brits. In the UK there is a lot towards the French, the brits ****ing hate them.

Xenophobia was right.

It was amusing to see some ManU fans get so sanctimonious about someone being told to "fxxx off back to France" and all the faux outrage, given the vile abuse they subsequently doled out to Arsene Wenger over years...

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

rossie1977 wrote: »

Except it was two white guys.

French isn't a race. if Cantona was muslim or jewish Palace would be in trouble but Cantona has never claimed to be any religion.

Religions aren't races either, but you get my point. "I heard someone making frog noises - I'm the victim here!"

kona

Still makes me smile. What a legend. Pity about where manchester united are now. Could do with a cantona.

Richard Hillman

Arghus wrote: »

Do you really think so?

I think there'd be a lot more condemnation. Football is a lot more sanitised today.

Here's a taste of the reaction from Wikipedia

"A lengthy ban from the game was regarded as inevitable, with some critics calling for Cantona to be deported and never allowed to play football in England again, while others called for him to be banned from football for life".

Cantona was my favourite player back than, I was following it as close as a 10 year old could. I was living in fear that he would get killed in prison or deported :pac:

If it happened today, there would be more attention on the Palace fan from the media. He'd be branded a symptom of Brexit Britain where people seem emboldened to be openly xenophobic etc etc. And he definitely, 100% wouldn't have got that prison sentence before being downgraded to community service.

Arghus

I guess we'll never know. There'd absolutely be people calling for him to never to play football again and I'm absolutely sure the word deportation would be used. Some people would lose the run of themselves completely to get those oxygen molecules of publicity.

I can't imagine the punishment really turning out all that differently. It was assault in the eyes of the law, that wouldn't have changed in the intervening years.

He'd probably have more support because of the sheer volume of opinions that are now out there being broadcast into the world. Back then it was TV, newspapers and radio and no-one, or at least very few, in those traditional forms of media would have dared suggest that what he did was justified. Now there's twitter, Facebook, YouTube, whatever you want and there'd be more diversity of opinion - but I couldn't imagine the league or the law going any easier on him.

8-10

Kassandra Lively Eyelash wrote: »

Xenophobic then, in Ireland for example, there is a lot of xenophobia towards the brits. In the UK there is a lot towards the French, the brits ****ing hate them.

The fans over there chant worse stuff towards James McLean which is specifically anti-Irish and nothing happens to them or the clubs of any note.

It's nothing like racism, the FA don't care if you hate on a nationality

Captain Havoc

I remember this well. Pretty sure it was a Wednesday night. My mum came racing down to wake me up and look at the news, it took up a huge chunk of the 11 o'clock news (could have been 10.30). Everyone was talking about it in school.
I don't think you could possibly give the incident more media attention than it got. The boards thread would be massive, I don't think anyone could keep up. After hours would have a thread with opinions from people who've never seen a football match. Your phone would explode from the whatsapp, twitter and Facebook alerts. If you're a United fan, you may as well not go to bed.
Mathew Simmons is still a name that I remember. I don't know what happened to him or what he is doing these days.

LowOdour

Good article in the Guardian yesterday on it

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jan/25/eric-cantona-kung-fu-kick-hooligan-25-years-later?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

Mr.Nice Guy

First I heard of it was on the news bulletins the following morning. It was a mad situation.

Most hilarious thing for me was the bloke's defence for what he said to him before the kick. Something like, "it's an early bath for you, Cantona!"

It's also worth remembering that when the teams next met, a Palace fan was beaten with a brick, stabbed and killed by a vehicle as he tried to escape ManU fans.

Arghus

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

First I heard of it was on the news bulletins the following morning. It was a mad situation.

Most hilarious thing for me was the bloke's defence for what he said to him before the kick. Something like, "it's an early bath for you, Cantona!"

Yeah, he might have massaged the truth there a little.

Of course the ultimate Boss move on Cantona's part was his line to the media in the press conference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQvRudS8zzU

I love all the deliberate pauses and his disdainful attitude towards the press. He didn't give a damn what they thought.

Arghus

Arghus wrote: »

I love all the deliberate pauses and his disdainful attitude towards the press. He didn't give a damn what they thought.

Or that a fan died.

I'm not aware that he ever expressed regret. He was so engrossed in his own image and being "profound"...even if it was complete gibberish.

The_Kew_Tour

Poor old David May I felt for that night

Hard believe it’s 25 years. Was such a big news story never mind sports story at the time.

Can see both sides of argument but the United fan in me says that fan deserved it.

bucketybuck

Deleted User wrote: »

Or that a fan died.

I'm not aware that he ever expressed regret. He was so engrossed in his own image and being "profound"...even if it was complete gibberish.

Keep trying, I'm sure you'll get a bite eventually.

Jurgen The German

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Or that a fan died.

I'm not aware that he ever expressed regret. He was so engrossed in his own image and being "profound"...even if it was complete gibberish.

Was he driving the car or something?

Jurgen The German

Jurgen The German wrote: »

Was he driving the car or something?

Tee hee.

No.

And before you try to mine another laugh, he didn't beat him with a brick or stab him either.

Jurgen The German

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Tee hee.

No.

And before you try to mine another laugh, he didn't beat him with a brick or stab him either.

So why would he express regret about it?

Obviously a horrible incident, nobody should go to a football game and not make it home but using a fans death to try and have a pop at The King is pretty lame.

You are obviously still sore that he went on to become an icon of the game after leaving the club you support to join their most hates rivals.

Let it go man, carrying that kind of aggro around all these years cant be good for ones soul.

citytillidie

Kassandra Lively Eyelash wrote: »

Xenophobic then, in Ireland for example, there is a lot of xenophobia towards the brits. In the UK there is a lot towards the French, the brits ****ing hate them.

Anyway, I remember that night so well. I think it was Des Lynam later that night that showed it, it was so off the charts. Then he came back against liverpool and scored. Utd's big mistake was banning him until end of season, the FA had to out do that, so banned him until October. They should have banned him indefinitely, and seen what the FA did.

Cantona was the catalyst for Utd's success, he was the game changer that kickstarted it all. He might not have been the premier leagues best player, or even top 10,but what he did for Utd and their success, was off the charts.

Lots of English fans are xenophobic each week and nothing happens

DeanAustin

Ah look, it's funny in a way and I'm sure your man was a horrible pr!ck but what Cantona did was outrageous and disgraceful. He was a pro. Players get all sorts of abuse - you have to take it.

gimli2112

always wonder why it didn't start a riot. It's probably lucky they weren't playing Milwall.

Arghus

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Or that a fan died.

I'm not aware that he ever expressed regret. He was so engrossed in his own image and being "profound"...even if it was complete gibberish.

You can't hold Cantona responsible for that.

ozzy jr

DeanAustin wrote: »

Players get all sorts of abuse - you have to take it.

No you don't.

Weepsie

DeanAustin wrote: »

Ah look, it's funny in a way and I'm sure your man was a horrible pr!ck but what Cantona did was outrageous and disgraceful. He was a pro. Players get all sorts of abuse - you have to take it.

Worked with a palace fan for years. He claimed the fan was hated by a load of palace fans too. Just an all round d!c..head

DeanAustin

ozzy jr wrote: »

No you don't.

Yeah you do. You can't go assaulting supporters. That's why you rarely ever see this sort of thing happening despite players getting abuse in pretty much every game. What Cantona did was unprofessional and disgraceful no matter how much of a scumbag Matthew Simmons is/was.

ozzy jr

DeanAustin wrote: »

Yeah you do. You can't go assaulting supporters. That's why you rarely ever see this sort of thing happening despite players getting abuse in pretty much every game. What Cantona did was unprofessional and disgraceful no matter how much of a scumbag Matthew Simmons is/was.

No, you dont have to accept abuse at your place of work, regardless of your profession.

pjohnson

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Tee hee.

No.

And before you try to mine another laugh, he didn't beat him with a brick or stab him either.

Did you express regret publicly?

1o059k7ewrqj3n

Arghus wrote: »

You can't hold Cantona responsible for that.

No you can't. It's one of those unforeseen consequences, because some Utd fans perceived that it was Palace fans fault for Cantona getting banned, some of the casuals went around looking for someone to batter. They blamed Palace fans and wanted revenge.

I think though it was a bit tasteless of some Utd supporters organisations to suggest wearing Cantona masks to Selhurst park in 2005 to mark the 10 year anniversary of the incident.

For Palace fans the event is associated with the death of Paul Nixon, for Utd fans it's about a club legend being a bit nuts and they love him.

I think I remember it being on BBC, we were watching it at home and I was sent to bed just as it was happening. That might be a false memory though, it was probably on Sky.

I have always thought that incident happened behind the goal line, not sideline...



Either way, it's a pity we don't see stuff like this more often.

diusmr8a504cvk

If you think a footballer being told to f*ck off back to France is a credible reason for that footballer to launch himself at a civilian then you're a f*cking idiot.

Cantona should have got a lifetime ban and jail, end of, no debate.

Arghus

ozzy jr wrote: »

No, you dont have to accept abuse at your place of work, regardless of your profession.

Fair enough, but there's a bit of a difference between not accepting and kung fu kicking your non acceptance at someone.

diusmr8a504cvk

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I have always thought that incident happened behind the goal line, not sideline...



Either way, it's a pity we don't see stuff like this more often.

Why would you want to see players clattering fans more regularly, what is wrong with you.

Weepsie

Kensley Little Kitten wrote: »

If you think a footballer being told to f*ck off back to France is a credible reason for that footballer to launch himself at a civilian then you're a f*cking idiot.

Cantona should have got a lifetime ban and jail, end of, no debate.

A player has bitten other players 3 times and gotten off lighter. Another 2 have caused facial paralysis to other players and been booked at most.

Fans have got onto pitches and attacked and got light bans, light fines and community service

He got a ban and community service which was just about right for the charges and offence.

Thinking anything else is just basically avoiding precedent and common sense.

His foul in the game was in fact worse. Cretinous behaviour from the stands needs to be stamped out as it was and is tolerated as "part of the game" all too much

Jurgen The German

Jurgen The German wrote: »

You are obviously still sore that he went on to become an icon of the game after leaving the club you support to join their most hates rivals.

Let it go man, carrying that kind of aggro around all these years cant be good for ones soul.

pjohnson wrote: »

Did you express regret publicly?

I note the contributions from ManU fans determined not to let something small like a fan dying in the unrest that followed cloud their celebration of the event.

Steyr 556 wrote: »

I think though it was a bit tasteless of some Utd supporters organisations to suggest wearing Cantona masks to Selhurst park in 2005 to mark the 10 year anniversary of the incident.

For Palace fans the event is associated with the death of Paul Nixon, for Utd fans it's about a club legend being a bit nuts and they love him.

Spot on.

The masks thing was very ugly.

And Palace fans do remember it for his death, it just seems that this angers some who see it all as bants because Cantona didn't kill the fan himself, he was merely the catalyst.

greendom

A good deed.

https://twitter.com/FabienGoa/status/1221120899178516481?s=09

TomSweeney

greendom wrote: »

A good deed.

https://twitter.com/FabienGoa/status/1221120899178516481?s=09

I wonder is this even true ?



Are they trying to justify the act ?

greendom

TomSweeney wrote: »

I wonder is this even true ?



Are they trying to justify the act ?

Simmonds was definitely a racist who attended BNP and NF rallies. He has convictions for violence.

Cantona wasn't aware of that of course but it was absolutely a good call by him.

1o059k7ewrqj3n

Lee Harvey Oswald inspired me to take up rifle practice.

The_Kew_Tour

greendom wrote: »

A good deed.

https://twitter.com/FabienGoa/status/1221120899178516481?s=09

Love it.

Love it more that it annoys people

8-10

greendom wrote: »

Cantona wasn't aware of that of course but it was absolutely a good call by him.

How was it a good call? What did he say to him?