Name | Eric Cantona |
| Date of Birth | 24 May 1966 in Paris, France |
| Height | 6' 2" |
| Weight | 14st 3lb |
| Previous Clubs | Auxerre / Martigues (on loan) / Auxerre (again) / Marseille / Bordeaux (on loan) / Marseille (again) / Montpellier (on loan) / Marseille (yet again) / Nimes / Sheffield Wednesday (on trial) / Leeds. |
| Joined Man Utd | 27 November 1992 |
| Full Debut | 12 December 1992 vs Norwich City (h) |
| International Debut | 12 August 1987 vs West Germany |
|
| 1992/3 | played 21 (1 sub) | goals 9 |
| 1993/4 | played 34 | goals 18 |
| 1994/5 | played 21 | goals 12 |
| 1995/6 | played 30 | goals 14 |
| 1996/7 | played 50 | goals 15 |
A surprise 1.2 million signing by MANCHESTER UNITED
in Nov 92,
Eric Cantona
was not manager Alex Ferguson`s initial target when
he bid to increase the
United's goalscoring output. Having failed in his 3.5 million attempt to land
Sheff Wed David Hirst, Ferguson was subsequently successful in his bid
for the 26 year old Frenchman.
A prophetic view came from Guy Roux the Auxerre manager who discovered
Cantona as a 14 year old and
turned him into a star. "He will get goals that
United
want", said the former boss, who also added that he would have
him back
tomorrow, if he could afford him.
With his trademark turned-up collar, and shirt worn outside his shorts,
he walked onto the pitch as if he was doing the grass a favour,
the fiery Frenchman cut an impressive figure throughout 93-4 and fully
warranted his PFA Player of the Year award.
Black day of his career 1 May 1995: five minutes into the second half at
Crystal Palace Cantona received a red card. Without doubt, Eric Cantona is a footballer of independent genius
to be admired and enjoyed.
"We`re just very grateful he`s here.
He`s such a great player. I`m still pinching myself. A player like that
only comes along once or twice in a lifetime, and you don`t leave him out
or put him in the reserves. You are visitor number : 
His first appearance for the Reds was against Benfica in Lisbon, in
a friendly match to mark the 50th birthday of
Eusebio. Cantona`s class
has never been in doubt, but apparently unpredictable and often
outspoken artistic Gallic temperament was, to some degree, the reason behind no
less than eight different moves in the space of 10 years which had seen the
French international adapt
to many different types of play, but not
always the individuals in authority, most recently at Leeds, where
he
left amid recriminations on both sides.
He quickly settled on the big stage at Old Trafford, however, his subtle
skills and flair
for the unexpected option blossoming within the
framework of a gifted side with many
willing runners to feed from his
delightfully
weighted chips and flicks into open spaces. Certainly
UNITED supporters clasped him to their hearts
as a cult hero and his
contribution
to successive Premier league titles has been an immensely
significant one. Not only has he created a fresh dimension in attack by
his
vision and self-confidence, but he also proved an inspiration to his
talented team-mates who
have responded with aplomb to his uplifting and
unique brand of unforgettable soccer sorcery. Eighteen Premiership
goals and four
in the FA Cup - which included two elegantly sidefooted
pressure penalties in the final against Chelsea - was Eric`s
"magnifique" contribution to
United's Double winning-season. 
On his way off the pitch the
Palace fans yelled at him and Eric took the situation into his own hands tackling
Matt Simmons with a breast height karate kick. He was rightfully banned for the rest
of the season. Eric Cantona accepted his punishment and came back a reformed character
to help UNITED win the famous Double Double
in 95-6.
Honours
French Cup for Montpellier, 1990
French League for Marseille, 1991
English Division One for Leeds, 1992
Premier League for United, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997
FA Cup for United, 1994, 1996
Euro under-21 championship for France, 1988
PFA Player of the Year, 1994
Footballer of the Year, 1996
French caps: 45, 20 goals
Bobby Charlton note:
You
respect his skill. Eric is the brainiest player I`ve ever seen, he see's
such a lot when he has the ball. The big thing he has given UNITED
is the ability to make attacks count, not waste good positions until the
right option appears, and we now finish almost every move with an effort
on goal. The other thing is his ability to release players, even when the pass doesn`t
look on. If you make the run Eric will probably get you the ball."
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