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Museum Object. Spitting Image puppet of Eric Cantona. |
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Eric Cantona
| Category: | Male Player |
| Year Inducted: | 2002 |
Profile by Robert Galvin, the author of Football's Greatest Heroes, the official book of the National Football Museum Hall of Fame:
Eric Cantona, the Frenchman nicknamed ‘Le King' by the Stretford End, added the final ingredient to the mix that made Manchester United the best team in England, ending 26 years of frustration.
When Cantona arrived at Old Trafford in November 1992, for a modest fee of £1 million, Manchester United were lying in sixth place in the Premier League. In May they were crowned champions, for the first time since 1966-67.
‘We were an inspired and transformed team,' Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager, said. ‘Eric had a priceless presence.'
It was no fluke: Cantona had done almost exactly the same thing at his previous club, Leeds United. The plot was almost identical. The previous year he arrived at Elland Road mid-way through the season and they, too, went on to win the title. ‘Eric Idol,' one local newspaper called him. ‘Ooh, Aah Cantona,' chanted the Leeds fans.
On the other side of the Pennines, he made an immediate impression on Roy Keane: ‘Collar turned up, back straight, chest stuck out, Eric glided into the arena as if he owned the place,' Keane wrote later.
‘He illuminated Old Trafford,' Ferguson said. ‘The place was a frenzy every time he touched the ball.'
Cantona formed a partnership with Mark Hughes. In the 20 games they started together in 1992-93, Manchester United scored 39 goals. Before his arrival, the team managed barely a goal a game. ‘It had the best defence, but not the best attack,' Cantona said.
By the age of 25 Eric Cantona had been employed by six clubs in France and one club in England. For the remaining five years of his football career he put a stop to his nomadic ways.
‘I value truth, honesty, respect for one another, sincerity, compassion and understanding,' he said. ‘These qualities are found at Manchester United.'
In 1994, Manchester United won the Double, a feat they repeated two years later. In the 1996 FA Cup Final against Liverpool, the Frenchman scored the winning goal with a late volley at Wembley. He then lifted the famous trophy as captain – the first foreign player to do so.
His example inspired a generation of players who then carried the club to even greater heights following his retirement in 1997. ‘We learnt from Eric's actions in staying behind after training to practise free-kicks and shooting,' said Ryan Giggs. ‘Gary and Phil Neville, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, David Beckham and myself - we all followed his lead.'
Outside Old Trafford, however, the reputation of this volatile, outspoken Frenchman had been tarnished by repeated bouts of indiscipline, culminating in 1995, when he was suspended for eight months for an infamous ‘kung-fu' attack on a supporter of Crystal Palace. Typically, his comeback the following season proved the catalyst for the Double – outstanding form that earned him the Footballer of the Year award.
Such notoriety only seemed to add to his reputation as a maverick genius. In the mid-1990s Nike ran a poster campaign featuring Cantona's image. Referring to the World Cup win of 30 years earlier, the caption read: ‘1966 was a great year for English football. Eric was born.'