Eric Cantona was born in the old city of Marseille in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur region to father Albert Cantona and mother Eleonore Raurich. During his somehow bittersweet professional career, he appeared for Auxerre, Martigues, Marseille, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nimes, Leeds United, and Manchester United.
Always a man for the occasion, Cantona became only the third player to score three goals for Manchester United in FA Cup finals, along with Wales striker Mark Hughes and Three Lions international Bryan Robson. After calling it a day at the end of the 1996-97 season, he pursued a career in the film business and would later join North American Soccer League outfit New York Cosmos as Director of Soccer in 2011.
PART ONE
The French international was on the books of several clubs before the lavishly gifted footballer eventually found his spiritual home at Manchester United. Cantona started out at AJ Auxerre and made his competitive debut for the club in a 4–0 French League One success against AS Nancy at the Stade de l’Abbe-Deschamps on the 5th of November 1983. The gifted youngster was shipped out on loan to French Second Division side FC Martigues in 1985, but he would rejoin AJ Auxerre the following year.
After signing a professional contract with AJA, Eric Cantona would go on to score a respectable 23 goals during 82 League One matches for the Burgundy club before he agreed to join forces with Bernard Tapie´s Olympique Marseille team at the beginning of the 1988-89 season. While at Stade Velodrome, Cantona contributed a total of thirteen hits during forty La Championnat appearances for Olympique Marseille and the prodigious frontman won the French League One Championship title with Les Phoceens in 1988-89 and 1990-91. His days with Marseille were numbered, however, when Bernand Tapie decided to replace manager Franz Beckenbauer with former Anderlecht, Bordeaux, Sao Paulo, Royal Standard de Liege, Vitoria, Racing Jet Brussels and Belgium supremo Raymond Goethals, and the restless and wayward attacker was subsequently transferred to fellow French League One club Olympique Nimes at the beginning of the 1991-92 campaign.
Following a bitter and lengthy conflict with the Football Association of France, Cantona was advised by his psychiatrist to move to Leeds United where the always outspoken, but never boring, player would help the success starving West Yorkshire outfit win the First Division Championship for the first time in eighteen years. Come November 1992, and the trigger happy sharpshooter was surprisingly placed on the transfer list by Leeds boss Howard Wilkinson and was sold to long-time adversaries Manchester United for the relatively modest fee of £1.2 million. Evidently, the deal incurred the sincere wrath of the Elland Road faithful and he was targeted with booing and jeering every time he played against his previous employers. Enthusiastic and ebullient, he would become a key pillar of the ongoing revolution that transformed the Manchester United side from being a bunch of underachievers to become a major force once again.
PART TWO
The Gallic goal plunderer par excellence was handed his debut for United when he entered the field as a second half substitute for Ryan Giggs in a 2-1 First Division triumph against rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford on the 6th of December 1992 and the dynamic and powerful nature of his personality instantaneously made him a massive favourite with the supporters of the club. Blessed with both flair and determination, Cantona was also highly respected by both his Manchester United teammates and his opposing players in the Premier League.
The Frenchman was an extremely talented player who worked in tandem with Manchester United supremo Sir Alex Ferguson to fill up the trophy cabinet at Old Trafford and he forged a cordial relationship with the ambitious and demanding head coach over the years. And despite being sentenced to 120 hours of community service after kicking a spectator during a Premier League clash with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on the 25th of January 1995, the loyal legionnaire played a vital part in the revival of the sleeping giant and was an integral constituent of the great team of the 1990´s.
The Marseillais was also an inspirational leader of men and a winner on the football field and his contribution to Manchester United simply cannot be underestimated. One of Eric Cantona´s absolute highlights as an Old Trafford player was without a doubt the 1996 FA Cup Final against Roy Evans´s Liverpool side at Wembley Stadium when he produced the only goal of the contest with a mere five minutes remaining on the watch.
The first great chance of the match fell to Manchester United when a flick from Eric Cantona presented former Newcastle United favourite Andy Cole with a golden opportunity to score. But in front of a 79,000 crowd at Wembley, the anxious attacker failed to hit the ball properly and it came to nothing at all. The Anfielders hit back in style when Stan Collymore almost opened the scoring, putting Peter Schmeichel in the Manchester United goal to the test with a fierce drive at goal.
Shortly after the break, United started the second half on the front foot and Liverpool netminder David James displayed a piece of superb goalkeeping when the denied Manchester United captain Eric Cantona a goal with a superb save. The Merseysiders had an opportunity to take the lead when Jamie Redknapp fired a tremendous shot goalwards, but the ball went straight at Danish international Peter Schmeichel. After spending most of the afternoon squandering quality scoring chances, Cole was eventually substituted by midfield engineer Paul Scholes in the 63rd minute of the tie. Cometh the hour, cometh the skipper, and Ferguson´s United troops finally got the winner when Cantona managed to score the only goal of the encounter in the 85th minute of play. With only five minutes left, James tried to punch a corner clear and the ball landed at the feet of the goal poacher who found the back of the net with a tremendous right-footed half volley. Although hardly a classic FA Cup Final, Cantona made it all up by producing the goal that won United a second double in three seasons.
In total, Eric Cantona accumulated a highly credible 64 goals in 143 Premier League appearances for Manchester United and the eccentric and iconic artist managed to win the Premiership in 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96 and 1996–97, including the Double of League and FA Cup in both 1993-94 and 1995-96, the FA Cup in 1994 and 1996 and the FA Charity Shield in 1993, 1994 and 1996. The King of Manchester United was deservedly named as the Professional Footballers’ Association Players’ Player of the Year in 1993-94 and the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year in 1995-96 before he decided to make a rather surprise retirement announcement at the comparatively young age of thirty at the end of the Championship winning campaign of 1996-97.
An international for France, he earned his senior debut for the country of his birth in a 2-1 defeat against historical enemies West Germany at the Berliner Olympiastadion on the 12th of August 1987 and proceeded to play in 45 games for Les Bleus, bagging a grand total of 20 goals during the process.
Always possessing the creative imperative, he would give performances that most modern day players could only dream to emulate and the natural born entertainer was probably the only footballer to this very day that actually could be compared to Samuel Taylor Coleridge. A man of several passions, Eric Cantona also shared the same interest in the fishing industry as the famous poet.