Cantona was born and grew up in Marseille. His first club was AJ Auxerre, where he spent two years in the youth team before making his debut in 1983.The whole of 1984 saw Cantona's footballing career put on hold as he carried out his national service. After discharge he was loaned out to FC Martigues in the French Second Division. Rejoining Auxerre and signing a professional contract in 1986, his performances in the First Division were good enough to earn him his first full international cap.He was part of the French under-21 side that won the 1988 U21 European Championship and shortly after that success, he transferred to Olympique de Marseille (also known as "L'OM") for a French record fee. He quite often showed signs of being 'short tempered'. During a friendly game against Torpedo Moscow Cantona ripped off and threw away his jersey after being substituted. His club responded by banning him for a month. A few weeks later he insulted the coach of the national team on TV and despite apologising was banned from internationals for a year.Cantona moved to Bordeaux on loan and then to Montpellier. At Montpellier, a fight with one of his team-mates led to six players demanding that Cantona be sacked. However, with the support of team-mates such as Laurent Blanc and Carlos Valderrama, the club retained his services and Cantona was instrumental as the team went on to win the French Cup. His form persuaded Marseille to take him back.At Marseille however, Cantona was continually at odds with the chairman Bernard Tapie, and despite helping the team win the French Division 1 title, he was transferred to Nimes the following season. During a game he threw the ball at the referee, having been angered by one of his decisions. The FFF banned him for a month. Cantona responded by insulting each member once again, and his ban was increased to 2 months. For Cantona this was the last straw and he decided to retire from football in 1991.Thanks to pressure from high profile football fans such as Michel Platini, Cantona was persuaded to make a comeback and moved to England to restart his career.EnglandLeeds UnitedAfter having originally come to England for a trial with Sheffield Wednesday, in February 1992 Cantona joined Leeds United, where he helped them win the old First Division championship that season (1991-92).
[edit]Manchester UnitedThe following November, he was transferred to Manchester United for a relatively small fee of 1.2 million pounds.United's season had been disappointing up to then, as they had had problems scoring goals, partly caused by the sale of Mark Robins and an injury to Dion Dublin. However, Cantona quickly settled into the team, not only scoring many goals but also creating chances for the other players. For the next two years, United went on an amazing run, winning the inaugural Premiership in 1993 (their first Championship title in 26 years) and then "the double" in 1994, with Cantona's two penalties helping them to a 4-0 win over Chelsea in the F.A. Cup Final.
Eric Cantona kicks Crystal Palace fan Simmons.
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Eric Cantona kicks Crystal Palace fan Simmons.Cantona then became infamous for an incident that occurred on 25 January 1995. In an away match against Crystal Palace, after being sent off by the referee for a vengeful kick on Palace defender Richard Shaw, (after Shaw had pulled his shirt) he launched a 'kung-fu' style kick against an allegedly abusive Crystal Palace fan, Matthew Simmons. At a press conference called later, Cantona gave what is perhaps his most famous quote. As the journalists gathered to hear him speak, Cantona entered the room, sat down and said, in a slow and deliberate manner: "When the seagulls... follow the trawler... it's because they think... sardines will be thrown into the sea" (referring to the British press being the seagulls). He then got up from his seat and left, leaving many of the assembled crowd bemused. He was sentenced to 120 hours of community service after an appeal court overturned a 2 week prison sentence for assault. He was also suspended by The Football Association until the following October.There had been much speculation that Cantona would leave English football when his ban finished, but Alex Ferguson persuaded him to stay in Manchester and Cantona was once again inspirational. United had sold several key players at the start of the season and replaced them with players from the club's youth team and, as in 1992-93, their prospects of winning the league were not looking good. After Ryan Giggs (the one player Cantona claimed had a telepathic understanding with him) had been upended, Cantona scored a penalty against Liverpool in his first game after the ban, and his goals helped United to recapture the league having been twelve points behind Newcastle United in January 1996, virtually going on a one man crusade for the championship title at several important junctures. Often, it would be a spate of 1-0 wins for United with Cantona the goal scorer. Fittingly, he also scored the same 1-0 winning goal in that year's F.A. Cup Final, scoring in his last game of the season against the team he played against in his first game of the season, Liverpool . His redemption was complete after the scandals and lows of a year earlier. Cantona gave a post-match interview saying: "You know that's life. Up and down." Manchester United were the first team to win "the double" twice.Cantona galvanised the United team to greater success in Europe the following year, with the likes of Ryan Giggs & youngsters David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville emerging under his influence. As United retained the league in the 1996-97 season, Cantona had won six league titles in seven years, the exception being the 1995 season which he had largely missed through suspension. At the end of an admittedly lacklusture season by his standards, his announcement that he was retiring from football at the age of 30 still came as a surprise. Shortly afterwards, he became captain of the French National Beach Football team.In 2004 Cantona was quoted as saying "I'm so proud the fans still sing my name, but I fear tomorrow they will stop. I fear it because I love it. And everything you love, you fear you will lose."In 2006 the Sun newspaper reported Cantona as saying that Manchester United had lost their soul and that the current players were a bunch of sheep. The Old Trafford idol reckoned the days of maverick entertainers like himself and George Best were gone and feared the Red Devils were betraying their past by putting out boring, functional teams. However on the Contrary he was interviewed in the Number 7's issue of 'United Magazine' in August 2006 stating he will only come back to Manchester United as 'Number 1' (meaning not return as assistant manager or coach) and would create a team like no other and play the way he thinks 'football' should be played.
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