English, but he joined in with things and
his quality was there for everybody to see.
Physically, you could see that he’d be able to
handle the demands of the Premier League –
anything that was thrown at him in training,
he could deal with.”
Leeds were already top when they
travelled to Oldham in early February 1992,
but they’d fallen behind at Boundary Park by
the time Cantona was brought on for his
debut and lost 2-0. With Lee Chapman and
Rod Wallace already established as a strong
partnership up front, the Frenchman only
started one of his first six games – coming on
as a sub to score against Luton. But when
Manchester United moved two points behind
Leeds with three games in hand after the
Whites fell 4-1 at QPR in March, manager
Howard Wilkinson trialled a new system that
incorporated all three of his forwards.
The trio all scored in a 5-1 home win over
Wimbledon, when Cantona wore the No.3
shirt, but the next three games delivered only
two points; Manchester United took control at
the top and Leeds’ new signing returned to
the bench. He responded with a sensational
cameo at home to Chelsea, assisting
Chapman before scoring a breathtaking effort
of his own – juggling the ball one way and
then the other before firing home.
“He turned the centre-half inside-out and
then stuck it in the top corner,” Newsome
remembers. “He was incredible on his day.”
Wilkinson swiftly confirmed Cantona’s
permanent signing – the Chelsea triumph
kick-started Leeds’ form as they overtook
Manchester United again and won the title.
Cantona had scored just three times, but he’d
had some influence in the club’s only league
championship since 1974.
“A while back, I saw a Sheffield
Wednesday fan say on Twitter that if they’d
kept hold of Cantona, they’d have won the
league because he went to Leeds, scored
loads of goals and won us the title,”
Newsome says. “That was harsh on the lads
who played 35 or 40 games that season,
because Eric scored three goals and started
six games. But he was the cherry on the icing
on top of the cake, a little sprinkling of
stardust, and on occasions he did something
that changed the game.
“He was a good lad to be around. When
we won the title, they built a stage for us on
the steps of the city hall, and we stood there
with the trophy – they reckon there were
250,000 there. Eric picked the microphone up
and said, ‘I love you – I don’t know why, but I
love you’. We all looked at each other as if to
say, ‘Where’s that come from?’ but that was
him. He knew what to say and how to say it.”
THE FORMULA 1 CAR ARRIVES
Cantona lined up for France at Euro 92 – the
only major tournament of his career – but
couldn’t find the net as Les Bleus went out in
the group stage, drawing 0-0 with Graham
Taylor’s England in their second match.
Back at Leeds, he scored nine times in his
first seven appearances of the new campaign
- netting a hat-trick in the Charity Shield
against Liverpool, before repeating the feat
in a home game against Spurs to become the
first player to bag a Premier League treble.
In the new Champions League, he scored in
a September knockout tie against Stuttgart,
later replayed at the Camp Nou after Leeds’
German rivals were found to have fielded
an ineligible player.
Within a couple of months, however, Eric
was gone. While struggling to repeat their
title-winning form, Leeds lost to Rangers at
Ibrox in the second round of the Champions
League – the Frenchman couldn’t make an
impact and walked straight down the tunnel
after being substituted. He was dropped for
the next match at QPR.
“Rangers was the start of his downfall,”
Newsome remembers. “History has shown
that Eric was a very headstrong individual,
and under Howard Wilkinson you all had your
own roles to play on the field. If you didn’t do
what he asked you to do, it was quite simple:
he’d get someone else to do it and you
wouldn’t be playing. It was things like the
defensive side of the game, and not putting
the ball at risk. But Eric wanted to do things
his own way.
“Howard and Alex Ferguson are two very
different people, and they handled him in two
very different ways. By the time we played
QPR, it was obvious Eric and Howard weren’t
seeing eye to eye. He went off early in training
with an injury, and rather than seeing the
physio, he went home. Then there was one
pre-match meeting at the hotel he turned
up late to and didn’t have the correct attire.
They were all statements by Eric to either
annoy the manager or force his way out.”
Cantona returned to Leeds’ line-up for the
second leg against Rangers and even scored,
but the Whites went out anyway. Then they
lost 4-0 at Manchester City in early November,
slipping to 14th in the Premier League, before
exiting the League Cup at second-tier outfit
Watford. Cantona was dropped again and
handed in a transfer request, demanding to
join Manchester United, Liverpool or Arsenal.
Wilkinson tried to find a buyer in Italy,
Spain or France, but he found no takers. Then
came the most pivotal phone call in Premier
League history, from Leeds’ managing
director Bill Fotherby to Manchester United
chairman Martin Edwards, enquiring about
signing Denis Irwin. By chance, Alex Ferguson
was sat opposite Edwards and passed him a
note that read, “Ask about Cantona.”
Manchester United were only eighth in the
league, nine points behind leaders Norwich,
having hit just 17 goals in 16 games – fewer
than three of the bottom four. Ferguson had
missed out on Alan Shearer to Blackburn in
the summer, then signed Dion Dublin from
Cambridge, only for the targetman to break
his leg in cruel fashion.
The Scot responded by trying to sign Hirst
from Sheffield Wednesday, for what would
have been a record fee paid by a British club.
“I can still hear Alex now on my car phone,
totally exasperated because he’d put in two
offers that I’d knocked back,” Trevor Francis
said. “I refused £4m and Alex bellowed
down the phone, ‘Do you realise this isTiming is everything,
and no timing has
ever been better than
Eric Cantona’s arrival
at Manchester United.
The chemical
reaction that occurred
when he met Sir Alex
Ferguson, when his arrogant confidence
spread to the fledglings of the youth
team, hasn’t been replicated since.
Emerging from the darkness of the 1980s,
United needed a spark to become a ’90s
behemoth. Cantona was it. Talent-wise,
there have been better Premier League
players. As a captain, he was no Roy
Keane. But Cantona brought a certain joy
to the game, mixed with his raw
aggression, undeniably world-class
ability, and of course, that arrogance.
He was signed at my ninth birthday
party. Literally. My party was at the club
museum on the day of Eric’s unveiling,
which forced my festivities to be cut short.
They gave me his shirt to make up for it- the shirt he held on the pitch that day.
It was my third season watching
football, and I was beginning to properly
understand the game. I’d had a couple
of favourite players by then – Paul Ince
mainly, don’t judge – but I was ready to
properly fall in love with the sport... and
with this club. I grew up watching Eric
Cantona. I carried his confidence into
school. Every collar I wore turned up.
I was 11 when he kicked Matthew
Simmons and delivered the seagulls press
conference. What did it mean? Not a clue.
Did I repeat it to my mum when she
asked why I was in trouble at school? Yes.
Did it work? Obviously not.
To Reds of a certain vintage, Cantona is
God. I even took his flag to Afghanistan
when I served in the armed forces. My
dad had the Lawman, and the European
Cup of 1968. Our uncles had the Doc’s
Red Army. Cantona was ours.
I met him in 2017, and I’ve never been
as nervous in my life. To explain him using
stats and tactics would be like explaining
love to a tin of beans. He transcends the
sport. He’s a cultural figure. He told you
himself, he’s not a man. He’s Cantona.
Stephen Howson, from the Stretford
Paddock YouTube channel, explains
what Eric means to his generation“MY DAD HAD
DEnIS LAW,
BUT CAnTOnA
WAS OURS”
ERIC
CAn TOn AFourFourTwo.com The Story of Man Utd 67