Intro January 25, 1995 Selhurst Park,
London Manchester United travelled to face Crystal palace in what should have been an ordinary, run of the mill Premier League match. But as the final whistle blew, the footballing world was
left speechless. The reason? An altercation between palace fan Matthew Simmons and one of footballs most enigmatic figures, King Eric, Eric Cantona. The Build-Up By the time this game came
around, Manchester United were chasing a third Premier League title in a row. However, much like you would expect from a random Wednesday night January
fixture, the game degenerated into a drab, foul-rich non contest. Crystal palace, at the time known for their rugged defending and
compromising style of play, made life difficult for United and made life especially difficult for then talisman Eric Cantona. Manchester based frustration
was building throughout the match, both on the pitch and in the stands, as palace held firm. Cantona, known for his less than stable temperament, was showing signs of impatience. Rough challenges from Chris
Coleman and Richard Shaw on Cantona and Andy Cole respectively,
prompted a polite inquiry from Sir Alex Ferguson towards
referee Alan Wilkie, which went a little something like this why dont you do your f****** job? well, Four minutes into the second half he did. The Incident After yet another overzealous
takedown from Richard Shaw on Cantona, the frenchman decided to
initiate some justice of his own in the form of a flailing right boot. The red card was obviously brandished and Cantona walked begrudgingly towards the tunnel. "Theres the morning headlines", said BBC commentator Clive Tilsley. Oh, how little he knew. What happened next would stun everybody. Before anyone watching on tv knew what was happening, Cantona launched
himself into the crowd with a kung fu style kick, striking a Crystal palace fan in the chest. The crowd erupted into chaos as stewards and police rushed to contain the situation. Cantona, clearly still seething, was dragged away by teammates and staff. The palace van, later
identified as Matthew Simmons, stood stunned as Selhurst
park buzzed with disbelief. Once the dust had settled and everyone in the stadium and watching at home could take stock of what had just transpired,
there was only one question worth asking. What on earth happened? Aftermath & Reaction The following day Cantona's kick dominated the headlines "the moment that shamed football" screamed one paper. While others questioned
whether Cantona had a future in the sport or not, United were quick to step in and make an example of Cantona. Although this may have been an
attempt to pre-empt any action from the FA, fining the
frenchman £20,000 and banning him for the rest of the season,
this attempt didnt work as Cantona was also fined an
extra £10,000 and had his ban extended to September by the FA. The United striker would then attend a court of law and would be sentenced to two weeks in prison, a sentence that was
overturned on appeal and reduced to 150 hours of community service. So that was Eric Cantona's punishment. What happened to the fan? Then 21 year old Matthew Simmons, the man who Cantona kicked, was also due in court. Simmons, who had allegedly
attended rallies for the National Front and had had a raft of previous violent convictions, including one where
he allegedly punched a youth football coach for calling
him "Nazi scum", claimed to have shouted "Off off off off. Its an early bath for you Mr Cantona." Let me repeat that. "Off off its an early bath for you Mr Cantona" Now, dear viewer, you like me, might have been to many a football match. Can you imagine any football fan shouting that? Neither can I. The far more likely words
that came out of Simmons mouth and those confirmed by Cantona
and bystanders in the crowd was f*** off back to France, you
french b****** as well as some not very nice things about Cantona's mother. On his day in court, Simmons was fined £500 and given a one year stadium ban for the use of threatening behaviour. How did Simmons deal with this news? Did he take the fine and the ban? Go and invest in Sky Sports and take it all on the chin? No, what he would actually
do is launch himself at the prosecution lawyer and attempt
to grab and kick at him. Legacy It was a defining moment in Eric Cantona's career, but ultimately not one that
would destroy his legacy. Upon his return to the side, Cantona led Manchester United to further
glory, leading United to the title in the 1995/1996 season. Rather than being appalled by his actions, a lot of people actually came out in support of Cantona. Richard Williams. Writing for the Independent,
said: "Eric Cantona only mistake was to stop hitting him. The more we discovered about Mister Simmons, the more Cantona assault looked like the instinctive expression of a
flawless moral judgement." Former players who were
playing at the time have since come out in support of Cantona's
actions, including former Arsenal man Ian Wright who stated on the BBCs match of the Day top ten podcast that he was jealous that Eric Cantona had kicked the fan. Nike stood by Cantona as a
brand ambassador and even poked fun at the incident
in some of their adverts. Cantona's career was filled with moments of brilliance, but it was impossible to forget this moment of madness. To this day it stands as a reminder of the fine line between genius and insanity. The kung fu incident is part of the Eric Cantona myth, the incident that, for better or for worse, became synonymous
with english football, Manchester United and King Eric. Eric Cantona.