Eric Cantona played for Auxerre, Martigues, Marseille, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nimes, and Leeds United before ending his career at Manchester United, where he won four Premier League titles in five years and two League and FA Cup Doubles.
74 Facts About Eric Cantona
2.
Eric Cantona is affectionately nicknamed by Manchester United fans as "King Eric".
3.
Eric Cantona won the league championship in seven of his last eight full seasons as a professional.
4.
Eric Cantona appeared at UEFA Euro 1992 and, in preparation for Euro 96, was appointed the nation's captain until a football suspension which resulted from an incident in January 1995.
5.
In 2003, Eric Cantona was voted as Manchester United's greatest ever player by Inside United magazine.
6.
Eric Cantona was an inaugural inductee into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002.
7.
Eric Cantona was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021.
8.
In 1997, Eric Cantona unexpectedly announced his retirement from football at the age of 30.
9.
Eric Cantona pursued a career in cinema and had roles in the 1998 film Elizabeth, starring Cate Blanchett; the 2008 film French Film, and the 2009 film Looking for Eric.
10.
Eric Cantona took an interest in the sport of beach soccer; as player-manager of the France national team, he won the 2005 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.
11.
Eric Cantona was born in Marseille on 24 May 1966, the son of dressmaker Eleonore Raurich, and nurse and painter Albert Eric Cantona.
12.
Eric Cantona's mother was Spanish and came from Barcelona, while his paternal grandfather was Italian and had emigrated to Marseille from Sardinia.
13.
The Eric Cantona family home was a cave in one of the hills in the Les Caillols area of Marseille, between the city's 11th and 12th arrondissements, and it was rumoured to have been used as a lookout post for the Wehrmacht towards the end of the Second World War.
14.
The site was chosen in the mid-1950s by Eric Cantona's paternal grandmother, whose husband was a stonemason.
15.
Eric Cantona has two brothers: Jean-Marie, who is four years older, and Joel, who is 17 months younger.
16.
Eric Cantona began his football career with SO Caillolais, his local team and one that had produced such talent as Roger Jouve and had players such as Jean Tigana and Christophe Galtier within its ranks.
17.
Originally, Eric Cantona began to follow in his father's footsteps and often played as a goalkeeper, but his creative instincts began to take over and he would play up front more and more often.
18.
Eric Cantona was part of the France under-21 side that won the 1988 U21 European Championship, scoring a hat-trick in a quarter-final against the England under-21 side, and shortly after he transferred to Marseille for a French record fee.
19.
Eric Cantona's club responded by banning him for a month.
20.
The incident led to six players demanding that Eric Cantona be sacked, but with the support of teammates such as Laurent Blanc and Carlos Valderrama, the club retained his services, although they banned him from the ground for ten days.
21.
Eric Cantona was instrumental as the team went on to win the French Cup and his form persuaded Marseille to take him back.
22.
Back at Marseille, Eric Cantona initially played well under coach Gerard Gili and his successor Franz Beckenbauer.
23.
However, the Marseille chairman Bernard Tapie was not satisfied with the results, and replaced Beckenbauer with Raymond Goethals; Eric Cantona was continually at odds with Goethals and Tapie and, despite helping the team win the French Division 1 title, he was transferred to Nimes the following season, for a fee of 10 million francs, signing a three-year contract.
24.
Eric Cantona was summoned to a disciplinary hearing by the French Football Federation and was banned for one month.
25.
Eric Cantona responded by walking up to members of the hearing committee in turn and calling each of them an "idiot".
26.
Eric Cantona's ban was increased to two months, and Cantona subsequently announced his retirement from football on 16 December 1991.
27.
The France national team coach, Michel Platini, was a fan of Eric Cantona, and persuaded him to make a comeback.
28.
Eric Cantona spent two days with Wednesday, training and playing in an indoor tournament at Sheffield Arena.
29.
Eric Cantona made 15 appearances, and despite only scoring three goals, he was instrumental in their title success, primarily with assists for leading goalscorer Lee Chapman.
30.
Eric Cantona then flew to Paris to join the France national team for a friendly against Brazil on the very same day, due to newly installed manager Gerard Houllier's desire to have the whole squad present for his first match.
31.
Eric Cantona walked straight to the dressing room after being substituted which was interpreted by Wilkinson as disrespectful to the other players.
32.
In between the two games, Eric Cantona was an unused substitute when Leeds travelled to Queens Park Rangers as Wilkinson, favouring a more direct approach, found no room for him.
33.
The news of Eric Cantona's impending transfer from Leeds to fierce rivals Manchester United was met with hostility from Leeds fans.
34.
Ferguson had identified that his team was in need of a striker, having recently made unsuccessful bids for David Hirst, Matt Le Tissier and Brian Deane, and instructed his chairman to ask whether Eric Cantona was for sale.
35.
Eric Cantona made his first appearance for the club on 1 December 1992 in a friendly match against Benfica in Lisbon to mark Eusebio's 50th birthday, wearing the number 10 shirt.
36.
Eric Cantona quickly settled into the team, slotting in alongside Mark Hughes, while Brian McClair was switched to midfield.
37.
Eric Cantona contributed greatly to a quick upturn in the team's fortunes, not only scoring goals but creating chances for the other players.
38.
Eric Cantona had won a domestic league title with different clubs for three successive seasons, having helped Marseille win the French league title in 1991.
39.
Eric Cantona was voted PFA Player of the Year for that season, and finished as United's top scorer with 25 goals in all competitions.
40.
However, the season was not without its moments of controversy; Eric Cantona was sent off as the team exited the Champions League against Galatasaray, and he was dismissed in successive league games in March 1994, firstly against Swindon Town and then against Arsenal.
41.
Eric Cantona was issued with the number 7 shirt, a squad number he kept for the rest of his United career, and which already had iconic status, having previously been worn by club legends including George Best and Bryan Robson.
42.
However, squad numbers were not set for the Champions League matches and Eric Cantona wore the number 9 shirt in the four fixtures home and away against Kispest Honved and Galatasaray.
43.
Eric Cantona was United's top scorer with 26 goals in all competitions.
44.
Eric Cantona had scored a further goal in an FA Cup third round win at Sheffield United, and a second double was possible.
45.
At a press conference called later, Eric Cantona said, in a slow and deliberate manner:.
46.
Eric Cantona was stripped of the captaincy of the France national team by coach Aime Jacquet.
47.
Eric Cantona finished the season as the club's top scorer with 14 goals from 30 league appearances.
48.
Eric Cantona's ban meant he was not eligible to appear in their League Cup or UEFA Cup campaigns, but he did score in four of United's six matches on the way to the 1996 FA Cup Final against Liverpool, their third in a row in the competition.
49.
Eric Cantona's stand-out moment in his final season was a goal and memorable celebration against Sunderland in December 1996; after chipping Sunderland goalkeeper Lionel Perez from just inside the penalty area, Eric Cantona celebrated by standing still, emotionless, slowly turning around and raising his arms before embracing McClair, who had provided the assist.
50.
Eric Cantona scored a total of 64 league goals for United, 13 in domestic cup competitions, and 5 in the Champions League, bringing his tally to 82 goals in less than five years.
51.
Later in 1998, Eric Cantona organised a match of Manchester United players against other players from around the world in what was originally designed to be a memorial for the victims of the Munich Air Disaster in 1958 and their families, but which was merged with a testimonial for Eric Cantona himself.
52.
Eric Cantona was interviewed in the "Number 7s" issue of Manchester United's official magazine, United, in August 2006, stating he would only return to United as 'Number 1' and would create a team like no other and play the way he thinks football should be played; however, Cantona opposes the ownership of Manchester United by the Glazer family, and has stated that he will not return to the club, even as a manager, while they are in charge.
53.
In March 2014, Eric Cantona was arrested and cautioned for an act of common assault on Regent's Park Road in Camden, North London.
54.
Eric Cantona was given his full international debut against West Germany in August 1987 by national team manager Henri Michel.
55.
In September 1988, angered after being dropped from the national team, Eric Cantona referred to Michel as a "bag of shit" in a post-match TV interview and was indefinitely banned from all international matches.
56.
Platini stated that whilst he was coach, Eric Cantona would be selected for France as long as he was playing competitive top-class football; it was Platini who had initiated Eric Cantona's move to England to restart his career.
57.
Eric Cantona remained captain until the Selhurst Park incident in January 1995.
58.
Eric Cantona focused his later career mostly as an actor in French cinema, having had his first role as a rugby player in Le bonheur est dans le pre, shot during his 1995 suspension from football.
59.
Eric Cantona guest-starred as a mysterious barroom philosopher in independent British film Jack Says, released to DVD in September 2008.
60.
Eric Cantona co-starred as director Thierry Grimandi in French Film, and is co-producer and a lead actor in Ken Loach's Palme D'or nominated film Looking for Eric.
61.
In January 2020, Eric Cantona played The King in the music video for Liam Gallagher's single "Once".
62.
Eric Cantona has frequently appeared in commercials for the sportswear company Nike.
63.
Eric Cantona starred in a Eurostar commercial in 1996, and an Irish EuroMillions advertisement in 2004.
64.
Shortly after his departure from Manchester United in 1997, Eric Cantona became captain of the France national beach soccer team, gaining an interest in the sport through his brother Joel who was already a part of the France national side travelling the world to play matches.
65.
Eric Cantona continued his interest in beach soccer games in southern Asia and at the Inaugural Kronenbourg Beach Soccer Cup in 2002, in the city of Brighton, England.
66.
Eric Cantona found considerable success as he managed and played in the French team which won their first European title at the 2004 Euro Beach Soccer League and the inaugural FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in 2005 in Rio de Janeiro, France's first and only World title to date.
67.
The World Cup was held in France for the first time in 2008; however, Eric Cantona was unable to make the top four after losing to Italy in the quarter-finals.
68.
Eric Cantona was an accurate penalty and free kick taker.
69.
Eric Cantona called for a social revolution against the banks and encouraged customers of the major retail banks to withdraw their money on 7 December 2010 in protest at the global financial crisis.
70.
In January 2012, Eric Cantona began trying to gather the 500 signatures from elected officials necessary for a bid for the French presidential election, in order to draw support for the homeless charity and campaign group Emmaus.
71.
Eric Cantona married Isabelle Ferrer in 1987, and they had two children together before divorcing in 2003.
72.
Eric Cantona married actress Rachida Brakni in 2007; they have two children together.
73.
Eric Cantona's brother, Joel, is a former footballer who retired at a young age and went into acting.
74.
Eric Cantona's cousin, Sacha Opinel, is a footballer and his nephew, Martin Cantona, is goalkeeper for a Montreal university team.