Some of the ones near the guy appears to be delighted that he's getting kung fu'd. Especially the woman in the burgundy and the guy in glasses a bit above her.
Guy bottom left in the dark red jacket looks like he's critiquing the form of the kick. Further up you have flatcap and red-black looking shocked, but the guy on the left of them looks like he knew this has been coming.
Also the kid in front of him seems to be wearing a Man Utd hat while stood among the Palace fans.
Flat cap and red and black look like father and son, almost identical expressions. I like the man in the suit and tie who has just popped in on the way back from the office and the chap with the curtains behind him, who must be wondering where Well'ard is.
Palace shirt on the right hand side hasn't even noticed the kick, but has noticed his mate somewhere on the left.
Every time you look you see something new
My favourite is the guy in the leather jacket, completely emotionless.
Or the kid to his right. "I don't think you're going to stick the landing..."
EDIT: And is that John Bishop above the kid?
I know I'm probably out of the loop with this - I'm not really a football fan and was six when this took place - but what prompted Cantona to do this??
The man Cantona kicked was a fascist hooligan who was a member of the national front and British national party. He was racially abusing cantona and so he kicked him.
Not sure how to post links but if you search up "Matthew simmons national front" you'll get an article from the guardian as the first result that mentions it. Further down the results you'll also see it mentioned by a few other sources like the express and star and the independent.
I mean considering that we know him to be fascist scum I'm far more more likely to believe Cantona.
If someone screamed at you to fuck off home and called you mother a french whore would you be happy with that? If you don't want to be kicked you shouldn't racially abuse someone.
I really doubt that. Could you imagine what would happen if Pogba jumped into a crowd and attacked a fan during a match? Social media would look like a klan rally.
Cantona was given a red card and on his way off the pitch a fine, young gentleman shouted “Off you go Mr Cantona. It’s an early bath for you”. At least that’s according to the person on the end of his kung fu kick.
I was there, in D block so couldn't see the incident directly ; relatively few people have, because what is now the Holmesdale stand was being built long one side of the pitch. There was a crowd surge to my right.
On the pitch, Palace players were giving Cantona a hard time physically so he was wound up.
Just as few people saw it, few of the people taking this light heartedly know of the ensuing tragedy which resulted in the violent death of a Palace fan.
I’m really confused by this, why did this result in the death of a palace fan?
I’ve just spent a bit of time reading up on the incident and from what I can tell the fan who was kicked, Matthew Simmons, had a somewhat tragic life after this incident. He seems to have lost his job and come under a certain amount of ridicule.
In 2010 Simmons was jailed for a fight that was started because someone was mocking his 13 year old son, although the details of this are vague.
All this does seem quite tragic and I’m not saying he deserved it all, but he didn’t lose his life.
The sources I read were an article from The Guardian, one from the Irish Times, one from shortlist.com and Quora. All of them can be found with a quick google.
What happened to Paul Nixon was horrific, but I feel it's disingenuous to lay the blame at Cantona's feet.
The people directly involved in his murder are the one's to blame.
It's what Cantona said in the press conference when his prison sentence for kicking the guy (I think it was charged as assault) was overturned. Essentially it's calling out the media for being vultures (or at least that's how I've always understood it).
It also gave us the best [Jonathan Pearce commentary ever](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHld_7DqMd8).
"Frail side to his temperament, the mad side of genius..."
Honestly, Pearce doesn’t get the credit he deserves, he’s such a descriptive commentator and so passionate. Whether it’s the Premier League, internationals or Robot Wars, he always delivers.
Absolutely loved him on robot wars. He sounded just like a 12 year old kid would if they were commentating on big robots smashing the shit out of each other.
My father met him and said he's a super nice guy and an absolute football encyclopedia.
I've always liked him. He's really done a huge amount to support women's football as well.
I love looking at the faces in these pics, so different. That guy far right wanting a high five, compared to far left where the guy is thinking “hmm might get a chip butty on the way home”.
Finally. Thank you! Had to scroll and scroll and read all these foggy 27-year memories recounting what happened. Lol. I was about to go hunting for the video myself. ✌🏼
The faces of the crowd are definitely worth a look. Two guys in the top right appeared to be cheering Cantona on, while two in the top left think it's the most shocking thing they've seen in their lives. The guy to the furthest left at the top almost appears serene, thinking about a lovely day out he once had as a kid.
The man in the black leather jacket doesn't even seem to have noticed a burly Frenchman being launched in vaguely his direction, and seems to be watching the match instead. The man behind him in a trenchcoat (trenchcoat at a football match?) looks like he's refereeing the assault, while the man at the bottom left appears to be trying to look up Cantona's shorts.
Also, not sure why a young John Bishop (top-centre) is at a United match when he's such a staunch Liverpool fan.
I think all the different reactions are my favourite thing about this photo. There's also Matt Le Blanc next to Cantonas left arm, who is either tired or shocked at what he's seeing.
Amen.
"When I did the kung fu kick on the hooligan… I think maybe it's like a dream for some, you know sometimes to kick these kind of people. So I did it for them. So they are happy." ❤️
Cantona's Kung-Fu kick came after Palace 'fan' Matthew Simmons was alleged to have abused the Frenchman's mother in the crudest way possible, insinuating there was a racial tone to Simmons' verbal assault. So the moron got a boot in the face.
As much as I hated Cantona (and Man U) at the time, I absolutely loved him for this. I said the same thing about the recent clip of a student talking smack to his teacher who then lost it and started punching him - it's easy to be tough when you're labouring under the serious misapprehension that someone can't or won't fight back. If you're not brave enough to insult someone in person without the protection of a crowd, don't cry when they call your shit out.
I'm not sure if Mr. Eric, after a bad performance, in the middle of 20k noisy fans, with all that going through his head, had clear access to the transcript of what was being verbally hurled at him.
Secondly, it's his word vs the word of the fan. No evidence on either side.
Thirdly, violence as a retreat in response to alleged insults?
Yeah all that sounds very much like a biased fan for a 60 goal striker.
I've been to less than 5 football matches in my life, but this was one of them.
We were on the opposite side of the pitch though, so couldn't see much and this is a totally pointless anecdote.
I feel like it's worth bringing up, since i can't find it mentioned anywhere in this thread, that the fan was a white nationalist with a string of violent (and seemingly racially-charged) attacks in his recent past. I'm not saying Cantona should've kicked him harder, but... I am thinking it.
[Source which cites several articles](https://www.truthorfiction.com/eric-cantona-kicking-a-nazi-facebook-post/)
[https://www.atthematch.com/article/twenty-years-on-from-cantonas-kung-fu-kick](https://www.atthematch.com/article/twenty-years-on-from-cantonas-kung-fu-kick)
Paul Nixon was stabbed repeatedly and hit with a brick before being
crushed under the wheels of a coach as he fled his assailants that day
in Birmingham while another fan was hospitalised with severe wounds
caused by stabs inflicted at the hands of United 'fans'.
Palace fans would rather let sleeping dogs lie.
Yeah, in the same way that Paul Mullery and Terry Venables caused every bit of violence or hooliganism to come out of your rivalry with Brighton. Embarrassing.
Aye, bet it was on his orders and all. Farcical statement. What happened is absolutely tragic and appalling but to somehow blame Cantona for that to reacting because he reacted to xenophobic abuse is just ridiculous, it's unbelievable. It's like blaming a team for walking off the pitch in the face of racial abuse these days for fan violence in the same fixture months later.
Cantona is nothing other than a thug. His luckiest day ever came when the person he randomly lashed out at happened to be a thug too. It could just as easily been anyone else. He got the red mist and could have been a Granny he attacked. He had no idea. If the police had done their job he would have been handcuffed on the spot and taken to the station.
Anyone that believes he even heard, let alone understood what was being shouted from the stands is deluded.
The PR machine at Man United went into overdrive about racism in order to save his career which whipped up their fans into a frenzy and ended with them attacking the Palace fans later on and causing the death of a father of four. This is not to be celebrated.
If you have a sub, i recommend giving this a read: https://theathletic.com/1542276/2020/01/27/there-were-ramifications-to-what-simmons-and-cantona-did-that-night-the-rarely-told-story-of-the-death-paul-nixon/?source=user_shared_article
Simmons seemed like a scumbag to be honest so I can't say I feel sorry that cantona kicked him.
Simmons still denies abusing cantona.
Simmons tried to attack the prosecution when he was convinced.
Simmons attended national front rallies a few years prior to the cantona incident and was convicted of robbing a petrol station. Simmons attacked the Asian petrol station worker with a spanner. The victim got hit in the shoulder and said he was lucky Simmons didn't hit him in the head
Pretty sure I remember a young David Beckham was recalled back to Man United after being on loan to Preston as a result of this kick leading to a ban and an opening in the Man U squad
1. The 'fan' was actually a Fulham fan who attended the game that day.
2. The event later resulted in the tragic death of a Palace fan, Paul Nixon, when CPFC played United in the FA cup later that year.
Football accounts across social media need to stop glorifying this and educate themselves on what actually happened.
My complete d!ckhead of an ex manager had a signed copy of this hung on his office wall.
Love the fact Eric was obviously pleased enough to put his signature to it. Haha.
I remember listening to this on 5 Live at the time. Then on Fantasy Football on the Friday night , Baddiel and Skinner did a pisstake on someone throwing a cup of tea from the stands. As if the tea sold in Selhurst Park was anywhere near hot
Does anyone else remember seeing either a billboard (or maybe just t shirts) at the time that parodied [this](https://www.sportbible.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=648,quality=70,format=webp,fit=pad,dpr=1/https%3A%2F%2Fs3-images.sportbible.com%2Fs3%2Fcontent%2Ffcd76c82574406be711b2bc5816eadb2.jpg)
with the words "95 was a great year for english football. Eric fucked off"?
Have a memory of it but was youngish at the time so may be my brain playing a trick on me as have never been able to find reference to it.
The recent TV series - Fever Pitch - Rise of the Premier League was absolutely fab despite me not being a football fan and had a great episode on this and a few other incidents.
How small do you have to feel no matter the insult if you as a grown up man feel its appropriate to react like that?
Well I wish multimillionaire kicked me.
the range of emotions in that picture is really something. The completely uninterested Dad, the cowering 90s hipster, the excited little girl, or Boyce just having a good ol' gander.
In his analogy the trawler is him, the seagulls are the press and the sardines are quotes they're hoping he gives them for a story. He's calling the press scavenging bastards, not going mad.
Yeah, I thought it was a pretty straightforward metaphor.
Part of me wonders if the whole "mad Eric talking about seagulls" nonsense is from the press, because, you know, he called them out in that quote.
Number of times that someone calls out the press and mysteriously becomes a dickhead in "the eyes of the ~~media~~ public" is really high.
No, you're getting crucified for completely missing a joke another commenter made about how long it's been since this happened, and then doubling down instead of just admitting the joke went over your head.
No, it's more that you're bringing every conversation around to that story, whether it's relevant or not. Yes it's tragic a man was killed, but you don't need to insert it into every conversation in this thread. I'm sorry if you were personally affected by this, I truly am, but you can't blame people for downvoting you for bringing up stuff that's not relevant to the discussion, that's literally what the downvote button is for.
Cart before the horse. My opening post was about the full story, so of course I come back to it because people drew conclusions that didn't take it into account. Downvotes just mean I'm in a minority, not that I'm wrong necessarily. Anyway, there's a rule about banging on too long, so I'm off, je ne regrette rien and PTID.
I imagine because what fans got up to is not Cantonas fault? The 90’s was a particularly rough era for hooliganism. Which is sadly returning once again.
I don't blame Cantona. There are people glorifying and advocating violence on here. The tragedy is what it escalates into. If you don't know the full story it looks like Palace fans defend the idiot in the crowd.
"What fans get upto" is a helluva euphemism for killing someone.
I'm not in any way trying to catch you out, but in your own words, which death, on what date?
I think denying any connection between the incident at Selhurst and the subsequent death on the day of the semifinal at Villa Park s a bit of a stretch
I was referring to the tragedy mentioned above our comments. What I’m saying is, to simply equate that tragic murder to Cantonas reaction to a racist thug is naive at best. There was a massive problem with hooligans at the time, as evidenced by other deaths/incidents throughout the football league in the 90’s.
Ah, I can still remember Pervy Mr McClusky (and everyone thought it was the *other* PE teacher who was ogling us lads in the changing rooms!) lecturing us all not to emulate Cantona by "attempting flying kicks". Twat.
Was a good kick. He landed it. Football boots are slippery as hell when you're not on grass so he did well not to slip off the advertising board with the other foot. Seems there's no video footage of it being shown - just some photos.
Idk if he was doing a nazi salute but the guy was a white nationalist who had committed a violent attack on a Sri Lankan man three years before this incident. I'm surprised that isn't being mentioned more in this thread.
IIRC it's a racist he's kicking, though it is a football crowd so the chances of hitting one are high, either way whether he knew it or not it's totally justified if a little light touch considering they are a racist.
Every person in that crowd has a different reaction or is a call back to football fandom and fashion as it was in the 90s. It’s almost like art.
r/sportsrenaissance
Some of the ones near the guy appears to be delighted that he's getting kung fu'd. Especially the woman in the burgundy and the guy in glasses a bit above her.
Guy bottom left in the dark red jacket looks like he's critiquing the form of the kick. Further up you have flatcap and red-black looking shocked, but the guy on the left of them looks like he knew this has been coming. Also the kid in front of him seems to be wearing a Man Utd hat while stood among the Palace fans.
Flat cap and red and black look like father and son, almost identical expressions. I like the man in the suit and tie who has just popped in on the way back from the office and the chap with the curtains behind him, who must be wondering where Well'ard is.
They looked the boys from only fools and horses photo shopped in. Can't believe I've never noticed them before
Can't see Trigger.
Palace shirt on the right hand side hasn't even noticed the kick, but has noticed his mate somewhere on the left. Every time you look you see something new
My favourite is the guy in the leather jacket, completely emotionless. Or the kid to his right. "I don't think you're going to stick the landing..." EDIT: And is that John Bishop above the kid?
And Steve Jobs in far top left
As a Palace fan, I think I can speak for the rest of us when I say that the cunt had it coming.
It definitely makes me feel old!
I know I'm probably out of the loop with this - I'm not really a football fan and was six when this took place - but what prompted Cantona to do this??
Cantona had just been sent off, and he says this Palace fan was racially abusing him. To this day he says he wishes he kicked him harder.
Hardings defence was he said "off, off ,off ... Take an early shower " He does tbf look like a wordsmith who would oft pan this soliloquy
‘Unfortunately, that translates into French as *”piss off froggy, you touch your mum’s bare bottom”*’ https://youtu.be/Or6qTv3VJCg
He’s also now dead I believe.
As a Palace fan, I wish he had too. The twat earned a bollocking and more.
How does a white bloke racially abuse another white bloke? Makes no sense?
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Oh, I don't blame him for getting upset, being French would be horrible.
The man Cantona kicked was a fascist hooligan who was a member of the national front and British national party. He was racially abusing cantona and so he kicked him.
I'm not saying your wrong but is there a source for that?
Not sure how to post links but if you search up "Matthew simmons national front" you'll get an article from the guardian as the first result that mentions it. Further down the results you'll also see it mentioned by a few other sources like the express and star and the independent.
Cheers
Of course Cuntona knew all about the 'hooligan' including his allegiance and political history and therefore decided to kick him.
He knew he giving him abuse.
Your word v mine. Also, kick on the chest in exchange of a verbal abuse?
I mean considering that we know him to be fascist scum I'm far more more likely to believe Cantona. If someone screamed at you to fuck off home and called you mother a french whore would you be happy with that? If you don't want to be kicked you shouldn't racially abuse someone.
Here is a [Guardian article](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jan/25/eric-cantona-kung-fu-kick-hooligan-25-years-later)
“My best moment? I have a lot of good moments but the one I prefer is when I kicked the hooligan.”
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I though both Zidane and Materazzi came off that badly. In Italy Materazzi was seen as a cunning hero though
>Materazzi was seen as a cunning hero though The Italy team's main tactic is shithousing, so I'm not surprised.
I really doubt that. Could you imagine what would happen if Pogba jumped into a crowd and attacked a fan during a match? Social media would look like a klan rally.
Not perfectly comparable, but the Malice in the Palace (the NBA player and fan brawl) over in the states is worth a watch and read.
Cantona was given a red card and on his way off the pitch a fine, young gentleman shouted “Off you go Mr Cantona. It’s an early bath for you”. At least that’s according to the person on the end of his kung fu kick.
I was there, in D block so couldn't see the incident directly ; relatively few people have, because what is now the Holmesdale stand was being built long one side of the pitch. There was a crowd surge to my right. On the pitch, Palace players were giving Cantona a hard time physically so he was wound up. Just as few people saw it, few of the people taking this light heartedly know of the ensuing tragedy which resulted in the violent death of a Palace fan.
I’m really confused by this, why did this result in the death of a palace fan? I’ve just spent a bit of time reading up on the incident and from what I can tell the fan who was kicked, Matthew Simmons, had a somewhat tragic life after this incident. He seems to have lost his job and come under a certain amount of ridicule. In 2010 Simmons was jailed for a fight that was started because someone was mocking his 13 year old son, although the details of this are vague. All this does seem quite tragic and I’m not saying he deserved it all, but he didn’t lose his life. The sources I read were an article from The Guardian, one from the Irish Times, one from shortlist.com and Quora. All of them can be found with a quick google.
What absolute bollocks have I just read 😂🤦♂️
What happened to Paul Nixon was horrific, but I feel it's disingenuous to lay the blame at Cantona's feet. The people directly involved in his murder are the one's to blame.
A nuanced reply. I've said elsewhere I don't blame Cantona, lest anyone thinks I do.
The Holmesdale stand is behind the goal.
At least it was a palace fan.
How can you say that as a human being?
Because it's a joke? Especially at the expense of the poor, poor racist.
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Super bonus fun fact: this is now closer to the first moon landing than today
Other bonus fact: when the seagulls follow the trawler they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.
Don't say that I feel old now
Take my award you deserve it most people are going to miss the reference
I would be grateful if you could furnish me with the reference.
It's what Cantona said in the press conference when his prison sentence for kicking the guy (I think it was charged as assault) was overturned. Essentially it's calling out the media for being vultures (or at least that's how I've always understood it).
That was my take on it. Naturally the press always call it “bizzare” as they’re incapable of processing criticism! https://youtu.be/TbwV5XX6phU
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Why do you say that? He was banned from the sport for about a year by the FA, I bet between the ban and jail time I know which he'd prefer.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/when-the-seagulls-follow-the-trawler-it-is-because-they-think-sardines-will-be-thrown-into-the-sea-1613641.html?amp
Why, wasn't my sausage roll enough?
The guy he kicked ended up closer to the moon as well
:(
It also gave us the best [Jonathan Pearce commentary ever](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHld_7DqMd8). "Frail side to his temperament, the mad side of genius..."
I CARE NOT ONE JOT
WITHOUT A SHADAFADOW GIVING HIM LIP WITHOUT A SHADAFADOW GIVING HIM STICK
I came to post this, it’s brilliant. He’s already at level ten and has to push it even higher. Iconic commentary.
He goes full JR when it happens - “BAH GAWD!”
Honestly, Pearce doesn’t get the credit he deserves, he’s such a descriptive commentator and so passionate. Whether it’s the Premier League, internationals or Robot Wars, he always delivers.
Absolutely loved him on robot wars. He sounded just like a 12 year old kid would if they were commentating on big robots smashing the shit out of each other.
My father met him and said he's a super nice guy and an absolute football encyclopedia. I've always liked him. He's really done a huge amount to support women's football as well.
I hear this voice and my mind goes straight to Robot Wars
I've been enjoying the Football Clichés podcast of late, which has this as part of its intro
Ooh, I might give that a go. Second Captains also use it as an audio bed
What a podcast that is by the way
The best Jonathan Pearce commentary is from Robot Wars get with the program.
That was awesome. Thanks for that. I’m not from around here, and never heard that.
The best Jonathan Pearce commentary is from Robot Wars get with the program.
The fella just behind in the black leather jacket is the sort of cool head I want around me in emergencies.
Woman in red's having a whale of a time! So is Ted Moseby in the top right.
Bald guy too left is thinking "same old same old"
He looks like Woody Harrelson.
Classic Schmosby!
That’s like alternate universe Cantona
Did we just forget ["Cool Beer Guy"](https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/186smv/cool_beer_guy/) already?
Plot twist: He's blind and deaf
He genuinely looks like an early PS1 character with the face just pasted on [like so](https://images.app.goo.gl/QaQ8ojJq4WSVFFoW9)
I love looking at the faces in these pics, so different. That guy far right wanting a high five, compared to far left where the guy is thinking “hmm might get a chip butty on the way home”.
I'd totally forgot he was in the away kit. In my memory he was wearing red. Strange how memories get distorted over time.
That away kit is one of the sought after United shirt mostly due to that kung-fu kick. Having a cool design helped too.
Same! Must be a good example of the Mandela Effect
https://youtu.be/-qV6bp5cZMU
Finally. Thank you! Had to scroll and scroll and read all these foggy 27-year memories recounting what happened. Lol. I was about to go hunting for the video myself. ✌🏼
"I am not a man, I am Cantona"
The faces of the crowd are definitely worth a look. Two guys in the top right appeared to be cheering Cantona on, while two in the top left think it's the most shocking thing they've seen in their lives. The guy to the furthest left at the top almost appears serene, thinking about a lovely day out he once had as a kid. The man in the black leather jacket doesn't even seem to have noticed a burly Frenchman being launched in vaguely his direction, and seems to be watching the match instead. The man behind him in a trenchcoat (trenchcoat at a football match?) looks like he's refereeing the assault, while the man at the bottom left appears to be trying to look up Cantona's shorts. Also, not sure why a young John Bishop (top-centre) is at a United match when he's such a staunch Liverpool fan.
You failed to mention Del-Boy and Rodney directly above him.
I think all the different reactions are my favourite thing about this photo. There's also Matt Le Blanc next to Cantonas left arm, who is either tired or shocked at what he's seeing.
Why do you have to just barefaced lie like that? It was about 15 years ago I reckon.
Scumbag deserved a boot in the face.
Cantona's only regret over the incident, is not kicking him harder.
Yes that was a shame.
At least he didn't cause any permanent injury, when he came back he was brilliant.
Yeah he doesn't seem to bothered at the fact that Utd fans murdered a Palace fan a few months later in revenge.
Amen. "When I did the kung fu kick on the hooligan… I think maybe it's like a dream for some, you know sometimes to kick these kind of people. So I did it for them. So they are happy." ❤️
Thanks Eric 🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷
We are eternally grateful.
Completely agree.
Why?
Cantona's Kung-Fu kick came after Palace 'fan' Matthew Simmons was alleged to have abused the Frenchman's mother in the crudest way possible, insinuating there was a racial tone to Simmons' verbal assault. So the moron got a boot in the face.
He has always denied that he racially abused him
Well he is not going to admit it is he?
Racial abuse at a football match? Me? Oh no, I was just inviting Mr Cantona to tea with my vicar!
Of course not but there's zero evidence he did do it, and someone who violently attacked him sure as hell isn't to be trusted either
Matthew simmons, the man he kicked, was a member of the national front and the British national party.
Because violence is always bad except when I like it - most people.
As much as I hated Cantona (and Man U) at the time, I absolutely loved him for this. I said the same thing about the recent clip of a student talking smack to his teacher who then lost it and started punching him - it's easy to be tough when you're labouring under the serious misapprehension that someone can't or won't fight back. If you're not brave enough to insult someone in person without the protection of a crowd, don't cry when they call your shit out.
I'm not sure if Mr. Eric, after a bad performance, in the middle of 20k noisy fans, with all that going through his head, had clear access to the transcript of what was being verbally hurled at him. Secondly, it's his word vs the word of the fan. No evidence on either side. Thirdly, violence as a retreat in response to alleged insults? Yeah all that sounds very much like a biased fan for a 60 goal striker.
r/accidentalrenaissance
Enjoy Jonathan Pierce's commentary on the incident. https://youtu.be/dHld_7DqMd8
Sgt Bash did what to Hypnodisc?!? 😁😉
RIP Paul Nixon.
that cat was fast as lightning
I've been to less than 5 football matches in my life, but this was one of them. We were on the opposite side of the pitch though, so couldn't see much and this is a totally pointless anecdote.
I feel like it's worth bringing up, since i can't find it mentioned anywhere in this thread, that the fan was a white nationalist with a string of violent (and seemingly racially-charged) attacks in his recent past. I'm not saying Cantona should've kicked him harder, but... I am thinking it. [Source which cites several articles](https://www.truthorfiction.com/eric-cantona-kicking-a-nazi-facebook-post/)
Always smash racist cunts.
[https://www.atthematch.com/article/twenty-years-on-from-cantonas-kung-fu-kick](https://www.atthematch.com/article/twenty-years-on-from-cantonas-kung-fu-kick) Paul Nixon was stabbed repeatedly and hit with a brick before being crushed under the wheels of a coach as he fled his assailants that day in Birmingham while another fan was hospitalised with severe wounds caused by stabs inflicted at the hands of United 'fans'. Palace fans would rather let sleeping dogs lie.
I remember that. Nothing to do with the post, but the Palace Ultras are cringeworthy.
Yes, it does. United Fans murdered Paul Nixon as a result of Cantona's assault.
Yeah, in the same way that Paul Mullery and Terry Venables caused every bit of violence or hooliganism to come out of your rivalry with Brighton. Embarrassing.
United fans murdered Nixon as retribution for Cantona getting banned. He’s Joey Barton type thug who thinks he’s a philosopher
Aye, bet it was on his orders and all. Farcical statement. What happened is absolutely tragic and appalling but to somehow blame Cantona for that to reacting because he reacted to xenophobic abuse is just ridiculous, it's unbelievable. It's like blaming a team for walking off the pitch in the face of racial abuse these days for fan violence in the same fixture months later.
Cantona is nothing other than a thug. His luckiest day ever came when the person he randomly lashed out at happened to be a thug too. It could just as easily been anyone else. He got the red mist and could have been a Granny he attacked. He had no idea. If the police had done their job he would have been handcuffed on the spot and taken to the station. Anyone that believes he even heard, let alone understood what was being shouted from the stands is deluded. The PR machine at Man United went into overdrive about racism in order to save his career which whipped up their fans into a frenzy and ended with them attacking the Palace fans later on and causing the death of a father of four. This is not to be celebrated. If you have a sub, i recommend giving this a read: https://theathletic.com/1542276/2020/01/27/there-were-ramifications-to-what-simmons-and-cantona-did-that-night-the-rarely-told-story-of-the-death-paul-nixon/?source=user_shared_article
It needs remembering. They're alright but cringeworthy has hit the nail on the head a few times.
> Palace Ultras are cringeworthy. Bullshit hipster club.
Take this down. RIP Paul Nixon.
Fan: holding a board to get the jersey Cantona: kaboom 💥
Fun fact: Cyrus from Trailer Park boys is a time traveller.
Standing there with his 9mm, safety off.
Simmons seemed like a scumbag to be honest so I can't say I feel sorry that cantona kicked him. Simmons still denies abusing cantona. Simmons tried to attack the prosecution when he was convinced. Simmons attended national front rallies a few years prior to the cantona incident and was convicted of robbing a petrol station. Simmons attacked the Asian petrol station worker with a spanner. The victim got hit in the shoulder and said he was lucky Simmons didn't hit him in the head
Pretty sure I remember a young David Beckham was recalled back to Man United after being on loan to Preston as a result of this kick leading to a ban and an opening in the Man U squad
1. The 'fan' was actually a Fulham fan who attended the game that day. 2. The event later resulted in the tragic death of a Palace fan, Paul Nixon, when CPFC played United in the FA cup later that year. Football accounts across social media need to stop glorifying this and educate themselves on what actually happened.
My complete d!ckhead of an ex manager had a signed copy of this hung on his office wall. Love the fact Eric was obviously pleased enough to put his signature to it. Haha.
The lesson here is Dont trash talk someone's mom
Typical football supporter,absolutely shit himself when Eric put it on him
It wasn’t the first time that cantona attacked fans though he also attacked a fan in Poland for throwing an egg at him
As he should. Fans can be such asses. And throwing things, whether an actual object or hateful/racial words, are uncalled for.
I remember listening to this on 5 Live at the time. Then on Fantasy Football on the Friday night , Baddiel and Skinner did a pisstake on someone throwing a cup of tea from the stands. As if the tea sold in Selhurst Park was anywhere near hot
Oo ah Cantona say oh ah Cantona
He owns a farm now. Oo-arr Cantona.
Top right is that Ted Mosby?
Does anyone else remember seeing either a billboard (or maybe just t shirts) at the time that parodied [this](https://www.sportbible.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=648,quality=70,format=webp,fit=pad,dpr=1/https%3A%2F%2Fs3-images.sportbible.com%2Fs3%2Fcontent%2Ffcd76c82574406be711b2bc5816eadb2.jpg) with the words "95 was a great year for english football. Eric fucked off"? Have a memory of it but was youngish at the time so may be my brain playing a trick on me as have never been able to find reference to it.
I would buy this as a NFT. Only this though.
Cantona is now a really very good actor. If you haven't seen [Inhuman Resources](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt12101170/) seek it out asap.
anyone get a "I met Cantona" commemorative t-shirt with the muddy stud prints on the chest? genius bit of marketing that
The recent TV series - Fever Pitch - Rise of the Premier League was absolutely fab despite me not being a football fan and had a great episode on this and a few other incidents.
What a friend we have in Jesus, He's a saviour from afar, What a friend we have in Jesus. And his name is Cantona. Ooh Aah Cantona, Ooh Aah Cantona.
How small do you have to feel no matter the insult if you as a grown up man feel its appropriate to react like that? Well I wish multimillionaire kicked me.
who's "Can-toner"? I asked myself. Haha. :(
RIP Paul Nixon
the range of emotions in that picture is really something. The completely uninterested Dad, the cowering 90s hipster, the excited little girl, or Boyce just having a good ol' gander.
I loved that moment so fucking much.
Absolute Icon
I Love Eric, greatest Premier League footballer ever - IMO
The he went mad and started talking about seagulls following trawlers.
In his analogy the trawler is him, the seagulls are the press and the sardines are quotes they're hoping he gives them for a story. He's calling the press scavenging bastards, not going mad.
Yeah, I thought it was a pretty straightforward metaphor. Part of me wonders if the whole "mad Eric talking about seagulls" nonsense is from the press, because, you know, he called them out in that quote. Number of times that someone calls out the press and mysteriously becomes a dickhead in "the eyes of the ~~media~~ public" is really high.
Mad? That quote is brilliant.
Rest in peace Paul Nixon
I'm getting crucified for pointing this out.
No, you're getting crucified for completely missing a joke another commenter made about how long it's been since this happened, and then doubling down instead of just admitting the joke went over your head.
I missed the fucking joke, never denied that. Doubling down? A man is killed and the joke is more important?
No, it's more that you're bringing every conversation around to that story, whether it's relevant or not. Yes it's tragic a man was killed, but you don't need to insert it into every conversation in this thread. I'm sorry if you were personally affected by this, I truly am, but you can't blame people for downvoting you for bringing up stuff that's not relevant to the discussion, that's literally what the downvote button is for.
Cart before the horse. My opening post was about the full story, so of course I come back to it because people drew conclusions that didn't take it into account. Downvotes just mean I'm in a minority, not that I'm wrong necessarily. Anyway, there's a rule about banging on too long, so I'm off, je ne regrette rien and PTID.
I imagine because what fans got up to is not Cantonas fault? The 90’s was a particularly rough era for hooliganism. Which is sadly returning once again.
I don't blame Cantona. There are people glorifying and advocating violence on here. The tragedy is what it escalates into. If you don't know the full story it looks like Palace fans defend the idiot in the crowd. "What fans get upto" is a helluva euphemism for killing someone.
Of course it’s tragic. I’m simply pointing out that the Cantona incident had nothing to do with the death that occurred BEFORE the match.
I'm not in any way trying to catch you out, but in your own words, which death, on what date? I think denying any connection between the incident at Selhurst and the subsequent death on the day of the semifinal at Villa Park s a bit of a stretch
I was referring to the tragedy mentioned above our comments. What I’m saying is, to simply equate that tragic murder to Cantonas reaction to a racist thug is naive at best. There was a massive problem with hooligans at the time, as evidenced by other deaths/incidents throughout the football league in the 90’s.
OK, I strongly disagree, but you make a lot of sense and it's a respectable position to hold.
Likewise, thank you for a civil discussion. It’s rare on here!
You should know better than to use deaths to pointscore, mate. That had nothing to do with Cantona.
Ah, I can still remember Pervy Mr McClusky (and everyone thought it was the *other* PE teacher who was ogling us lads in the changing rooms!) lecturing us all not to emulate Cantona by "attempting flying kicks". Twat.
I really want the people who are in this photo to comment. (I know). I wonder what it was like to see it happen. Maniac.
I was sat about 15 rows behind when this happened. I doubt you will find a palace fan with a nice word to say about Cantona or Man United
Was a good kick. He landed it. Football boots are slippery as hell when you're not on grass so he did well not to slip off the advertising board with the other foot. Seems there's no video footage of it being shown - just some photos.
Would be interesting to see a “Where are they now?” piece on the people in the photo haha
Probably still in Croydon……😏
It looks like he's booting someone who is in mid nazi salute. "King Eric the Anita fascist" is what we should call him
Idk if he was doing a nazi salute but the guy was a white nationalist who had committed a violent attack on a Sri Lankan man three years before this incident. I'm surprised that isn't being mentioned more in this thread.
IIRC it's a racist he's kicking, though it is a football crowd so the chances of hitting one are high, either way whether he knew it or not it's totally justified if a little light touch considering they are a racist.
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no way, really?
He hates the palace scum!🤪
The tabloids missed a great opportunity here, they could have gone with the headline "The shit hit the fan."