SELHURST PARK – 10 YEARS ON
A decade on from the night of January 25th 1995, it’s all too easy to forget just how big a story Eric created with his leap into the crowd at Selhurst Park, but a flick through the back copies of this publication quickly bring back just how dominant an issue it was. As the vultures in the media circled above Cantona’s seemingly stricken career, the self-important, self-righteous likes of Trevor Brooking, Alan Mullery, Tommy Docherty, Gary Lineker et al lined up to hurl yet more stones at the Frenchman, all eagerly hoping for the fatal blow. Brooking’s description of the spat as “the most horrendous incident involving a player I have ever witnessed at an English football ground” was so ludicrous as to be almost accurate. Substitute “amazing” or “brilliant” for “horrendous” and he would have hit the mark. That was certainly the opinion of the Red hordes at Serlhurst that night, as we defiantly lauded Cantona to the heavens for 10 solid minutes following his banishment. Such ‘misplaced’ and ‘misguided’ loyalty would later be derided by the ‘experts’ of the British press - Massimo Morratti was waiting with arms outstretched to welcome Eric to the San Siro after all - but come May 11th 1996, the hounding from the media; the duplicity of the FA; the pain of the lost Double; the anguish caused by months of uncertainty as to Eric’s future was all worth it as he struck that winner into the Wembley net. And the main reason he was still around to do it? The support offered him in adversity by his adoring subjects.
THE KICK
And so to the moment of madness, the resurrection of Bruce Lee, the defining image of the season or whatever other label you like. Reds at Selhurst Park were still taking their post-lavatorial seats when a ball from our left looped limply over the heads of Eric and his marker/assassin Richard Shaw. Seconds earlier, Shaw had fouled Eric for the third time and gone unpunished once more. As the ball passed by, Eric extended a mildly petulant leg which, if it actually caught Shaw, could have done no more harm
than a breath of summer breeze. Shaw appeared to hesitate, mid-air, for several seconds before apparently realising that the Oscar season was upon us.
Our stand was imbued with resignation rather than shock. After all, it had been six months since Eric's last dismissal and our knowledge of English refs is such that we knew a red card was well overdue. We watched from a position directly opposite as Eric traipsed down the touchline with Norm 'Munster' Davies in half-hearted pursuit. If only he'd set off alongside him...
Everyone I've spoken to since all had their eyes fixed on Eric. We saw what the TV cameras missed and what few cameras captured. Some lone lout, hardly the type that's supposed to be in a family stand, hurtles several rows down to the front. His nastily naff leather-jacket is unmistakeable from even 70 yards - we are watching a creature from low down the food chain. He crosses ‘the line’ - not necessarily a physical mark on the ground but that boundary which we all recognize, the one that separates the players’ universe from ours. He’s in the ‘no-man’s-land’ behind the hoardings, as close to the pitch as is possible without actually invading it, yet still a location in which a fan’s presence would guarantee official intervention at any other ground.
From our vantage point, he appears to be leaning over, inches from Cantona’s face - he could be carrying a knife or bottle but a steward feet away does nothing. Someone shouts near me “what’s he throwing?” To us, it looks as though some sort of attempted assault is in preparation - but by the lout, not Eric. Norm chugs up at last, pulling Eric away and we think: ‘it’s all over’...then something snaps within the mind of the genius and a hundred front pages are born. You've seen the rest.
It’s a poor do to have to admit that I didn't really grasp the implications of Eric’s actions until leaving the stand. Brooding on the lost points, pausing to watch the pack of Reds who hared down the hill to sort out a Palace mob, I was startled to hear a pair of Dwaynes discussing Eric's prospects using phrases such as ‘life ban’. Only then, as police horses in the background clattered towards the warring fans yards away, did it strike me what the world would make of Eric’s pugilistics. With battling Reds scarpering from the police in all directions, I reflected that the time for fighting had passed - somewhere out there under the London night-sky, the media would be preparing a gallows.
THE WITCH-HUNT
In the aftermath of Selhurst Park, the first 24 hours were the worst. The tabloid treatment, if amazing for its intensity, was nevertheless predictable in tone; what was more depressing was the sight of assorted lemmings and cretins claiming to be Reds who were prepared to diss the King on air. Who were these creatures, never seen before nor since?
For a few hours, it appeared that only Paddy Crerand was out there fighting, under attack from ahead and behind. The symbolic nadir was a local TV sequence showing a mother trying to return an Eric shirt to the superstore to have the name removed. Who was the more disgusting, the treacherous and apparently half-witted harridan or the TV crew who had clearly set up the shot yet tried to pass it off as the actualite? Both parties typified the kind of attitudes we appeared to be up against; within days, however, the agenda had been seized back by loyal Reds.
From every quarter of the Red planet, the support for the King was overwhelming – the media soon ceased their attempts to portray us as split and instead resorted to panning us for our ‘blind loyalty’. The fanzines, recognising that this was precisely the sort of moment for which they were invented, led the line in best Hughesie fashion, pummelling dissenters in to the ground, supplying us with ammunition for our pro-Eric arguments and exhorting all Red Army troops into action. Boyley supervised the creation of the Eric The King Appreciation Society, whose mobile units travelled the nation to support the King wherever he appeared – most memorably at Croydon Magistrates and on The Big Breakfast – whilst their artistic division turned out songs, chants, press articles and letters in a constant flow of Cantona-worship.
As ever, United fans rescued a triumph of sorts from disaster. No Red who was active during those months could deny that the shared experience of embattlement brought us all closer together. It had been a chance to redefine one’s Redness, to remind oneself of what being United means. The fact that this catastrophe had befallen Eric rather than another player probably doubled the fans’ resolution.
As the most hated fans in Britain, we would have identified with the personal besiegement of any United player in that position anyway. But because it was Eric, the personification of all the values we like to think of as United’s – glamour, arrogance, individualism – it became more than just a defence of a colleague or a mere desire not to lose one’s best player. We were defending and supporting the very essence of the club.
THE LEGACY
Since Selhurst both United and Fergie have consistently shown stunning naivety when it has come to dealings with the FA. Having watched helplessly as Lancaster Gate’s honchos screwed us over Cantona’s ban they subsequently allowed the FA to corral us into withdrawing from the FA Cup and then stand by whilst the club was accused in the media of being the driving force behind the decision.
Other examples such as United’s conduct in the Ferdinand drug test farrago and Rooney’s recent indictment for violent conduct highlight what every United fan knew in the immediate aftermath of Selhurst: never trust the bastards ever again, and where possible screw them right over in revenge. Perhaps one day Fergie and Gill will catch up.
As it is, there was one lesson that was taken, learnt by heart and logged for future positive implementation from l’affaire Cantona. It’s not too much of an exaggeration to say that Boyley’s and the K-Stand choir’s venture down to London to support Eric at Croydon Magistrates was to prove invaluable for the future of the club. On hearing the news of Cantona’s two-week jail sentence the media scrum realised a miscarriage of scandalous proportions, and who better to sprinkle some outrage over their reports than the assembled loons who’d travelled down overnight from Manchester? Lads who’d never spoken to the media in their life suddenly ended up doing half a dozen interviews, going straight from ‘The Times’ to French TV’s main news crew.
That afternoon one famous journo remarked to a Red that the world divides into two: agenda-setters and agenda-followers – the power lying with the former. “Get in early, seize the initiative and repeat what you’re saying to everyone at every opportunity and you’ll find the media and the authorities will follow.” Later that day a radio analysis featured a summary of the day’s ‘expert comments’, all of which had touched upon the influence of the media on the magistrates: the relentlessly anti-Eric nature of the coverage had presumably convinced the court that the public would allow them to get away with imposing such a draconian sentence. To put it crudely the stark lesson was: party politics aside, the media will always follow what it thinks the public wants. In turn, the authorities, whatever their supposed independence, follow the media.
For United fans who had previously always despised the media this realisation heralded a conversion akin to St Paul’s on the road to Damascus. Rather than bemoan the headlines, United fans now knew how to shape them. The contacts and kudos gained that day ran parallel to the creation that same month of IMUSA, a number of whose founders were in Croydon that March day. Three years later, the advice passed on by the journalist outside the courthouse proved invaluable as Rupert Murdoch cast his gaze over Old Trafford. The media followed IMUSA’s lead and the momentum they quickly built up meant the Office of Fair Trading and the Monopolies and Mergers Commission were compelled to follow it, eventually blocking the bid. That experience is still being applied today in the fight against Glazer, and for that we have Eric to thank.
THE INTERVIEW: In The Court Of King Eric
With Cantona due back in Manchester just before Christmas, and after two unsuccessful years of trying to track him down for an interview, it was decided the only option was to turn up at his hotel and request an audience there and then. All BackBeat’s operatives were unleashed and word came back that he’d been tracked to a modest hotel in leafy Didsbury. Fresh from an early morning visit from Fergie and after fitting in a piece for MUTV, Eric found time for a short chat.
RI: Do you mind talking about football?
Eric: Whatever: women, sex, a lot about sex.
RI: Have you got any projects at the moment? What are they?
Eric: I’ve just finished filming a movie at the end of November for release around May 2005 in French cinemas.
RI: Are you looking to get back into football?
Eric: No. Well maybe one day. Right now I couldn’t. Firstly because I don’t really know the young players around now and if I wanted to come back I would have to go to games and get to know the players. For the moment I’ve no plans to do so.
RI: So all the rumours about you possibly taking up a coaching role at OT – it’s not going to happen?
Eric: No, not in the near future but maybe one day.
RI: So, there is hope. (Eric laughs) Many United fans would welcome you back in any capacity, if only for the entertainment.
Eric: Yeah, that would be good. If I decide to come back – that’s if they let me – I would try to… I don’t just want to follow what someone else has done. If I come back it is because I think I have something to bring, something to create. I want to invent something. I want to be a creator. I will come back if I have something to bring but also I want to be effective and improve things – just like Cruyff in his era or at Ajax in the ‘70s. They invented a way of playing. But to do that you have to go to the game and that’s why I can’t just decide to come back. If I come back I would try from that day to create something new. I am already a bit behind in that respect because football moves on very quickly. I have certain ideas. In everything we use the past when we do something and I will use what I have learned from different places, especially from Manchester and Ferguson and the clubs and supporters like at Ajax in their era. I will use everything to build my own story.
RI: Did you enjoy the (Crystal Palace) match last night?
Eric: Yes. The only time I go to a match is here. I wanted to get out on the pitch but unfortunately I was in my jeans and shoes. It is difficult to watch and not play.
RI: What do you think of United at the moment?
Eric: I think they are playing well - there are a lot of very good young players. I didn’t see Ronaldo yesterday but I saw him the last time - he’s a good player. He’s a young player but he could score more goals. He is often out on the right then he switches to the left and he is not really interested in going and scoring goals. He loves to take on opponents but he should also score goals because he has the ability with his feet and can also score with his head. He has the ability, I think he must look for consistency and always try to score goals and he will be even better.
RI: Which player of the current crop would you like to have played with?
Eric: I played with some great players and I feel privileged to have done so.
RI: Is it strange for you going back 7½ years later and hearing all the fans singing ‘ooh aah Cantona’?
Eric: I am very proud and afraid that maybe one day they will stop.
RI: I doubt it’ll ever stop. Yesterday the 2nd half was all Cantona songs, like the ‘12 Days of Christmas’ song…
Eric: They only sing that at Christmas?
RI: Oh no, all the time.
Eric: It is always Christmas!
RI: When you go back, obviously you see people you played with but there are many new players – do they wonder what all the fuss is about or do they say hello?
Eric: I see them but I don’t know them. Also I am very shy.
RI: Are you sure?
Eric: It is true I promise. That’s why I played and it’s why I do things which allow me to express myself. I’m always looking for a place to express myself. If I had played with them it would have been different, but only on the pitch. Off the pitch I am reserved. On the pitch is where I did my talking.
RI: Why the collar?
Eric: I don’t know. I think that things that people become renowned for are things that happen by chance. I think things which are calculated and thought out never last. I like things to be spontaneous. I believe that those things which manage to last like that are things which are by chance. I have never been someone who plans things like that.
RI: You’re aware of the possible takeover of United by Glazer. We hear today that he may come back with another bid.
Eric: Is that the American?
RI: Yes. You’ve been quoted as supporting the fans’ fight against commercialism. Is the reaction against the takeover something you agree with – the fans rejecting any one person owning United?
Eric: I love the club. I am attached to the club. It has a history and a philosophy surrounding it; not only in the game but in its make-up, in the youth system, and I think this type of person could break that philosophy. We need money yes, but there is money here for buying better players. I would be gutted if someone like that took over the club because it would break part of me which is attached to the club. I don’t think this person will come and take up the philosophy, you see. I think it’s someone who will run the club like he would run a Nestle factory or Coca Cola.
RI: In January it is ten years since Selhurst Park…
Eric: 10 years?
RI: That night was possibly the greatest thing I’ve ever seen on a football field. (Eric laughs) What do you think about it now? You don’t regret it?
Eric: No. The day I did it, I did it. I don’t know if it was right or wrong. I don’t know if I would do it again but if I found myself in the state I was in at that exact moment I would do it again without a doubt. But every day life is dependant on other things – those people we have met, what’s going on in our head, what people say to us at certain times. Things they might say one day we would ignore, but another day we would be very sensitive to it. There aren’t any solid or particular reasons why we do things. That day I was angry and if I am angry tomorrow I know that I will be unbalanced, and I know some days I can topple over. But should we condemn people for that or should we get on with it? We could live like computers or robots without any sort of moods. I never wanted to be an example. I don’t put that sort of pressure on myself. It’s not what I want. I don’t love those people. I don’t want to be an example for anyone.
RI: Obviously you know the Cornerhouse cinema in Manchester. A while ago there was a rumour that they might stage a Cantona film festival, showing all your productions. Is that something you would be happy to see happen?
Eric: There are a lot of films I am proud of but there are some I’m not so proud of. I would like to choose if they do it.
(Boyley chips in from stage left: “Chris Eccleston told me that you were on the set of ‘Elizabeth’ with him and during a break you went and sat on the throne which he said looked so natural. He said that despite him being one of the main characters he was too shy to talk to you, so next time you see him say hello!” Eric promises to do so.)
RI: What was the best moment for you at Old Trafford?
Eric: When we won the first championship. That and the second Double which we won with a new generation of players. But ’93 was the best.
RI: And the worst?
Eric: When we lost against Dortmund.
RI: Was that the end for you, when you said ‘it’s finished’?
Eric: No, it wasn’t only that. It didn’t help but it wasn’t only that.
RI: Who was the best player you played with at United?
Eric: I don’t like to mention one player. We had a great team with a lot of great players.
RI: Many people think that 93/94 team when we won the Double was United’s greatest side: Bruce, Pallister, Schmeichel, Giggs, Ince, Kanchelskis, Hughes…
Eric: That team was made up of huge characters. It’s just unfortunate that we couldn’t play together in the European Cup because at the time we couldn’t play with foreigners so we never played with a set team. The team was really well balanced but if one of the elements was removed it was very unbalanced. We saw that even in the league. If we had played in the European Cup with all the elements in place….
RI: Talking of the European Cup, you were in Barcelona in ’99 but you didn’t get to the game…
Eric: Yeah, I was going to come but I had a problem with the security outside.
RI: You don’t like security do you?
Eric: No, it’s the security who don’t like me.
RI: So you didn’t see the game?
Eric: Well I saw it on TV. I was lucky because I didn’t live far from the stadium.
RI: And finally, your best opponent?
Eric: Opponent? Vinnie Jones! No. I never had a good opponent.
And with that Eric was off. He had a busy day ahead what with the appearance on MUTV, during which as ever, he managed to provoke controversy with his comments. This led to the following comment in the Independent from James Lawton: “Eric Cantona [was] reminding us so distastefully of what happens down the years when too little real achievement is carried by too big an ego”. This accusation of “too little real achievement” seems to have become more prevalent in certain quarters in recent years and appears to be justified on the basis of Cantona’s supposed underachievement on the European stage. This ignores the fact that, whilst at Old Trafford, Cantona’s solitary European season unhindered by the foreigner ruling, was 96/97 when United reached the semi-finals. With 5 league championships, two Doubles and three FA Cup final goals to his name, such “little achievement” is presumably something of which the likes of Fleet Street’s favourite bottler Thierry Henry can only dream. Long-term readers will recall Red Issue exclusively revealing the reasons Cantona quit the club way back in September ’97. We’ll finish here, as we did then: we wish him well and remind those ever tempted to slag him of one eternal truth: we would not have won any of those first four Premierships without him.
Long live the King.