Eric Cantona

Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona was born on the the 24th of May in 1966, you can tell by his name he is french footballer, he started his career during the late 1980s and 1990s, he finished his career at Manchester United, and whilst playing there he won four premiership titles in five years. Cantona was so commited in playing football and being the best he was voted player of the century in 2001.

Years

1938-1988 - Auxerre
1985-1986 - Martigues
1988-1991 - Marseile
1989 - Bordeaux
1989-1990 - Montpellier
1991 - Nimes
1992 - Leeds United
1992-1997 - Manchester United

After leaving Nimes in 1991 he took a flight to England hoping to play for Liverpool but it didn’t happen. Instead he went to a trial for Sheffield United managed by Trevor Francis. Today Sheffield United is known as Leeds United A.F.C. During his time in Leeds United they won the final old first division championship in 1991-1992, he was mainly a substitute but contributed a lot to the team. Just before the league started were everyone was trading and bying new players, Sir Alex Ferguson the manager of Manchester United, asked for the availibility of a defender Dennis Irwin, but the manager of Leeds united refused, and then he asked for the availibility of Eric Cantona, and in 1992 he started to play for Manchester United.

Eric Cantona got of to a straight start he played forward and was doing a good job of it, his first goal was against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on December 19, 1992. Cantona was playing brilliantly for Manchester United he showed a lot of class in all his games, and was a great teammate. For the next two years the team was on an amazing run, they won the Premiership in 1993, and continued to be the best team in the league. In 1994 he was voted for PFA player of the year, but in the following season a dramatic incident happened on January 25, 1995, in a match against Crystal Palace. Eric Cantona was sent of by the referee for a brutal tackle on the defender Richard Shaw, whilst being escorted off the pitch a fan of Crystal Palace, Mathew Simmons must of swore at him, and Cantona dived into the fans with a kung-fu kick followed by 2 punches. Cantona was sentenced to 120 hours of community service, 2 weeks in prison, and was suspended by Manchester United, he also had to pay a fine of 10,000 pounds. After his suspension was finished he decided to leave English football, the Manchester United players and Sir Alex Ferguson begged him not to leave, but his decision was final. After that though he started to play for national football, and played for France for a year, after that he was going to retire.

Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona has influenced me dramatically, I still think that he is one of the most amazing and best player’s in the world, I think he should have continued to play for Manchester United or an other team in the Primier league, because I think he could have made history.