Cantona, Eric

▪ 1994

      Eric Cantona was sometimes described as the most talented and controversial footballer of his generation. Yet the onetime enfant terrible of France became the Gallic golden boy of English soccer, first with Leeds United in 1992 and a few months later at Manchester United.

      Tall, dark, and temperamental, Cantona was a loner with a short fuse, and controversy rarely strayed from him. Born in Paris on May 24, 1966, he was discovered by the Auxerre club at age 15. He made his debut in the French First Division during 1983-84 and finally established himself in 1986-87. That same season he played for the French Under-21 team. He made the first of more than 30 appearances for the national team in August 1987, scoring against West Germany. He was transferred to Marseille for £2.2 million in 1988, and then his troubles began in earnest. He was banned from the national team for a year for openly criticizing France's coach, and he was involved in a bitter row with spectators and sent off in a charity match.

      Unhappy about his behaviour, Marseille loaned him to Bordeaux and then Montpellier, where he helped to win the French Cup. After half a season at Nîmes, he was offered a trial by Sheffield Wednesday. He walked out on them, however, and in February 1992 signed for Leeds, where he became an overnight sensation and helped the team to the English League title three months later. A terrace chant of "Ooh aah, Cantona" was made into a pop record and reached number 64 in the British charts in September 1992.

      Leeds was eliminated from the European Cup, and Cantona was surprisingly transferred to Manchester United in November for £1.2 million. Leeds supporters turned on their former hero. Unsold Cantona T-shirts were hastily dispatched to clothe Romanian refugees. After returning to Leeds for a match with Manchester United in February 1993, Cantona was fined £ 1,000 for spitting at spectators. Yet at Manchester he became even more idolized, and the United manager, Alex Ferguson, called the highly skilled forward his most influential signing. Cantona was a key factor in United's first league title in 26 years as he became the first player to win the championship with different teams in successive seasons.

      But controversy continued to stalk him. In November 1993 he was banned from four European Cup matches after accusing referees of taking bribes. He also said that he would never play for France again at the Parc des Princes in Paris but then did so in the next match. On November 27, a year to the day after leaving Leeds, Cantona pledged to stay with United for the rest of his life. To celebrate he scored the only goal of the game at Coventry. (JACK ROLLIN)

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