“Off you go Cantona, it’s an early bath for you.”
These were the words Matthew Simmons claimed at the time he said to Manchester United forward Eric Cantona as the Frenchman made his way along the Selhurst Park touchline following his sending-off on January 25, 1995.
Simmons has said subsequently he cannot remember the precise words he used, but almost every football follower of a certain vintage knows exactly what happened next.
Thirty years on, it remains one of the most shocking incidents to occur on a professional football pitch.
Cantona’s career up to this point had been terrific but tempestuous, and his short fuse was triggered again when he kicked out at Crystal Palace defender Richard Shaw and was duly sent off by referee Alan Wilkie.
Cantona was escorted along the touchline towards the dressing room by United kit man Norman Davies. The Palace crowd he passed close to included Simmons and whatever was actually said prompted Cantona to pull away from Davies and leap towards Simmons feet first with a kung fu-style kick.
Cantona landed on the advertising boards and, after getting to his feet, unleashed a flurry of punches in Simmons’ direction before Davies this time got a better grip of him. With the help of a steward and United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, Cantona was led towards the tunnel and away from any further flashpoints.
But the die was cast. Cantona was immediately banned by United for the remainder of the season – the Football Association extended the suspension to eight months in all.
He was initially sentenced to two weeks in prison for his assault on Simmons, but this was reduced to 120 hours of community service on appeal.
It was following that successful appeal that Cantona gave his only public response to the affair at the time, telling the gathered media: “When the seagulls follow the trawler it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.”
It was a suitably enigmatic and memorable quote from Cantona and, although many scoffed at his cod-philosophy, it can be pretty easily read as an insult to the media, whom he felt followed his every move waiting to see if he would give them anything to feed off.
Without him, United lost out to Blackburn in the Premier League title race.
Cantona required some persuasion to continue his stay in English football by Sir Alex Ferguson and his return to action came against Liverpool on October 1, 1995, with his penalty sealing a 2-2 draw.
He played a key role in United securing a domestic double in the 1995-96 season, scoring the FA Cup final winner against Liverpool, before retiring at the end of 1996-97, having captained the team to yet another league title.
Since then he has turned his hand to acting and beach football, while in 2023 he released his first single.
In 2021, he spoke about the Selhurst Park incident in the documentary The United Way, saying: “I have been insulted thousands of times and have never reacted, but sometimes you are fragile.
“I don’t regret it. I have one regret. I would have loved to have kicked him even harder.”
So much about Cantona’s career was unforgettable, but arguably no other moment is still so vividly remembered as what happened that night in south London three decades ago.
