Who is Eric Cantona

Whilst playing for Manchester United Eric Cantona earned the nickname 'The King'; he had an incredibly important habit of scoring goals at the most appropriate of times; absolute match winners and goals which would help the club to secure four titles in the five seasons that he played for Man Utd. The season where Manchester United didn't win the Premier League was actually the season where Cantona spent most of it out banned; he'll always be remembered for his flying fung-fu kick into the crowd after being sent off at Crystal Palace. Home fan Matthew Simmons had chucked coffee over Cantona and as such Cantona did not respond to this at all civilly. Cantona was banned from football for 9 months and it was thought that he may never return to English football again. Alex Ferguson convinced him to stay however and a good thing he did too, Cantona slotted nicely back into the squad and helped the team onto further titles along with the likes of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, and David Beckham. The Neville brothers were also key during this period of Man Utd history; Cantona always remained king however and it was his super strong influence that allows the young Manchester United team to progress and develop.

At the age of just 30; King Cantona made the decision to retire from football and so called it a day at the end of the 1996-97 season. Over the course of his Manchester United career Eric Cantona managed 80 goals in 182 games in all competitions (64 Premier League goals in 143 appearances, 10 goals in the FA Cup in just 17 games, 1 goal in 6 League Cup games, and 5 goals in 16 in Europe). Another amazing factor about the career of Eric Cantona is that he only appeared once as a substitute; of his 182 games for Man Utd, 181 of these were starts and the only time he did appear as a substitute was on his debut against Manchester City.

Right to this very day the Manchester United faithful can still be heard cheering the name of Eric Cantona; he's an absolute Man Utd legend and without doubt deemed to be one of the best players ever to have worn the red shirt of Manchester United.

The number seven is perceived by many to be a 'lucky number'; how fitting it is then that the masterful Eric Cantona donned the number 7 shirt for United. After Cantona left Beckham took the shirt on, and after Beckham's move to Madrid the shirt number became Cristiano Ronaldo's. Here are the final two players to have worn the legendary number seven shirt for Manchester United and done it incredibly proud:

- Bryan Robson
- George Best


Who's the greatest player ever to have worn the seven shirt for United? Have your say below.

In 2006 there was a small sense of history repeating itself; eleven years on from Eric Cantona's controversial kung-fu kick and it seemed as though another legendary number seven would never be returning to English football. Cristiano Ronaldo had appeared to influence the sending off of United team-mate Wayne Rooney in the World Cup quarter final; the English press were fuming and for months Cristiano Ronaldo was booed and jeered everywhere he went.

Just like Eric Cantona had been expected to leave English football; it was thought that Cristiano Ronaldo would never return to Old Trafford either, Alex Ferguson once more did his best to make his key player stay however and again the seven did so. Manchester United number sevens have a tendency to be rather fiery; more often than not they're also extremely loyal however and as Cristiano Ronaldo now enters into his sixth season at the club he's actually now a longer serving citizen than King Eric Cantona himself.

As a French international played Eric Cantona managed just 45 caps, scoring 20 goals in the process. For a short while the French international became captain under the reign of Aime Jacquet; when Cantona was suspended for 9 months he of course lost his place however as he was banned from football worldwide. After his ban Cantona never again played for France; he, Jean-Pierre Papin, and David Ginola had all been dropped from the national side in order to bring fresh new blood into the side in the form of the likes of Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet.

Eric Cantona still remains very bitter about being dropped from the national team, particularly when he was playing so well for Man Utd at the time; since becoming French Beach Soccer manager he's professed to having ambitions of becoming the best football manager ever, stating that the only roles he'd ever consider are those of Manchester United manager and England head coach. Clearly international head coach for France is not a role he'd ever consider taking on; Eric Cantona is a very proud man and being dropped from the French national team certainly dented his pride somewhat.

After retiring from the great game, Eric Cantona then tried his hand at acting and also became heavily involved in beach soccer. Cantona became captain of the French national beach soccer team and in 2005 took on the role of manager of the French beach soccer team and his side won the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. Cantona has done well within the realm of beach soccer and his acting interest had led to performances in the following features:

- Le bonheur est dans le pré - 1995 - Lionel
- Elizabeth - 1998 - Monsieur de Foix
- Mookie - 1998 - Antoine Capella
- Les enfants du marais - 1999 - Jo Sardi
- La grande vie! (English title: The High Life) - 2001 - Joueur de pétanque 2
- L'Outremangeur (English title: The Over-Eater) - 2003 - Séléna
- Les Clefs de bagnole (English title: The Car Keys) - 2003
- La vie est à nous - 2005
- Une belle histoire - 2005
- Lisa et le pilote d'avion - 2007
- Le Deuxième souffle (English title: Second Wind) - 2007


According to IMDd; Eric Cantona has also completed work on two further films under the names of 'Jack Says' and 'French Film', and has a film in the post-production stage titled 'Looking For Eric'. Two TV appearances have also been made; once as a part of 'Eleven Men Against Eleven' in 1995, and in 2008 Eric Cantona has also appeared in 'Papillon noir' playing the part of Jack.

In 2002 Eric Cantona was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame, and in 2008 he married French actress Rachida Brakni. Since retiring from football Eric Cantona has also appeared in a number of Nike football adverts.