MU Icon #2 - Eric Cantona

Everyone’s favourite Frenchman waltzed in from Leeds and transformed the club. Here to remind us of his impact, is songster Pete Boyle…

I had idols before Eric, but none were as cool. He was a real superstar – but you’d often see him out and about in Manchester. I remember seeing him in the pub when he’d injured his wrist and was ruled out of a game against QPR. He was playing table football with his mates, but he was always approachable.

We discussed art and music, and unlike many other players of that generation he seemed to embrace the music scene of Manchester, which really struck a chord with me – especially when you used to read that the likes of Lee Sharpe listened to TLC! And I’ve met a lot of players, but few made me buzz like Eric. It’s probably only Sir Alex that has that aura. I’d be feeling like broken biscuits around him, and it’s not often I’m speechless! The first ‘special moment’ on the pitch came before he’d even signed for United. He scored a belter for Leeds at Old Trafford and you knew then he had something about him that set him apart. When he signed I was buzzing.

He was popular with fans pretty quickly, but I remember thinking the moment that really started our relationship with Eric came against Sheffield Wednesday in December 1994. We’d been three down and he poked home the equaliser late on to make it 3-3. It wasn’t a great goal, but it meant a great deal to our title hopes and it was a great Cantona moment, the first of many. Remember him hitting the bar at Stamford Bridge from the halfway line in September 1994? After that game I penned the last few choruses to Eric the King. A select few were trying it out in a pub in Whitechapel after the match, but it was really born on the terraces in Honved in the game that followed.

So many of his goals stand out. The volley at Wimbledon, the chips against Sunderland and Sheffield United… But the one that really sticks in my mind is the goal against Liverpool in the 1996 FA Cup final. He could have scored a toe-poke and it would be up there. It wasn’t about the goal (although he did shuffle his body well), it was about winning a Double Double against a side who could've won more Doubles themselves, but didn’t. It meant so much beating Liverpool in that game.

Eric came in for criticism in his last season. Some fans suggested he wasn’t up to his usual standards. But I think he’d had such a good campaign in 1995/96 that it would have been impossible to play that well again, something Ronaldo may find this year. I admire Eric for walking away when he did. People talk about him coming back, but if he doesn’t we’ll always have our memories.