Читать книгу A League of Their Own - The Book of Sporting Trivia: 100% Official - Литагент HarperCollins USD, F. M. L. Thompson - Страница 23

BORN: 24 May 1966, Marseille, France

PLAYER: Auxerre, Marseille, Montpellier, Nîmes, Leeds United, Manchester United and France

1) Even from an early age, Cantona managed to mix on-field genius with a combustible personality that often saw him fall foul of the football authorities. He made a name for himself as a forward at Auxerre as well as a handy fighter after decking a team-mate.

2) His electric performances for the French club and the national side, including a hat-trick against England at the 1988 U21 European Championships, saw his boyhood club Marseille pay a French record fee for his services. Sadly, the move and his career in France stalled.

3) After Sheffield Wednesday boss Trevor Francis turned down the chance to sign him, most probably after seeing his disciplinary rap sheet from France, Leeds stepped in and he helped them win the title before going on to become a Manchester United legend for five years.

4) His infamous kung-fu kick on Palace fan Matthew Simmons saw him banned and fined, but in 2011 Cantona admitted it was ‘a great feeling’ and a memory for fans to treasure. So, why not get Simmons’s nipple from Eric’s studs and put it in the national football museum?

DID YOU KNOW: The Frenchman went into acting after he retired, but his most famous role was playing himself in Ken Loach’s Looking for Eric. The F-word is used around 200 times in the film – just less than Simmons used it after getting that karate kick.

And here he is playing the lead role in a new film

called Neil Ruddock: The Movie