Eric Cantona is famous for his unfolded collar, as you can se on the photo above.

Cantona came to England in 1992, after many years in France, and helped with big impression Leeds to snatch the Championship. For Manchester United supports this was a big disappointment - the Championship had looked secure after a wait of 25 years. It was Cantona that had been the crucial factor - signed by Leeds as the season reached it�s deciding stage. Cantona had destroyed United�s dreams, and they wished he had remained in France.

At the start of the following season, Cantona was again in brilliant form, while United were performing erratically. But behind the scenes things were not well at Leeds. One morning in November 1992 Englishmen opened the newspapers to read that Eric Cantona had, sensationally been transferred to Manchester United for a relati-vely modest fee of 1.2 million pounds.

From his first minutes in the nice United shirt, it was clear that he had brought a unique talent to Old Trafford. He made United play football the Cantona way, with art skill and passion. United had waited 26 years, but in 1993 the title was theirs, and Cantona was the reason. He had turned a collection of very good players into a great team.

After that season the United fans had remained forever grateful if Cantona had left the club - as the media predicted, but he stayed and led United to new titles in 1994 - the premiership title and the FA-cup, in which Cantona scored two penalties in the final. Cantona was also named "player of the year" in England after the 1994 season.

It�s likely that United would have won another Championship and Cup double in 1995 but the fact that the team had to make it itself without the services of their greatest player for the last four months of the season, made the team finish second in the league (by just one point), and lost the FA-Cup final by 0 -1. Surely Eric would have made all that different.

The reason to Cantona�s absence was that he was banned from all football until September 30 due to the Kung-Fu kick that he made at Matthew Simmons - an abu-sive fan of Crystal Palace, who made fun of Cantona when he was shown the red card in the game between Crystal Palace and Manchester United on 25 January 1995. Eric probably regrets his action, and most United supporters wish he hadn�t done it due to the unluckily finish of the season, as I wrote earlier.

When Cantona returned from his suspension in October 1995 United clinched a vital draw against Liverpool. After that his form was the best witnessed at Old Trafford for 25 years. He was outstanding when he led. United to another League and Cup double in 1996. By the end of the season he had assumed the team captaincy, and scored the only goal in the FA-Cup final before leading the team to receive the league trophy. Inevitably he was named "Footballer of the year" by the sports writers, many of whom had argued for his exile only months before. This was the final proof that in Manchester United Eric Cantona had found the home that he hadn�t in the troubled first half of his career.

Cantona achieved in 1997 his fifth Championship in six English seasons, four with United in the last five years. The genius Manchester United captain took pride in the growing up of his young team -with Beckham, Scholes, Butt, Giggs and the Neville brothers, the young players you can read about in the "Beckham and Giggs texts". Now they no longer had to rely so heavily on him, but he remained their idol, and the hero of the fans.

After the season 1996-97 there were many speculations about Cantona�s future, and it seemed that a number of European clubs were keen to sign him. On the morning of Sunday 18th May 1997 when United announced there would be a press conference later that day, no one suspected the outcome. Eric Cantona announced his complete retirement from football, one week before his thirty-first birthday.
After his message United supporters all over the world were shocked when they reali-sed that they had lost one of the greatest football players and a leader of incredible calibre. But the lives will go on and United will surely win many further Championships with new leaders.

Eric Cantona was known among the supporters for understanding the importance of spending a few moments with them and, despite his superstar status, being the most approachable of all the players in the team.
During Cantona�s troubles, journalists camped outside his house seeking "big selling" stories, but It�s not many people that have heard a bad word spoken about him

• "Eric Cantona was more than a celebrity, he was a genuine folk-hero."
• "Without doubt , Cantona is a footballer of independent genius to be admired and enjoyed."