It’s 30 years since Eric Cantona arrived in English football for the first time. Initially on loan to Leeds from Nimes in January 1992, he was part of the team that lifted the last First Division title before the Premier League replaced it that summer.
Midway through the next season, he would sign for Manchester United, where he would be handed the already iconic No.7 shirt, lift four titles in five years, and establish himself as one of the first superstars of the Premier League era.
Indisputably one of the best players in England during the 1990s, it wasn’t just his talent that earned him his godlike status among fans. Whether you loved him or hated him (and plenty did), there was something about Cantona that elevated him above normal footballers. Whether it was his philosophical turn of phrase, his semi-regular bouts of on-pitch violence, oe even that upturned collar (itself the seed of a rumour that it was being used to hide a Leeds United tattoo from the Stretford End faithful), he was different.
That’s why, over the next seven days, FourFourTwo is celebrating all things King Eric: covering the goals, the quotes, the looks, and the acting, and delving into FFT’s archive to bring you some of the best writing on Cantona from years gone by. Keep an eye out for content across the website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and the magazine.
Cantona week starts on Wednesday, February 2, with the release of the latest issue of FourFourTwo magazine, proudly displaying (yep, you guessed it) Eric Cantona as the cover star. We’ll be wrapping things up on Tuesday, February 8, to mark the 30th anniversary of his debut for Leeds.
If you don’t want to miss anything, bookmark this page, where we’ll be adding all the new content throughout the week.
So, without further ado, here's everything so far from...
Eric Cantona week on FourFourTwo
• King of the Kop? When Eric Cantona nearly signed for Liverpool
• How Sheffield Wednesday turned down signing Eric Cantona
• Every club Eric Cantona played for: a potted history of the Frenchman's career
• Quiz! Can you name every club Eric Cantona scored against in the Premier League?
• Why did Leeds sell Eric Cantona to Manchester United?
• Year Zero: The making of Eric Cantona (Leeds/Manchester United, 1992/93)
• Does Eric Cantona have a Leeds tattoo? The truth behind the collar
• Ranked! Eric Cantona's 10 best goals
• Quiz! Can you name Eric Cantona's most frequent Manchester United team-mates?
• 7 best pieces of Eric Cantona memorabilia available to buy online
• Quiz! Can you name every club Eric Cantona played against in the Premier League?
• Ranked! The 16 best Premier League players of the 1990s
• Eric Cantona: the 7 most iconic quotes from the man himself
• Quiz! Can you name every player in the Nike Secret Tournament advert?
• Dominant, volatile and hijacked by cliché: why we still love Eric Cantona
• What does Eric Cantona's "seagulls follow the trawler" quote mean? The story behind the speech
• Eric Cantona 7 best acting moments
