Eric Cantona made his Leeds United debut in February 1992 - after Sheffield Wednesday allowed him to move to Elland Road.
Midway through the 1991/92 season, Cantona was banned from football for two months after throwing the ball at the referee during Nimes’ French league fixture against Saint-Etienne. He’d initially only been suspended for a month, before striding up to each member of the disciplinary panel and branding them idiots, one by one. The punishment was doubled, and Cantona announced his intention to quit football, at the age of just 25.
The maverick was persuaded to carry on by Michel Platini, manager of the French national team, who still regarded Cantona as one of his key players. Platini suggested that the controversial Cantona should move to England and have a fresh start, away from the French media.
That January, he travelled to Yorkshire to train with Sheffield Wednesday, who were faring well in their first season after promotion to the top flight. The squad had to train on an artificial pitch because of freezing weather conditions during his stay with the Owls - his only public appearance for the club came at the newly-opened Sheffield Arena, in a scheduled six-a-side Transatlantic Challenge match against visiting US team Baltimore Blast, of the Major Indoor Soccer League.
Trevor Francis was Sheffield Wednesday’s manager at the time, but has since insisted that he never had the budget to actually sign Cantona. “A former agent of mine asked if I’d do a favour to Platini, who was very keen to get Cantona back playing,” Francis told the Yorkshire Post. “He wondered if I’d have a little look at him in training. I said ‘I’m not really in need of another centre forward, but as a favour, I’ll do it’.
“I was surprised when he arrived - it was built up as if I was looking to sign him, which was never a consideration. He was here to do a few days’ training, basically putting himself in the shop window. There was an indoor tournament - I asked him if he wanted to play, and he had a kickaround.
“After those two days, it was put to me ‘Are you going to sign him?’. I said ‘Well, I don’t think so, we’d like him to stay for a few more days for us to have a little look at him’. I think his manager took that as an insult - I don’t know if it was a breakdown in communication, but they regarded it as he was Eric Cantona and he was not going to be on trial.
“The whole thing got messy, and he came to me and said ‘I’ve got a chance to go to Leeds’. He had my blessing, and off he went to Leeds.”
Cantona swiftly joined the Elland Road club on loan from Nimes until mid-April for £100,000, with the option to make the deal permanent for £1m. Spearheaded by 21 goals from David Hirst, Sheffield Wednesday went on to finish third that season. Cantona, meanwhile, helped Leeds to the league title.
Read the inside story of Eric Cantona’s career in the new issue of FourFourTwo magazine
