Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

[Borracho]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

Cantona and Schmeichel had the tea thrown over them as Schmeichel was frogmarching Cantona to the tunnel. Ince got involved anyway, because it was what he did,

Shaw ("excellent man-marker" my bollocks, he was your typical bottom-six hacker) was raking and ankle-tapping Cantona all night. Cantona, being basically a brute, albeit a very skilful one, stupidly had a go back, as Shaw knew he would.

The number of impotent 0-0 draws that speckled Man Utd's run-in that season (usually at home) showed what that United side were without Cantona.

[Borracho]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

longeared wrote: I used to work with a Palace fan who had been at the game, I remember him saying that no-one around him saw the actual incident, and he didn't actually know that anything significant had gone off until the following day.

I'm reading Andrew Mueller's memoir at the moment. He tells a pretty much identical story about going out to lunch with a load of record company people the day after Kurt Cobain's death had been announced on the news. None of them knew it had happened until he enlightened them.

The mid-1990s were basically the very last moment when huge news could happen and not be heard by most people until a day or two later. There's probably the makings of a good thread to be started about this very subject on World, but Mrs Calx is telling me to get off the computer because it's late.

[RobM]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

Numb nutted fascists used to get kicked in the face a lot round my way when I were a lad but it probably was a surprise when it happened down that London.

It's maybe time we sent that Eric lad back down that way.

[G-Man]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

It does aid the iconic nature of the photo that Cantona was wearing ninja-black.

It might've looked OK in red, but imagine the Cantona kick in blue. It just doesn't work.

[N est à?]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

If it had been in the following seasons grey kit, no-one would have seen it at all, eh, what?

[Geoffrey de Ste. Croix]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

Green Calx wrote: Cantona and Schmeichel had the tea thrown over them as Schmeichel was frogmarching Cantona to the tunnel. Ince got involved anyway, because it was what he did,

Shaw ("excellent man-marker" my bollocks, he was your typical bottom-six hacker) was raking and ankle-tapping Cantona all night. Cantona, being basically a brute, albeit a very skilful one, stupidly had a go back, as Shaw knew he would.

The number of impotent 0-0 draws that speckled Man Utd's run-in that season (usually at home) showed what that United side were without Cantona.

Yeah, I'm sure it was the turning point in the title race between Blackburn Rovers and Manchester United that season. The fact United kept the momentum going to the very last game suggests that if Cantona had been present, they would have won the title, this title loss of course being the one that still smarts with Ferguson.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

United had beaten Blackburn the weekend before to close the gap to just two points, and would have gone top had they won at Palace.

[beak]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

Green Calx wrote: The mid-1990s were basically the very last moment when huge news could happen and not be heard by most people until a day or two later. There's probably the makings of a good thread to be started about this very subject on World, but Mrs Calx is telling me to get off the computer because it's late.

Do it. The thread, or the getting to bed.

About four years ago I was in Croatia at a festival in the middle of nowhere when the news broke that Amy Winehouse died. Tons of people in bits, DJs playing trite tribute sets and all sorts. About a week later I get back to the Netherlands and my missus tells me about this bad news in Norway. I assume something bad has happened to a friend of ours who was pregnant, but it turns out some cunt called Breivik had shot dozens of kids. This news had not made even a dent on the collective psyche of where I'd been for some reason. It's easy to blame the paucity of internet in the area, but even easier to blame the fact that everybody there was so bloody young (and hence idiotic).

Anyway, Cantona. Heard about it in the car with my dad and couldn't get back fast enough to watch the news. Brilliant. First thing the man ever did that I agreed with. Another one of those things that commentators tell you nobody wants to see but actually everybody really, really relishes seeing.

[Toby Gymshorts]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

beak wrote: First thing the man ever did that I agreed with.

Seconded. I think he's fucking ace these days, though.

[Ray de Galles]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

Why are the BBC so prissy about reshowing the video of it since the broadcast on the night?

I did transpose Ince (and others) charging in and the tea-throwing. The whole thing really was ace, wasn't it?

[Hot Orange]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

Green Calx wrote: The number of impotent 0-0 draws that speckled Man Utd's run-in that season (usually at home) showed what that United side were without Cantona.

Ipswich were certainly grateful for his absence.

[Mr Beast]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

"If I want to kick a fan, I do it. I am not a role model."

Classic.

[Borracho]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

Hot Orange wrote:

The number of impotent 0-0 draws that speckled Man Utd's run-in that season (usually at home) showed what that United side were without Cantona.

Ipswich were certainly grateful for his absence.

United should have saved a few for Chelsea, Leeds, Spurs, West Ham et al.

[Borracho]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

Geoffrey de Ste. Croix wrote:

Cantona and Schmeichel had the tea thrown over them as Schmeichel was frogmarching Cantona to the tunnel. Ince got involved anyway, because it was what he did,

Shaw ("excellent man-marker" my bollocks, he was your typical bottom-six hacker) was raking and ankle-tapping Cantona all night. Cantona, being basically a brute, albeit a very skilful one, stupidly had a go back, as Shaw knew he would.

The number of impotent 0-0 draws that speckled Man Utd's run-in that season (usually at home) showed what that United side were without Cantona.

Yeah, I'm sure it was the turning point in the title race between Blackburn Rovers and Manchester United that season. The fact United kept the momentum going to the very last game suggests that if Cantona had been present, they would have won the title, this title loss of course being the one that still smarts with Ferguson.

What's forgotten is that Blackburn did their best to fuck it away, losing three of their final five games.

[Borracho]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

I'm at work and things are starting to get busy. If someone else wants to do it, be my guest.

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

I wonder how this would have gone down if the roles were reversed. Say some fan ran in and punched Suarez in the face after you-know-what (and let's presume he said something racists, I'll bail out if there are another 15 pages of whether he was saying this or not saying that).

[David Agnew]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

Hot Orange wrote:

The number of impotent 0-0 draws that speckled Man Utd's run-in that season (usually at home) showed what that United side were without Cantona.

Ipswich were certainly grateful for his absence.

Yeah, but if they'd beaten us at Portman Road (we won 3-2), they'd have won the title.

[beak]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

Pietro Paolo Virdis wrote: I wonder how this would have gone down if the roles were reversed. Say some fan ran in and punched Suarez in the face after you-know-what (and let's presume he said something racists, I'll bail out if there are another 15 pages of whether he was saying this or not saying that).

Dalglish would have led his players in subduing the attacker, and handing him over to the filth.

[Toby Gymshorts]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

Wonder what they'd have put on the t-shirts?

[Eggchaser]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

Pietro Paolo Virdis wrote: I wonder how this would have gone down if the roles were reversed. Say some fan ran in and punched Suarez in the face after you-know-what (and let's presume he said something racists, I'll bail out if there are another 15 pages of whether he was saying this or not saying that).

What happened when a flower of South African manhood had a crack at the ref.

Richie McCaw didn't need his invisible cloak for this one

About 50 secs in for the full effect.

[Favourite Worst Nightmare]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

When ze seagulls.....follow ze trawler.....it is because zey think......sardines will be thrown into ze sea.

[tracteurgarcon]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

Did anyone, ever, seriously not understand what the "sardines" quote meant?

I mean, even as a naïve 21 year old it was blatantly obvious what Eric was getting at, all the mock confusion just because he was French and, supposedly, enigmatic was just so much bullshit.

[Borracho]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

I was under the impression that Cantona just made it up on the spot for a bit of divilment, and that it didn't have any deeper meaning at all.

[Favourite Worst Nightmare]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

I recall that Frank Skinner on Fantasy Football League explained step by step the point that Cantona was making for people who were too thick to work it out.

[Outside Agent]

Off you go, Mr Cantona! Early bath for you!

Skinner & Baddiel got some mileage out of the Cantona incident at Selhurst Park. I recall one sketch, when they were pretending to be fans in the crowd that night being asked to describe their experience of the incident - the 'fan' explaining how it was the ugliest thing he'd ever seen at a football match, and how terrifying it was to see him coming right towards him. The 'fan' is asked what he thinks should happen to Cantona, and he replies "Cantona? I'm talking about this..." and it cuts to footage of Ian Dowie scoring a (brilliant) header for Palace away at Forest and running into the Palace fans to celebrate. The hilarity of it all.

At the time, the incident was one of real magnitude. It dominated the news headlines and I recall it being discussed by people and on shows that wouldn't normally go near the sport. I listened to it happening live on BBC Radio 5, when I should have been studying for my Leaving Cert mock exams that were coming up a fortnight later. For me, the whole episode was gripping, going into school the following day and discussing it with mates. Football, but more than football. For a sixteen year old, it was heady stuff. That, and the riot in Lansdowne Road three weeks later.

I was always fascinated by the still photo of the kick, and the variety of expressions on the faces of the punters. If an incident like that happened today, all you'd see is a collection of camera-phones. Also, if something like that happened today, I'd wager the club involved wouldn't dare take the action Man Utd did and ban their most important player for the rest of the season, nor would the competition authorities dare suspend a leading side's marquee player for eight months.