The story of Eric Cantona’s kung-fu kick at Selhurst Park

Selhurst Park, Wednesday 25 January 1995. Three minutes into the second half, Eric Cantona kicks out at Crystal Palace defender Richard Shaw, and referee Alan Wilkie sends him off. Collar up, he starts the long walk along the touchline. Then a Palace fan comes charging down the stand towards him, and Eric Cantona answers with a kung-fu kick over the advertising hoarding, live on camera.

More than 30 years on, it’s still one of the most infamous moments in Premier League history. This is the full story. What led up to it, what happened that night, the ban, the seagulls, and the comeback that won United the Double.

Who Eric Cantona was before Selhurst Park

By January 1995, Cantona was the best player in England and easily the most combustible. He’d arrived three years earlier after walking out on French football at 25. Playing for Nîmes, he threw the ball at a referee, then walked up to each member of the disciplinary panel and called them an idiot. Michel Platini, then the France manager, talked him into one more go, this time in England.

It worked. He won the league with Leeds within months, then joined Manchester United in November 1992 for £1.2 million. United won the first Premier League title that season, ending a 26-year wait to be champions of England. The next season brought the club’s first Double, 25 goals in all competitions and the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award.

The temper never went away, though. In March 1994 he was sent off twice in four days, at Swindon and then at Highbury, and was banned for five matches. Opposition defenders knew exactly which buttons to press.

How the Eric Cantona kung-fu kick happened

United went to south London chasing Blackburn Rovers at the top of the table. Palace were down at the wrong end, and their plan for Cantona was simple. Richard Shaw stuck to him all night, and Cantona felt he was getting no protection from the referee.

Three minutes after half-time he snapped, kicking out at Shaw as the ball ran away from them. Wilkie showed him a straight red. With United kitman Norman Davies at his side, Cantona began the walk along the touchline towards the tunnel.

That’s when Matthew Simmons, a Palace fan, ran down 11 rows of the stand to the front. What he shouted depends on who you believe. Cantona’s side said it was abuse about his nationality and his mother. Simmons later claimed he’d only told him it was an early bath.

Cantona didn’t wait to find out. He leapt over the hoarding feet first, caught Simmons in the chest and followed up with punches before stewards, players and Davies dragged him away. Then he was gone, down the tunnel and into the biggest scandal English football had seen in years.

The game carried on. David May put United ahead, Gareth Southgate equalised ten minutes from time, and it finished 1-1. Nobody remembers that bit.

The ban, the fines and the court case

Two days later, United fined Cantona £20,000 and banned him for the rest of the season. They had considered sacking him. France went further. Manager Aimé Jacquet took the captaincy away, and Cantona never played for his country again.

The FA weren’t done either. They extended the ban to 30 September 1995, about eight months in total, and added a £10,000 fine. FIFA made it worldwide.

Then came court. Cantona pleaded guilty to common assault, and on 23 March magistrates in Croydon sentenced him to two weeks in prison. He appealed, and eight days later the sentence was replaced with 120 hours of community service, which he served coaching kids at United’s training ground.

Simmons didn’t come out of it well either. He was found guilty of abusive behaviour, fined £500 and banned from football grounds for a year. When the verdict was read out, he lunged at the prosecutor and ended up spending a week in prison. FourFourTwo has the full story of what happened to Matthew Simmons.

The cost to United was bigger. Without Cantona they lost the title to Blackburn by a single point on the final day, and lost the FA Cup final 1-0 to Everton.

When the seagulls follow the trawler

On 31 March 1995, straight after the appeal, Cantona walked into a packed press conference, sat down and spoke slowly.

“When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.”

Then he stood up and left.

The room had no idea what to make of it. Most people now read it as a dig at the press. The journalists were the seagulls, following him everywhere and waiting for scraps. One sentence, and he’d turned the story back on the people telling it. Nobody else in football could have got away with it.

The comeback and the Double

The summer nearly finished it. Cantona asked to leave, and Alex Ferguson flew to Paris to talk him round.

He came back on Sunday 1 October 1995 against Liverpool at Old Trafford, of all teams, and scored a penalty in a 2-2 draw.

Then came the run that defined him. Newcastle were ten points clear at Christmas. Cantona scored the only goal at St James’ Park in March and kept scoring the goals that mattered as United reeled them in, winning the league by four points. In May he captained United in the FA Cup final against Liverpool and volleyed the winner five minutes from time. The Double, a year after the kick.

He played one more season, captained United to another title, and retired in May 1997 at the age of 30.

Why the Eric Cantona kung-fu kick still matters

Nobody’s defending it. A footballer attacked a supporter, and it could easily have ended his career. But it’s also the moment that sums up what made Cantona different. The upturned collar, the swagger, the sense that he might do anything at any moment. Most of the time that meant a chip over a keeper or a volley at Wembley. Once, at Selhurst Park, it meant this.

Fans who saw it live can usually tell you where they were. Everyone else grew up with the clip, the seagulls and the comeback that followed, all part of the same story. Love him or hate him, nobody’s forgotten it. If 90s Premier League moments are your thing, have a look at our pick of the Premier League’s greatest goal celebrations.

Quick facts on the Eric Cantona kung-fu kick

Shop the Cantona collection

It started with the Sunderland chip, a design request from my close friend Ryan. That one sold well, and so did the FA Cup volley against Wimbledon, so when we built out our 90s nostalgia range, Selhurst Park was the obvious way to complete the trio. All three are still among our best sellers.

The Eric Cantona kung-fu kick t-shirt is embroidered on the left chest, not printed, so it stays sharp wash after wash. The same design comes as a kung-fu kick sweatshirt and an embroidered beanie for the colder matchdays, or browse all our Manchester United t-shirts, made to order, by fans, for fans.

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Updated October 2026. Facts checked against FourFourTwo, The Irish News, Sporting Life and 11v11.