Word had already reached Alex Ferguson about a dissentiant talent who had been tearing it up in the French top flight. At an evening match in the Parc Des Princes sometime in late 1991, Michel Platini leaned in closer;
“You should sign Cantona”.
“Isn’t there a lot of baggage?” came the reply.
“Alex, he’s a great lad, he just needs to be wanted.”
The cogs began to spin in the mind of the former Govan shipyard shop steward. Ferguson had for a while been on the hunt for a creator, a lock picker, but to no avail. He’d tried and failed to sign Paul Gascoigne and then Peter Beardsley, it now seemed the answer was staring him in the face. However, much to his dismay, word of Cantona’s availability had travelled faster than Ferguson and by the time the soles of his feet had been reacquainted with English soil (only a day later), events had conspired against him and Eric Cantona was due on trial with Trevor Francis’ Sheffield Wednesday.
Heavy snowfall and a blanket of ice covered the steel city which meant that Cantona’s chance to impress at Hillsborough was restricted to AstroTurf only. Limited training took place in adverse conditions at Wednesday’s Middlewood Road training ground over the course of a week followed by a six-a-side match at the newly opened Sheffield Arena against travelling American side Baltimore Blast of the Major Indoor Soccer League. The Transatlantic Challenge Match was played out against a backdrop of considerable excitement at the prospect of this mysterious and talented Frenchman turning out in the famous blue and white stripes.
Contrasting recollections surround this period in history. Then Owls manager, the late great Trevor Francis, declared in his autobiography many years later that this was not a trial – merely a favour to his former agent Dennis Roach who was working on behalf of Michel Platini who in turn was trying to help Cantona gain a contract with an English club. Cantona himself has since voiced the opinion that he felt firstly insulted that Sheffield Wednesday deemed him worthy only of a trial and secondly that they then said they required a further look at him on grass once the weather had improved.
Whatever the truth, one fact is set in solid stone: Eric Cantona didn’t sign for Sheffield Wednesday.
A Leeds scout who was on the beat in South Yorkshire at the time of the Cantona trial got wind that all was not well. Word travelled north and Howard Wilkinson’s ears pricked up. Within days, Cantona was training with Leeds United.
Wilkinson did not take long to make his mind up that he wanted Cantona on board. Ten seconds into a finishing exercise, the Frenchman unleashed an acrobatic overhead kick which sailed into the back of the net. Everyone present looked on in astonishment, then looked over to the manager. Deal done.
There was widespread intrigue in the press at how Wilkinson, one of the games archetypal disciplinarians, would handle one of the games most talented, but equally volatile stars. “I haven’t had a problem in my football career up to now with any player I’ve worked with. He reads poetry, he reads philosophy, he paints, he likes fishing. Eh yeah, maybe that’s different, I hope he’s different out there (the pitch), that’s where I hope he’s different. What he’s like off it, so long as he behaves himself, I don’t care.”
And Cantona did behave himself. Well, initially at least.
When Cantona signed on loan that January (the move would be made permanent at the season’s end) Leeds were just over the half way stage in the race for the First Division title with rivals Manchester United breathing down their necks. Leeds were chasing their first top flight crown since 1974, Manchester United were after their first since 1967.
Cantona’s debut would come in a 2-0 loss away to Oldham Athletic, but that would be mere a bump in the road and one of only four defeats Leeds would suffer that season. Howard Wilkinson’s side were a well oiled machine and Cantona added an element of flair and finesse to the side, particularly from the bench when Leeds were struggling for a breakthrough against packed defences. On the 11th April at Elland Road, Leeds dismantled Chelsea 3-0 with Cantona scoring a sublime goal. He juggled the ball in the air to the left of defender Paul Elliot before bringing it back to the right and then rifling the ball home in front of jubilant Kop End.
With four games remaining, Leeds wouldn’t taste defeat again that season. Manchester United would lose 2-0 against Liverpool on the penultimate weekend of the season ensuring the title was heading to Elland Road for the first time in twenty eight years. It was a remarkable achievement considering Leeds had only been promoted the season before. To date, Howard Wilkinson remains the last English manager to lead an English club to the top flight title.
The following season began brightly but it was to be a false dawn. On a sun soaked day at Wembley, Cantona delivered his greatest ever performance in a Leeds shirt scoring a hat-trick in the Charity Shield as Leeds overcame Liverpool 4-3. A little under three weeks later another hat-trick would come in a 5-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur but the majority of that season – the first since the Premier League rebrand – would be a perennial struggle for the reigning champions and Cantona began to get itchy feet.
By the time the leaves had begun to fall from the trees cracks had emerged in the relationship between Wilkinson and Cantona. Leeds travelled north in October to face Rangers at Ibrox in the first leg of the Battle of Britain clash in the newly branded Champions League (formerly European Cup). During the match, which Leeds lost 2-1, Cantona was substituted and instead of taking his place on the bench as is customary, headed straight down the tunnel and into the dressing room. Wilkinson was reaching boiling point.
The second leg at Elland Road would also be lost 1-2 and results on the domestic front showed no signs of improving. Cantona’s petulance was adding fuel to the fire as the pressure began to rise around Elland Road. He became an active disruption in training and his attitude was causing palpable discord behind the scenes. Leeds pulled off a shock 3-0 victory over Arsenal on the 21st November but Wilkinson left Cantona out. The Frenchman was irate and the end was nigh.
In a bid to bolster the defence and attempt to bail some water close to the mid way point in the tumultuous campaign, Leeds desperately sought reinforcements. Howard Wilkinson had earmarked former Leeds player Dennis Irwin of Manchester United as a potential solution and Chairman Bill Fotherby made a phone call to his counterpart over the Pennines, Martin Edwards. It would prove to be one of the most important phone calls Manchester United ever received….
Calum Maltman
