Manchester United hero Eric Cantona landed kung-fu kick on Crystal Palace fan during fiery Premier League game but Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t give him hairdryer treatment

When Eric Cantona launched himself into the crowd at Selhurst Park to take on an abusive fan, his Manchester United teammates expected the forward to get a rollicking from Sir Alex Ferguson.

The boss was famed for his 'hairdryer treatment' - named for his heated nature - and surely this was an occasion that certainly called for it.

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On January 25, 1995, after being sent off in a league game at Crystal Palace, Cantona stunned the football world by assaulting a supporter as he walked off the pitch.

Anyone watching the BBC documentary on the rise of the Premier League will be wondering if this actually happened. Yes. Yes it did.

Crystal Palace fan Matthew Simmons had antagonised the player as he walked past him so much, it resulted in one of the most extraordinary events in English football history.

It later emerged the supporter has yelled, ‘f*** off back to France you French mother*****,’ and Cantona was later widely praised for trying to literally kick racism out of football.

But his teammates assumed he was still in for a telling off.

Recalling the incident in January earlier this year, Cantona's teammate, Andy Cole told talkSPORT the whole thing was surreal.

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“I hadn’t long joined from Newcastle, so I’m only a few games into my Manchester United career then.

“When it did happen, I wasn’t even sure what was going on if I am being brutally honest.

“I was kind of in the middle of the pitch, but I wasn’t sure if a punter ran on and started on Eric or Eric did what he did.

“When it all unfolded and everyone started running over to the touchline, I was kind of miffed as to what had gone on.

“I didn’t see the incident properly until I saw the incident on TV and that’s when I said to myself, ‘wow’.

“It was surreal.”

Enter Ferguson, the man who ruled Old Trafford with an iron fist. He has never been afraid of falling out with his top stars, as David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Roy Keane will tell you.

“Some of the boys were saying, ‘the gaffer is going to lose it now’. This for me, to this day, I still laugh to myself.

“I remember the gaffer came in and he was absolutely fuming, the game ended 1-1. We dropped two points, didn’t win the game and he is fuming.

“He started to have a barney at a few people and then he said to Eric, ‘what are you thinking? You can’t go round doing things like that’."

Was that it?

“Everyone sat in there in the dressing room and just went, ‘Nah’," Cole said laughing.

Known as 'King Eric' to the Old Trafford faithful, Cantona scored 82 goals and won four league titles, including two FA Cup doubles with the Red Devils but later admitted this was his favourite moment in a United shirt.

“My best moment? I have a lot of good moments but the one I prefer is when I kicked the hooligan,” the Old Trafford icon once said.

And that sums him up. One of the most enigmatic characters to have graced the game. He certainly did things his way.

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