25 January 1995

Wednesday 25 January

1995-01-25

Events

 * In an away match against Crystal Palace, Manchester United's Eric Cantona is sent off by the referee for kicking Palace defender Richard Shaw. As he was walking towards the tunnel, Cantona launched a 'kung-fu' style kick into the crowd, directed at Crystal Palace fan Matthew Simmons, who had run down 11 rows of stairs to confront and shout abuse at Cantona. Simmons was alleged to have used the words "Fuck off back to France, you French bastard".
 * In a BBC interview in 2011, Cantona says his kung-fu kick on a fan in 1995 was a mistake, but admits he did it to make the fans happy.
 * See also: "Eric Cantona and 'the hooligan': the impact of the kung-fu kick 25 years on" in theguardian.com 2020-01-25