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The Reaction No one could believe it - least of all the bloke who had thrown a sickie to get to the game All interviews
by Jamie Jackson The referee
The build-up to Cantona's sending-off went like this: Peter Schmeichel kicked the ball into the Palace half and when Richard Shaw turned to run, Cantona attempted to kick him. I gave him a straight red card. Cantona is dark-haired and that evening his eyes seemed almost black. With [United's] black strip and the dark night, he looked menacing. Now he had the look of the wounded hero. He gave me the feeling that there was an inevitability about a collision occurring. And now it had, I sensed Cantona wished it had not. Then he looked straight through me, turned and put his collar down. That meant: 'My game is over.' He walked off and stood by Ferguson, who would not acknowledge him. So Cantona moved towards the tunnel.
All of a sudden, players were rushing over there. I manoeuvred myself in between players and crowd, trying to calm it down. Brian McClair was very helpful. He said: 'Alan, blow the whistle and everything will settle.' I restarted the match. The whole episode lasted 92 seconds but it seemed like 92 days. The family Cathy Churchman,
49, then: hotel manageress, now: human resources manager In every frame of the incident shown on TV a woman in a pale coat, sat with two children, was laughing - or, alternatively, looking astounded. Cathy Churchman was with her 15-year-old son, Steven, and daughter, Laura, 12, in front-row seats that night.
'That kick changed my life,' Cathy says. 'Because I was so close - his boot skimmed my coat and was inches from my face - I did interviews with newspapers, I was on television. I received call after call inviting me to shows such as Kilroy, which I turned down. 'I started doing sponsorship work with the club after Ron Noades [then Palace chairman] wrote to say he hoped the experience would not deter me from supporting the team. I made numerous friends among the players and [various] managers. 'My husband works in IT and he was in contact with people from all over the world. Some of his colleagues in America were saying, "Your wife is becoming more famous than Princess Di." And we all know how little they go in for football over there.' 'We'd been having a laugh with the guy next to us,' says Steven. 'He'd phoned in sick for work that day. When Cantona was sent off, he was saying, "Oh God, I hope I'm not on Match of the Day or my boss will go mad." My Mum was laughing at this guy, not at what Simmons was saying. We weren't taking that much notice of Cantona. Then Simmons came from 12 or 13 rows back just as Cantona passes. I haven't got a clue what he shouted so I don't know how all these people rows back say they remember.' All three of the Churchmans sensed Cantona was about to erupt. 'It happened so quickly,' says Laura. 'I was very scared. Cantona behaved with such arrogance.' Steven Churchman was careful to reflect on the tragic incident later that season when the two clubs met in an FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park. 'A Palace fan was killed [Paul Nixon died from multiple injuries after fighting between fans at a pub] and that shouldn't be forgotten. Retribution was taken for what happened at Selhurst Park. You pay to see football and a guy was killed and you think, "What was the point?" Some people take it all far too seriously.' The waitress Klara Ryan, then: waitress at frenchie's, south London restaurant, now: unemployed The day Cantona won his appeal against a two-week prison sentence, a man came into Frenchie's, a south London restaurant where I worked as a waitress. He was a friend of Cantona's. He said: 'Eric is outside and is wondering if he can eat here, please.' It was three in the afternoon, the restaurant was empty and all the staff were ready to go home. But my boss, who was football crazy, said: 'No problem.' Then he told us, 'Nobody is going home yet because we are going to stay open so Eric Cantona can eat here.'
In came Cantona and three other men. One was English, two French. A meal of pasta was specially prepared and I served the table. Eric was kind and relaxed, a perfect gentleman. He was not pompous at all and did not look worried as if he had just come straight from court. He was clean shaven, smartly dressed in a black suit.He was very handsome. A real man from bone to bone! Eric paid the £58 bill and gave me a large tip. My manager argued with me over the tip but I said: 'Over my dead body! I served him and I deserve to have it.' In the end he said: 'Oh, all right.' Eric did not want the top copy of the credit card slip so I took it and said to him: 'I'm very, very sorry, but would you mind signing your autograph for me?' I still have the slip today. It will always be one of my greatest treasures. Related Articles: |
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