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The
Target
At first Matthew
Simmons was seen as a victim, then reviled as a racist. Now, in
his only interview before the anniversary of 'the incident', he
tells Jamie Jackson he's ashamed - but wants an apology
Sunday October
31, 2004
The Observer
Matthew Simmons
is sitting in a hotel bar in Croydon, south London, reflecting on
the night at Selhurst Park that changed his life for ever. In the
immediate aftermath of Cantona's attack on him, Simmons became one
of the most recognisable and reviled men in Britain: he lost his
job, family members ignored him and reporters pursued him.
'I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,' he says now, then
draws a diagram in my notepad to show where he was sitting that
night and exactly what happened after Cantona was sent off. 'This
is the main stand at Selhurst Park. It's easier to go down the aisles
and along the gangways to get to where you want to go. I was on
my way to the toilet when I saw him approaching. Not much of an
excuse, I know, but sometimes the truth is the simplest of things.
Being where I was, probably wasn't the wisest thing. But it is not
a criminal offence and certainly does not mean I should be hung,
drawn and quartered.'
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Download
Eric Cantona's attack on Matthew Simmons. |
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Having been
charged with assault, Cantona told Croydon crown court that, as
he walked along the touchline, he had heard Simmons insulting his
mother in the crudest way. Simmons is adamant that Cantona lied.
'For God's sake you can't say a worse thing about anyone [than what
he alleges I said], can you? What he did in saying that was totally
unjustified. The man is filth. How can he accuse me of saying such
a thing? Where has this allegation against me come from? From him.
It ruined my life. And that is why it is inexcusable.'
Cathy Churchman,
who was next to Simmons that night, concedes she never heard what
Simmons said. 'There were all these people who said, "Oh we
could hear what he shouted out". That's absolute and utter
crap because I never heard anybody shout. Everybody was booing because
he [Cantona] was sent off. So those who were sitting 11 rows behind
us and who claim they could hear what was being said are talking
rubbish.'
So what, then,
did Simmons actually say? 'Well, unbelievably, not much at all,'
he tells me. 'It was so trivial I can't even remember. It was nothing
offensive or rude that's for sure. And nothing to justify anything
that's happened to me since.'
It has been
a delicate process persuading the 30-year-old to meet me. I wrote
to him on several occasions and visited the house in Thornton Heath,
south London - a few minutes' walk from Selhurst Park - where he
has lived all his life with his mother, Jackie. One evening I met
Jackie and, standing at the doorway of her house, we discussed her
son's visits to Selhurst Park as a youngster, how he had been a
ball boy and had helped his mother serve drinks in the club bar.
Simmons's father had left home when Matthew was a young child -
but that, he says now, was all right 'because I thought at the time,
"That gets him out of the way".'
In
1995, Eric Cantona was perhaps the greatest draw in British
sport. With his hauteur and chequered disciplinary record,
as well as his sublime talent, he dominated the emerging celebrity
culture of English football. Simmons, by contrast, had a dark
and troubled past, which the tabloids wasted little time in
revealing.
They discovered,
for instance, that he had attended British National Party
and National Front rallies and that, in 1992, he was convicted
of attempted violent robbery when he attacked an attendant |
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in
a Croydon petrol station. He assaulted Sri Lankan-born Lewis
Rajanayagam with a three-foot spanner, striking him in the shoulder
rather than the head only because the sales assistant took evasive
action. 'I was absolutely terrified,' Rajanayagam said. 'I thought
he was going to kill me. Simmons went for my head. If it had
hit me there, I would probably have had a broken skull.' |
They discovered,
for instance, that he had attended British National Party and National
Front rallies and that, in 1992, he was convicted of attempted violent
robbery when he attacked an attendant in a Croydon petrol station.
He assaulted Sri Lankan-born Lewis Rajanayagam with a three-foot
spanner, striking him in the shoulder rather than the head only
because the sales assistant took evasive action. 'I was absolutely
terrified,' Rajanayagam said. 'I thought he was going to kill me.
Simmons went for my head. If it had hit me there, I would probably
have had a broken skull.'
'I am so ashamed
of myself,' Simmons says now of the attack. 'People must have raised
an eyebrow. Fair enough. But, that did not make me guilty of any
wrongdoing in this [the Cantona] incident.'
Simmons was
17 when he attacked Rajanayagam. He was 20 when what he repeatedly
calls 'the incident' occurred. At his subsequent trial for threatening
language and behaviour, he attacked the prosecution counsel after
being found guilty, leaping over a bench and executing a flying
kick of his own. He was sentenced to seven days in jail, but only
served 24 hours.
He sold his
story to the Sun. 'That was a big mistake,' he says. 'What was happening
was trial by media, so I thought I needed to have my say. But they
[the Sun] asked a question and I would give an honest answer, but
it did not turn out like that.'
How much was
he paid for the interview? 'It wasn't much.' Tens of thousands?
'No, a few thousand upfront and then the rest was supposed to be
paid as a balance. But they never paid. They never do.'
"By kicking me Cantona showed a complete lack
of professionalism and self-discipline. Everyone has lost
their temper, myself included."
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Holed up with
the Sun in a Gatwick hotel for 24 hours, Simmons wondered what he
was doing and so decided on a rather surprising course of action.
'I called Manchester United. I wanted to find out what was going
on. So I phoned [Sir Alex] Ferguson but they [United] might not
have known it was me trying to get through. I can't remember what
I was thinking at the time. I guess I was looking for a way to defuse
the situation.'
Simmons has
become something of a reclusive figure. He avoids pubs but still
goes to football, preferring to watch Fulham who were, he says,
always his first club of choice. He returns occasionally to Palace
and has sat in the main stand where the kick occurred. He was at
Selhurst Park only a few weeks ago.
He works as
a bricklayer and does 'all sorts of things in the construction industry'.
The main focus of his life is his seven-year-old son, though he
is estranged from the mother of the child. Some members of his family
have never spoken to him since 'the incident', which, you feel,
will always be with him. 'By kicking me Cantona showed a complete
lack of professionalism and self-discipline. Everyone has lost their
temper, myself included. The abuse that I got after the event -
from Ferguson, from Cantona himself and the media - is inexcusable.'
What would he
say if he met Cantona today? 'We could have met already if I had
my way and if I wasn't such a nice person. I've got no shame, no
embarrassment. He has met friends of mine without knowing. But the
emphasis isn't on my actions. What action will he take when he meets
me? Where is he going to put his face? Is he going to hang it down?
Is he going to turn away, is he going to be aggressive?'
Would an apology
make any difference? 'Yes, it would actually, because that would
mean he was a real man. He doesn't even have to do it in front of
a camera or a reporter. He can just come round to my house and no
one would even know. As long as we both know.'
It is possible
the Frenchman feels the same way: that although his actions on that
evening nearly 10 years ago were wrong, so were those of his victim.
Simmons says he is moving house before Christmas to escape renewed
interest in him from the media and to protect his son. He seems
genuine in his desire to rebuild the rest of his life. Maybe some
acceptance of his own responsibility in what happened that night
at Selhurst Park would allow him finally to move on.
Related Articles:
The Assailant
The Kick That Changed Football
The Reaction
The Target
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