On This Day – 25th January
What does the name Matthew Simmons have to do with football? Well, he is a Crystal Palace fan and on this day in 1995 he became involved in an incident that shocked and appalled the footballing world.
Manchester United were the visitors at Selhurst Park where they faced Crystal Palace. United had won the League and Cup Double the previous season and everywhere they went, they played in front of sell-out crowds.
With the score goalless just after half-time, United’s Eric Cantona was sent off following a foul. As he walked down the touchline after being sent off, Simmons allegedly racially bused the Frenchman and Cantona snapped.
He turned and faced the alleged abuser before lunging at him with a kung-fu kick.
The kick caused outrage and Cantona was banned from the game for nine months. was stripped of his captaincy of the French national team and sentenced to two weeks in prison. This prison sentencewas later reduced to 120 hours community service.
David May scored for United a few minutes after Cantona had disappeared down the Selhurst Park tunnel and Gareth Southgate netted an equaliser with ten minutes to go. Neither of these goals will ever be remembered however, as Cantona’s assault on Simmons became an iconic moment of the 90’s.
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