Eric Cantona's kung fu Man U moment 30 years on

"Off you go Cantona, it's an early bath for you."

These were the words Matthew Simmons claimed at the time he said to Manchester United forward Eric Cantona as the Frenchman made his way along the Selhurst Park touchline following his sending-off on 25 January, 1995.

Others claimed "f*** off back to France, you French motherf***er" was far closer to the mark.

Simmons has said subsequently he cannot remember the precise words he used, but almost every football follower of a certain vintage knows exactly what happened next.

Thirty years on, it remains one of the most shocking incidents to occur on a professional football pitch.

Cantona’s career up to this point had been terrific but tempestuous, and his short fuse was triggered again when he kicked out at Crystal Palace defender Richard Shaw and was duly sent off by referee Alan Wilkie.

Cantona was escorted along the touchline towards the dressing room by United kit man Norman Davies. The Palace crowd he passed close to included Simmons and whatever was actually said prompted Cantona to pull away from Davies and leap towards Simmons feet first with a kung fu-style kick.

Cantona landed on the advertising boards and, after getting to his feet, unleashed a flurry of punches in Simmons’ direction before Davies this time got a better grip of him. With the help of a steward and United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, Cantona was led towards the tunnel and away from any further flashpoints.

But the die was cast. Cantona was immediately banned by United for the remainder of the season – the Football Association extended the suspension to eight months in all.

He was initially sentenced to two weeks in prison for his assault on Simmons, but this was reduced to 120 hours of community service on