Fotherby has no Cantona regrets

The man who made the fateful phone call that resulted in Eric Cantona joining Manchester United 20 years ago today insists he would do exactly the same again.

It has become the stuff of legend how Leeds managing director Bill Fotherby rang United chairman Martin Edwards about Denis Irwin and ended up selling Cantona to United instead.

What is less well known is that Fotherby never even bothered contacting Leeds’ manager of the time, Howard Wilkinson, about the Red Devils’ request.

Cantona went on to win four Premier League titles in his five seasons at Old Trafford, securing his status as one of the great United figures.

Leeds, in comparison, never recovered.

Indeed, a 4-0 defeat by United at Elland Road in September 1996 in which Cantona scored a last-minute goal, marked the end of Wilkinson’s time at the club.

Remarkably though, Fotherby has no regrets.

Now 81, he remembers the entire Cantona episode clearly.

“We had got Eric on a recommendation from Michel Platini, who told Howard Wilkinson he could be very difficult to handle but had the potential to be a great player,” Fotherby recalled.

“At the time, we didn’t have any money. People thought we had won the pools but we were actually potless.

“Because of that when we met his advisors to put together a deal we agreed to pay Eric something like £500,000 if we kept him after an initial period of a few months.

“It was an immense amount of money for Leeds — not money we had at any rate — but we agreed to it because we had this recommendation from Platini and we judged the most important thing was to get the player and deal with the rest afterwards.”

But there were difficulties almost immediately.

“Apart from Lee Chapman, no one in the squad spoke fluent French and for Howard it was a bit of a nightmare. Although we won the title, there was just no connection between them.

“We had a disaster against Rangers in the European Cup and were coming up to the point where this additional £500,000 had to be paid.

“Howard told me to find Eric another club.”

The deal was ultimately rushed through, for a fee of just over £1 million, which looks ludicrous now given the success Cantona was to enjoy.

“Our fans were bothered. They were really bothered. But I would do exactly the same again,” said Fotherby.

“Eric was absolutely magnificent for them but it is not all one way, we got something similar when Gordon Strachan came to us and took us from Division Two to champions.

“Before that, Johnny Giles came from Manchester United and look what he did for Leeds. It happens.

“Sometimes people just move to a certain club at a certain time and become something they would never have been anywhere else.”