From the Premier League website
Thursday 26 November 2015
Fotherby: No regrets about selling Cantona to Man Utd
Bill Fotherby, Leeds managing director at the time, recalls Cantona's shock
move to Old Trafford
Eric Cantona earned legendary status at Man Utd, winning four BPL titles in
five seasons
Twenty three years ago, Eric Cantona left Leeds United, the defending
champions, to join Manchester United. For a fee that was thought to be about
£1 million, the Frenchman crossed the Pennines to inspire the team to the
first of 13 Barclays Premier League titles under Sir Alex Ferguson, of which
four were won in the first five years that Cantona was at Old Trafford.
The man who made the phone call that resulted in Cantona joining Manchester
United insists he would do exactly the same again. Leeds managing director
Bill Fotherby rang Man Utd chairman Martin Edwards enquiring about buying
full-back Denis Irwin but ended up selling Cantona to Old Trafford instead.
What is less well known is that Fotherby never bothered contacting Leeds'
manager of the time, Howard Wilkinson, about Edwards' request.
While Cantona went on to secure legendary status among Man Utd fans, Leeds
never again reached the heights of the 1991/92 season.
Indeed, a 4-0 defeat by the Red Devils at Elland Road in September 1996, in
which Cantona scored a last-minute goal, marked the end of Wilkinson's time
at the club. But Fotherby has no regrets. Speaking on the 20th anniversary
of Cantona's move to Old Trafford in 2012, he recalled the episode clearly.
"Although we won the title, there was just no connection between them"
Bill Fotherby
"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 told PA Sport. "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."
Find out why Eric Cantona is known as 'The King' by Manchester United fans
and why they voted the Frenchman as their Player of the Century
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," Fotherby said. "Although we won the title, there was just no
connection between them.
"Howard told me to find Eric another club"
Bill Fotherby
"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."
Fotherby had not acted on the request when full-back Mel Sterland got
injured. "I rang United about Denis Irwin, who had been at Leeds as a young
boy," said Fotherby. "Martin Edwards said there was no chance but I asked
him to at least speak to [manager] Alex [Ferguson].
1992/93 BPL season review >>
"Normally, I wouldn't have expected him to ring back. This time he did,
offering me a different player I knew Howard would not be interested in. It
was then he asked about Eric. I said absolutely no way and that it was
impossible. But obviously I knew what Howard felt about him, and I knew this
additional payment was due.
"As I had done before, Martin asked if I would talk to Howard. On that
particular day Howard was out house-hunting in Leeds, so the only person I
actually spoke to was [coach] Mick Hennigan. I just said, 'I can't believe
it. Guess what has come right out of the blue. Howard will absolutely love
it.'
"I left it a couple of hours, rang Martin back and said, 'I can't believe
this but Howard is willing to let the boy go'."
And so the deal was rushed through.
"Our fans were bothered," said Fotherby. "They were really bothered. But I
would do exactly the same again.
Cantona played a key role as Leeds won the First Division title in 1991/92
"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.
"Eric liked to play to the crowd - that wasn't Howard's way at all"
Bill Fotherby
"Sometimes people just move to a certain club at a certain time and become
something they would never have been anywhere else. The fact it was
Manchester United gave it an edge I suppose but they were the ones who made
the offer for a player our manager did not want.
"Howard was an absolute perfectionist.
He wanted his players to be disciplined and adhere to a certain team
pattern. Eric just didn't fit it.
"Alex Ferguson gave him a free role and probably wasn't quite as strict with
Eric as Howard would have been. Eric liked to play to the crowd. That wasn't
Howard's way at all."
And Fotherby refuses to criticise Wilkinson. "It is not a question of
blaming Howard," he said. "I believed in him and won't hear a bad word
against him. He was Leeds' best manager since Don Revie - and probably still
is.
"He brought in Gordon Strachan, Gary McAllister and Tony Yeboah. He won us
the league. And all the time we were doing it on a shoestring, asking
sponsors to chip in here and there to make up the bits we didn't have. For
eight years, it worked."
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