Eric Cantona will forever be a Manchester United legend. But it’s not the 82 goals or the four league titles that leave the fiery forward endeared in the hearts of many United fans. Instead, it is a single moment on 25 January, 1995, when Cantona launched his infamous ‘kung-fu’ kick on a football hooligan at Selhurst Park. Twenty-eight years later, it remains one of the most extraordinary moments in the history of British sport.

Manchester United were playing Crystal Palace at the South London stadium, as Alex Ferguson’s side began embarking on a period where the Red Devils would dominate the league for years to come. Tempers had already flared during the match, and as Cantona brought down Palace defender Richard Shaw he was shown the red card.

As he turned down his collar and walked towards the United bench, Crystal Palace fan Matthew Simmons charged down the stands to the front of the crowds. “Fuck off back to France, you French motherfucker,” Simmons reportedly shouted, along with a host of other expletives. What happened next went has been replayed on screens millions of times. Cantona leapfrogged over the advertising boardings and planted a flying ‘kung fu’ style kick onto Simmons' chest, with a few punches to follow up. Cantona steamed off and Simmons was dragged back into the crowds. Overnight, Cantona became reviled in outlets across the country.

The next day, The Mirror said it was “the night football died of shame,” labelling the Frenchman a “madman”. An Express headline called the incident “absolute thuggery”. The BBC Nine O’Clock News led with the kick, even interviewing schoolchildren on their reactions, as a growing chorus called for Cantona to be sacked and prosecuted.

Charges soon followed. Cantona pled guilty to assault and was sentenced to two weeks imprisonment, later reduced to 120 hours of community service on appeal. Manchester United banned him until the end of the season and fined him the maximum two weeks' wages. The FA later extended the ban until the end of September. Cantona was stripped of his captaincy of the French national side and he never played for France again.

Cantona’s supporters, however, backed the Frenchman and his robust response to Simmons’ racist tirade. That support only grew when it was soon discovered that Simmons, then aged 20-years-old, had attended British National Party and National Front rallies. And just a few years earlier in 1992, Simmons had even been convicted of attempted violent robbery as he attacked a Tamil man in Croydon.

“I was absolutely terrified,” said Lewis Rajanayagam as he spoke of the violent assault. “I thought he was going to kill me,” he added, recalling how Simmons wielded a 3-foot spanner at the petrol station employee. “[He] went for my head. If it had hit me there, I would probably have had a broken skull.”

Simmons was subsequently prosecuted for his threatening language and behaviour against Cantona. At the trial, he reportedly attacked the prosecution counsel after being found guilty, “leaping over a bench and executing a flying kick of his own”. He served 24 hours in prison.

With details of Simmons’ racism and his previous attack on a Tamil man emerging, support for Cantona’s actions continued to grow. “Eric Cantona’s only mistake was to stop hitting him,” wrote the Independent’s Richard Williams. “The more we discovered about Mr Simmons, the more Cantona’s assault looked like the instinctive expression of a flawless moral judgement.”

Even Arsenal legend Ian wright said he felt “jealous” when he saw how Cantona dealt with the racism. “Every black player had ten times more reason to Kung-Fu kick a fan,” said Wright years later. “People say how did I feel that night when I watched it. If I’m being totally honest I felt jealous. Jealous.”

“Cantona was allegedly told to f*** off back to France. The guy denied it and was never convicted of a racist charge… You couldn’t as a black man try to bring up racial issues and be taken seriously... You couldn’t do it.”

“It took a Frenchman to bring home the issues of racism – a white Frenchman.”

Though Cantona would leave United at the end of 1997, his legendary status was cemented. And what does the man himself have to say about the incident?

“I have a lot of good moments,” he said. “But the one I prefer is when I kicked the hooligan".