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250 Days

Cantona’s Kung Fu and the Making of Man U

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250 Days

By: Daniel Storey
Narrated by: Colin Mace
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About this listen

An incredibly entertaining and perceptive look at the most controversial moment in Premier League history.

25th January 1995

A cold winter’s evening. Manchester United away against Crystal Palace at a packed-out Selhurst Park. Eric Cantona, United's mercurial talisman, has been man-marked closely all game by Richard Shaw and become increasingly frustrated. In the 48th minute, Cantona’s temper boils over and he kicks out at Shaw. The ref shows him a red card. On his way off the pitch, a Palace fan rushes towards the hoardings to hurl abuse. The Frenchman loses it. He launches into the crowd, aiming a kung-fu kick at the fan’s chest. He is forcibly restrained and then taken off down the tunnel. The football world is stunned. Nothing like this has ever happened before.

What followed has entered football folklore: the media furore, the seagulls following the trawler, and the longest domestic ban ever handed to a player; it would end up lasting 250 days. As Manchester United’s campaign stuttered towards a trophy-less conclusion, surrendering the league on the last day of the season and losing the FA Cup final, Cantona withdrew from the public eye. But, behind closed doors, Ferguson was planning the most remarkable of fresh starts for his star player and for a new-look United.

250 Days tells the story in brilliant detail of one of the most turbulent times in United’s recent history. Showing Cantona in a new light, and the genius of Ferguson’s man management and vision in close relief, it is an incredibly entertaining and insightful look at the most controversial episode of the Premier League era.

20th Century Football (American) Football (Soccer) Modern Sports History Sports Writing Sports
All stars
Most relevant
From start to finish this was a brilliant listen. If you’re a united fan or Cantona it’s a must!

Fantastic listen and story

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Eric was my idol growing up and having seen all this first hand, it was great to finally know all the details of what happened and to weed out all the gossip.

A must for every 90’s football fan

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The narrator's poor attempt at accents are a major negative. His poor attempts at mimicking the accents of Sir Alex Ferguson and Eric Cantona would be more at home in old British sitcoms such as 'Allo 'Allo! or Mind Your Language.

Good book let down by the narration

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I loved the content of the book. The narrator's delivery was generally excellent, but knowing the actual voices and accents of those involved his impressions took me out of the book (particularly Roy Keane who was given generic Irish accent rather than the distinctive Cork accent he has). The idea was fine but its difficult to implement so I would have preferred it being read out normally.

Overall very enjoyable though.

Daniel at his best

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Brilliant book. Well read. Really took me back. What a man he was. King Eric.

Superb.

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