Foka Wolf hacked billboard celebrates Eric Cantona’s infamous kung-fu kick

Elusive street artist Foka Wolf has hacked a billboard ​“in homage” to Eric Cantona’s kung-fu kick of Matthew Simmons, Crystal Palace fan and attendee of far-right rallies organised by the National Front and British National Party (BNP).

Revealed via Foka Wolf’s Instagram, the billboard features a full-sized photograph of the moment when the then Manchester United forward landed the kick in the Crystal Palace fan’s ribs.

Captioning the post, the artist – whose work often subverts advertising messaging – wrote: ​“On this day in 1995, Eric Cantona kung-fu kicked National Front and BNP sympathiser Matthew Simmons at Selhurst Park.”

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He continued: ​“Here is a billboard I have stuck up in homage to Eric Cantona and his contribution to football, art and kung-fu kicking dumbfucks.”

The incident took place on January 25, 1995, exactly 31 years ago. As the striker was walking off the pitch after receiving a red card, the fan shouted at him, which Cantona reacted to. Simmons claims that he said: ​“Off, off, off. It’s an early bath for you, Mr Cantona,” but Cantona said that he had called his mother a ​“French whore”, the striker a ​“French animal”, and that he should: ​“Fuck off back to France you French bastard.”

Following the kick, Cantona faced a criminal charge of assault, which he pled guilty to, and was sentenced to 120 hours of community service, which he spent conducting 60 two-hour football coaching sessions at the Manchester United training ground. He was also suspended from competing for eight months and fined £20,000.

Meanwhile, tabloid media discovered that Simmons had attended rallies organised by far right groups, while also violently assaulting a Sri Lankan petrol station attendant Lewis Rajanayagam with a spanner.

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Later reflecting on the incident in an interview, Cantona said: ​“My best moment? I have a lot of good moments, but the one I prefer is when I kicked the hooligan.”

Further explaining the billboard, Foka Wolf told Huck: ​“I have loved Eric since I was a kid, so much so he almost made me a Manchester United fan. When I was younger he was in a Nike advert where he said ​‘au revoir’ and kicked a ball through the devil’s stomach. I waited at my tape recorder with my finger on rec every time there was an ad break to record that 30 sec advert.

“I find it very poetic that the anniversary of him kicking a racist falls on the same week flag shagging fraudsters [associated with organisation] Raise the Colours are banned from France for chasing asylum seekers and wrecking their boats,” he continued. ​“Eric is a legend that transcends football. The acting (especially in a Ken Loach film), his support of Palestine, the way he conducts himself and general outsider persona will forever make him a hero.

Isaac Muk is Huck’s digital editor. Follow him on Bluesky.

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