Eric still reigns on film

Manchester United's Eric Cantona, centre, holds off a challenge from Newcastle's David Batty, right, in the 1996 Charity Shield.

There have been other famous Erics - notably Clapton, Idle and Morecambe - but to any British football fan of the past 30 years, there is really only one Eric worthy of note, and that is Cantona. Despite retiring from British football more than a decade ago, Eric remains loved in the UK, and not just by Manchester United fans. It is a strange phenomenon, but whereas we will admire the dedication, professionalism, and calmness under pressure of a Roger Federer or a Tiger Woods, to gain our undying devotion a sports star needs a certain vulnerability or, as in the case of Cantona and some others, a touch of madness.

The incident that secured Cantona's place in the pantheon seemed at the time to be a low point in his career. It was on Jan 25 1995, with United playing away at Crystal Palace. Sent off for a kick at a Palace defender, a fan shouted abuse at Eric as he made his way to the tunnel, at which the impetuous Frenchman leapt into the crowd and aimed a kung fu style kick at his tormentor. He was banned for the rest of the season, and the start of the following one, and conventional wisdom was that he was unlikely to play in British football again.

Not only did Cantona return, but he captained United, and youngsters like David Beckham, Paul Scholes, and Gary Neville flourished under his influence. But what really endeared Eric to the British public was the press conference he gave, when he commented on his ordeal by media. "When the seagulls follow the trawler," he famously said, "It is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea."

While the journalists taking down the great man's words halted in mid-sentence and exchanged baffled looks, football fans knew we had found another eccentric to take to our heart. The affection was reciprocated, with Eric supporting England rather than France in major tournaments in 2004 and 2006. So popular in Britain was Cantona that one of his many adverts used the line, "1966 was a great year for English football, Eric was born".

I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone made a feature film about him, and now, hot on the heels of The Damned United, the hugely successful movie about that much-loved wild-card of an earlier era, Brian Clough, we await the arrival of a very different sort of film, with Eric at its centre. Looking For Eric has been described as a magical, socialist realist film about a football fanatic postman on the verge of a nervous breakdown, who has a vision of sorts, in which he finds a very special life coach in the shape of his hero Eric Cantona.

Cantona mentors this Manchester postman, much as Humphrey Bogart acted as guide and muse for Woody Allen in Allen's brilliant comedy Play It Again Sam. I am reliably informed Looking For Eric is played largely for laughs, too, with the part of Eric Cantona played by the only man who could be relied upon to bring the requisite wackiness to the role, Eric Cantona. Interesting, though, isn't it, that in these days of agents and PR advisors swarming round football's personalities, the only way fans can enjoy true football characters is by going to the cinema?