Former French footballer andMan United legend Eric Cantona has become the latest co-owner of local non-league club FC United of Manchester.
The 58-year-old ex-Leeds United forward and Red Devil retired from the sport in 1997 at the age of 30 before going on to be involved in acting, art, music and more in the nearly three decades since.
Cantona does still dip his toe back in the pool every now and again, being spotted at the Manchester derby on Sunday, but before that put some extra shine on the Northern Premier League side’s 1-1 draw against Mickleover on Saturday by becoming an official FC United member and co-owner.
Writing in the caption on social media, ‘Eric the King’ said: “Proud new member of FC United with the whole Cantona family. Join FC United of Manchester, it’s just 25 pounds.
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As you can see in the short clip, the enigmatic jack-of-all-trades went on to say, “The Cantona family, we are all members of United FC.
“All the people from all around the world should be members of [FC] United because it’s a great club.”
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He added that despite still being a relatively young team, they have a “great history”, as well as expressing a level of admiration for their core principles.
For anyone still not up to speed two decades on, FC United is the spiritual phoenix club of Manchester United, founded back in 2005 by those supporters who were against the initial leveraged buyout by the Glazer family.
Their home at Broadhurst Park in Moston was also the site of the latest ‘Glazers Out’ protest, as both fan bases still naturally overlap quite heavily. Safe to say pre-takeover figures like Cantona, who has been vocal on many contemporary issues threatening the sport, is still plenty popular among their fans.
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Looking For Eric? No need – he found us right here at FC United of Manchester pic.twitter.com/m3JvQrDZ4I
— FC United of Manchester 🟥⬜⬛ (@FCUnitedMcr) April 5, 2025
This isn’t the first time the man behind the infamous kung-fu kick in 1995 has shown his support for the non-league outfit, having raffled shirts and signed films to help raise funds in the past.
He also gave an interview in an official matchday programme back in 2021 and will now be helping increase the club’s reputation and wider profile in the years to come.
Featured Images — FC United (screenshot via X)/TNT Sports (screenshot via YouTube)
Sport
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
7th April 2025 
