My brother is Man Utd legend… while he was winning Prem I was toiling away at Stockport and quit to go into acting
MANCHESTER UNITED’S alumni reads like a who’s who of football legends.
From Bobby Charlton and George Best to Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney, the Old Trafford faithful have been treated to a sporting A-list down the years.
Getty – ContributorMan Utd’s alumni is littered with legends including Cantona, Butt, Giggs, Beckham, the Nevilles, Scholes and Keane[/caption]
Some are more famous than others… and some are more infamous than others.
More rarely still, some are both.
One such player is Eric Cantona.
The Man Utd legend spent just four and a half years at the club and scored 64 times in 143 Premier League games.
But what Cantona brought to the table goes far beyond numbers.
The eccentric Frenchman famously wore his No7 shirt with his collar pointing to the sky.
He didn’t do tap-ins, either. Just worldies.
But of course, there was the feisty streak – with Cantona infamously banned for eight months for his ‘kung-fu kick’ on a Crystal Palace fan in 1995.
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Despite legal proceedings and a two-week jail sentence which was reduced to community service, Cantona finished his United career with four Premier League titles, two FA Cups and more memories than you can shake a stick at.
Cantona was never far away from the back pages… or front pages for that matter.
But while Eric hoovered up the headlines with his on and off-pitch antics, his little brother was quietly toiling away in the lower leagues.
Joel, two years Eric’s junior, endured a journeyman career.
The defender started his career at Marseille, but managed just three appearances.
Joel drifted in and out of a number of teams in France, Belgium and Hungary, before following his sibling to England.
As Eric’s stock continued to rise at United, Joel struggled to break into Peterborough United and Stockport’s first team.
And in 1994, shortly before Eric’s Eagles extravaganza, Joel headed home to France – and a return to Marseille.
The defender managed a further 24 games before hanging up his boots at the age of just 28.
PA:Press AssociationEric Cantona is a Man Utd legend – but equally famous for his off-pitch antics[/caption]
Eric Cantona’s younger brother Joel was also a professional footballer but endured a very different careerGetty
GettyJoel Cantona served as France’s beach football boss while also working as an actor[/caption]
Desperate to follow his brother into the limelight, Joel embarked on an ACTING career.
In fact, IMDb claim he has taken on 12 minor roles during his career – with his most-recent appearance on the big screen coming in 2018, when he played Antoine in Ulysses & Mona.
The film largely flopped, being given a mere 5.8 on IMDb.
While not his biggest role, the most-famous film of his short career on the silver screen came when he starred alongside Gerard Depardieu and Monica Bellucci in Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra.
He balanced his acting duties alongside taking on the role of manager of France’s beach football team.
Eric also dabbled in showbiz after hanging up his boots.
As well as regularly starring in famous UK adverts for the likes of Kronenbourg 1664, he has 45 credits on IMDb.
Amongst those, Eric starred alongside bro Joel in Ulysses & Mona.
He’s even broken into the music industry, starring as The King in a Liam Gallagher music video.
And earlier in 2023, he even recorded his own original music and announced he would embark on a world tour – starting with Manchester – in October.
Eric has also dabbled in the theatre and painting since calling time on his career in football.
Talk about a multi-talented family…
