Cantona kung fu kick fan on trial over brawl

Matthew Simmons, 36, was supporting his team, Crystal Palace, at Selhurst Park in January 1995 when the French striker launched a flying kick at him shortly after he had been sent off the pitch.

Yesterday, a jury was told that Simmons had a grudge against salesman Stuart Cooper, the manager of a boys’ football team, of which his son had been a member.

Kingston Crown Court in south- west London heard that Mr Cooper allegedly excluded Simmons’ son, now 13, from the team after learning his father was involved in the Cantona incident.

This exclusion, just before the 10th anniversary of the incident, caused “bad blood” between the pair that allegedly culminated in an attack at a football ground in south-east London in August last year, said prosecutor Michael Logsdon.

Simmons is said to have attacked Cooper with a “flurry of punches” to his face, arm and chest, leaving him with a bloody nose and covered in bruises, including a black eye.

About 30 boys playing in the friendly game, between an Under-14 and Under-15 side, witnessed the attack, as well as the handful of adults present.

Cooper had been invited to help out at the match by one of his friends, who was the manager at the younger team.

Giving evidence, he claimed Simmons spat at him and called him “scum” in an unprovoked attack before punching him. It had apparently been the first time in six years the pair had seen each other, the jury was told.

Mr Cooper said: “He just seemed wound up. He was agitated. I got caught in the back of the head, that was the first blow and the next thing I remember was punches coming from everywhere, punches just coming in left and right.”

It took three or four adults to drag Simmons off him, Mr Cooper claimed, while he was “just standing in shock”.

The prosecutor said the assault was due to “bad blood between the two of them which Mr Simmons felt unable to control upon seeing Mr Cooper that Saturday morning”. Mr Cooper said he had become aware of Simmons’ role in the 1995 incident when a local newspaper article was brought to his attention in 2004.

He admitted that some of the other children’s parents expressed “some concern” about Simmons as a result.

Addressing the role Simmons’ notoriety may have had to play in the incident, Mr Logsdon said: “Whatever may have happened to Mr Simmons in 1995 at Selhurst Park football ground, the after-effects of that, and the resentment he felt towards Mr Cooper, he was unable to control.”

Simmons, of Thornton Heath, Surrey, denies assault causing actual bodily harm.

Cantona was banned from playing football for nine months after the karate kick and Simmons had his season ticket confiscated and was banned from Selhurst Park.

Before the trial started, jurors were asked if they or their close family members had been supporters of either Manchester United or Crystal Palace since 1994.

The trial continues.