Image source, Tripadvisor

Alan the Somerset Wigan fan: My now wife and I had just climbed mt Mulanje in Malawi and heard about the Cantona kick on BBC World Service. It was major news there too!

Former United head of security 'Ned' Kelly: "We let everyone else go out to the coach then me and Eric came out together at the end. There were fans outside baying for blood but I was quite confident I could deal with it and you've got to remember Eric was 6ft 2in and from a rough area of Marseille - he could look after himself.

"We were getting reports Manchester Airport was packed with press but we made contact with security who told the driver where to go. We got Eric into the car on the tarmac and drove him to the car park, where he got into his own car and drove home."

Former Manchester United defender Gary Pallister: "Eric was always the number one target for supporters around the country. It wasn't just players who tried to wind him up but fans felt as though they could do it as well.

"Some of the abuse he got was terrible. Eventually it took its toll on him I think and it all came to a head that night. He was such a hate figure because he was such a good player."

Telegraph journalist and United fan Jim White on BBC Radio 5 live

"One thing about the sending off, Alex Ferguson was really disappointed. Cantona looked to him and he completely blanked him. Ferguson thought it was an unprofessional thing to do. Particularly as his half-time team talk five minutes earlier was 'don't get provoked'."

Reminds me of a similar story between Jose Mourinho and Mario Balotelli at Inter...

Check this out - here's Jon Champion's team sheet from the night in question. Remarkable. Never has a simple 'S. Off 48' not quite told the full story.

Commentator Jon Champion

"I got close enough to Sir Alex get the hairdryer. There was no way he (Alex Ferguson) was going on air to do interview. There was no way he had gathered the full enormity of what had happened. The attitude was "move along there is nothing to see here."

Eric Cantona was treated differently by Sir Alex Ferguson, it seems. Good man-management or blatant favouritism?

Image source, PA

An equaliser from Palace defender Gareth Southgate denies 10-man United victory. The away dressing room is ablaze with recriminations.

United defender David May: "The manager is ripping heads off everyone... Big Pete (Schmeichel), Big Pally, myself, Sharpey, Paul Ince. He had a go at me for their equaliser. He said, 'who the hell was marking Gareth Southgate?'. I said 'Eric'. He turned round and said 'Eric, I am disappointed in you. You can't be doing those things'. I thought 'Is that it? Is that it?!' Any other player would have been given the hairdryer. I just got the hairdryer off the gaffer for not marking someone I shouldn't have been marking."

Gary Pallister: "Eric was very subdued. He just sat quietly in the corner. He didn't really say anything. I think he understood the magnitude of what had happened. Everybody was trying to come to terms with how we were going to deal with it."

Jeremy Stevens: , external20 years ago. Unbelievable. I had a thumping head on the evening in question, having spent 3 hours on A Level Politics work!

Let us know what you were doing on that dramatic night. Get in touch at #kungfucantona or on the BBC Sport Facebook page or BBC Sport's Google+ area.

You can also text us on 81111 in the UK only - don't forget to say who you are and where you are texting from.

An interesting aside from the 1994-95 season was that Crystal Palace went down that year with 48 points!

Former United head of security 'Ned' Kelly: "Eric Cantona was sitting on the bench next to his stuff, very quiet, shirt off, thinking about what has gone on. It was dead silent, you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife. Sometimes you step back and realise you don't say anything."

Telegraph journalist and United fan Jim White on BBC Radio 5 live

"At the time being in the fans' section none of us really knew what had happened until we went to the pub and watched the highlights on television.

"If it happened now the prime minister would have an official statement on twitter in three minutes."

Commentator Jon Champion

"My eyes stayed on Eric Cantona as he walked off the pitch. For 99.5 per cent of players you were safe not watching them, but he was the 0.5 percent. You knew in stress situations something might happen."

Telegraph journalist and Manchester United fan Jim White says he was at the opposite end of Selhurst Park to the incident and the away fans couldn't really see what was going on.

They were in for a shock when they got the radio on in the car...

Matthew Jones: , externalGreatest ever foreign Premier League player? Cantona has got to be up there

Dickson:, external He's a Man Utd legend - no doubt he brought the glory days to Man Utd. I strongly believe without him Sir Alex Ferguson might have been sacked

Image source, PA

It's very interesting hearing the original commentary back from Jon Champion from that night on 25 January 1995. As Eric Cantona jumped into the crowd, the first thing you hear is co-commentator Mark Bright saying "Oh my God!"

Jon Champion has still got his team-sheet from that night, and has it with him in the studio tonight. Remarkable. His loft must be full to the rafters.

Image source, Getty Images

Palace supporter Cathy Churchman: "All of a sudden he turned and looked back; I thought he was looking at me. I had no idea where this other guy [Simmons] had suddenly appeared from. There was this look on Cantona's face. His eyes were seething. You just knew at that point he was going to do something silly."

Former United head of security 'Ned' Kelly: "This chap just came straight down the gangway and started screaming abuse at Eric. He was okay when the guy was effing and jeffing at him but I think he called his mother a 'French whore' and that was the turning point. The next thing I know Eric is over the barrier giving him a kung-fu kick and punches are flying."

Churchman: "All hell broke loose as he jumped over the barrier. I can remember falling into my 15-year-old son and Eric's boot just brushing past my coat. Everyone looked at each other saying 'oh my God, what just happened' It was all over in seconds."

Daily Telegraph reporter Jim White, who was at the game that night, sums up the impact Eric Cantona had at Old Trafford.

"It was an unexpected move when United signed Eric Cantona. Before the days of the January transfer window, he arrived in November and seemed to turn a team which hadn't quite managed to get to the top into a team of serial winners.

"United fans liked to identify themselves through Cantona. You could pretend he was whatever you wanted him to be."

Commentator Jon Champion, who was at the game that night: "Eric Cantona was just about the top player in the nascent years of the premier League and he was a target. Opponents would try to wind him up and he played on the edge. That night he was pushed and pulled and he eventually just snapped.

"We were open mouthed. We couldn't believe what we were seeing 20 yards in front of us. He had exploded and what followed is still vivid in many peoples' memories even two decades on.

"The sheer violence and the raw nature of his response was amazing. There was a feeling that night that we had seen the last of Cantona in English football."

In the 48th minute, Palace defender Richard Shaw comes into contact with Eric Cantona as he chases a punt from keeper Peter Schmeichel and the Frenchman retaliates with a petulant kick.

Image source, Getty Images

He is red carded and walks off down the side of the pitch, with United kitman Norman Davies escorting him towards the dressing rooms.