Football fans are extras for Eric

Source: Bury Times

7:00am Friday 19th June 2009


THEY have been playing their part in their own thrilling story all season — and now football fans from Bury have featured in a big-screen hit too.

Non-league soccer side FC United of Manchester, who play their home games at Gigg Lane, enjoyed a rollercoaster season, a rapid rise up the table and losing out on promotion by a single goal.

Amid all the drama of the campaign, about 200 of their passionate supporters had a pleasant distraction, becoming extras in a film called Looking For Eric, which came out on Friday.

The movie tells the story of a down-on-his-luck postman who finds a friend in Manchester United legend Eric Cantona.

One of the scenes shows an FC fan singing a terrace song and the film itself touches on the story behind FC United’s formation in 2005, when a group of Manchester United fans decided the big-money stakes of the Premier League was no longer for them.

FC United volunteer Vinny Thompson said: “The producers have been very good to us and treated all the fans well.

“It was a brilliant chance for fans to get an insight into filming but also a once-in-a-lifetime shot at meeting their hero, Eric Cantona. We all really enjoyed it.”