24 May 1966 - Long Live The King

On 24 May 1966, forward Eric Cantona was born in Marseille. He went on to become one of Manchester United's greatest and most iconic players.

He made his professional debut in November 1983 with Auxerre. He got off to a slow start, including a loan spell and a break for national service, but began to show signs of his future prowess in his last two seasons there, scoring  25 goals in 79 appearances. That led to a high-priced move to Marseille in 1988, followed by short spells with Nîmes (1991) and Leeds United (1992).

Manchester United came calling in 1992, signing him for £1.2M. He scored only 9 times in that first season, but was instrumental in helping United claim the inaugural Premier League title, their first league championship since 1967. The following season, he delivered 25 goals across all competitions as United claimed a league and FA Cup double, earning the nickname "King Eric" from United's supporters.

Before he retired in 1997, he added another Double (1996) and a fourth league title (1997). But his time at Old Trafford was not free from controversy. One of the most notable incidents occurred in January 1995, during an away match against Crystal Palace, when he leapt into the stands to kick one of the home supporters. He received a suspension for the rest of the season and a fine of £20,000, plus a sentence of 120 hours of community service.

Since his retirement, he has spent time acting and, most recently, joined the revived New York Cosmos as Director of Soccer.

7 February 2004 - The Young Yoann Gourcuff

On 7 February 2004, Yoann Gourcuff made his Ligue 1 debut, coming on as a late substitute for Rennes in a loss to Auxerre. He later went on to become the league's Player of the Year.

The French midfielder joined the club as a youth player in 2001 when his father took over as manager, then signed with them as a professional in 2003. His first appearance with the first team came in January 2004 in a 2-0 win over Croix-de-Savoie in the Coupe de France, leading to his league appearance the next month.

He was on the bench as eleventh-place Rennes hosted third-place Auxerre and watched as the hosts went down 0-2 to goals from Philippe Mexès (16') and Bonaventure Kalou (54'). That was still the score when Gourcuff entered the match as Rennes' third and final sub, replacing Cédric Barbosa in the 77th minute, and remained the margin when the final whistle blew.

It was the first of nine Ligue 1 appearances for Gourcuff that season, followed by an additional 57 before he left for AC Milan in 2006. But in 2008, he returned to France to play for Bordeaux, winning both the league and the Coupe de la Ligue in the 2008-09 season. He was then voted the league's Player of the Year and, later, the French Player of the Year.

In 2010, he left Bordeaux for Lyon, but injuries have hampered his time there, restricting him to a total of 40 league appearances in his first two seasons there.