For many Manchester United fans, Eric Cantona is the best player to have ever played for the club. After signing from Leeds United in 1992, the Frenchman went on to become the catalyst for the club's dominance over the following two decades.
Cantona remains one of the most celebrated players at Manchester United, and the Red Army have multiple chants for the player. Today, we'll be focusing on the 12 Days of Cantona chant, which always comes out during the festive period at Old Trafford and in Man Utd away ends.
For all the key information on the chant, including the lyrics and tune, we have you covered below.
12 days of Cantona chant, lyrics and tune
The 12 days of Cantona chant is sung to the tune of '12 Days of Christmas'. The lyrics go on forever, like the original chant, but the final part goes as follows:
On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
12 cantonas,
11 cantonas,
10 Cantonas,
9 Cantonas,
8 Cantonas,
7 Cantonas,
6 Cantonas,
Fiiiiive Cantonas,
4 Cantonas,
3 Cantonas,
2 Cantonas,
And an Eric Cantona
12 days of Cantona chant background
The 12 days of Cantona chant is one of English football's most recognisable Christmas football chants. It was first created during the 1990s, when Cantona, or the ‘King', as Man Utd fans call him, was tearing it up for the Red Devils.
Due to the nature of the chant and the tune it is sung to, the song is only ever sung during the festive period. There is no designated date when this officially begins at Manchester United, but typically, you can expect to hear this song each year from the first weekend in December onwards.
There can be exceptions, though. During the 2025/26 season, the chant got its first airing at the end of November when Man Utd played Crystal Palace. Cantona's history with Crystal Palace fans (the infamous kung fu kick) meant that United fans weren't going to waste an opportunity to sing about the player for the sake of a couple of days.
Man Utd fans singing the 12 days of Cantona chant
FGG says: One of the best Christmas chants
Based on how good this chant is, it's a surprise that more clubs don't lean into Christmas songs for creating chants. While it can only be sung for approximately one month each season, this also means that it doesn't get overused and killed.