Part of Eric Cantona's punishment for the kung-fu kick aimed at Matthew Simmons at Selhurst Park 30 years ago today was to go on a scouting mission for Manchester United, joining a few other hardy souls at Wimbledon's old Plough Lane ground to watch the Dons youth team face Sheffield United in FA Youth Cup action.

At least, that's what Eric Harrison, the iconic former United youth coach, said. Harrison, who died in 2019, is heard talking about Cantona's in-house reprimand on a new podcast series 'Manchester United: The Lost Tapes', which was released on Friday.

In an interview conducted with BBC Radio Manchester's United reporter Tom Tyrrell a few weeks after Cantona threw himself feet first over the advertising hoardings at Selhurst Park, reacting to abuse from the stands after he had been sent-off against Crystal Palace, Harrison reveals Cantona's first task is to return to London.

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"We’ll see how good he is at assessing youth teams. It’s snowing, so I don’t know how pleased he is about that, but he’s definitely going," said Harrison. The way he delivers it, it's hard to tell if he is actually joking or not. It's probably safe to assume that Cantona did not rock up at Plough Lane, wearing a disguise to avoid being recognised as he assessed players he would never have heard of.

The interview with Harrison is one of several featured in the first episode of the new podcast, which looks back on Cantona's career and includes his first interview as a United player, as well as thoughts from Sir Alex Ferguson and David Beckham at the time.

The series uses the archive of Tyrrell, one dubbed the 'voice of Manchester United’. Tyrrell, who spent 40 years covering the club, died in 2017, but in 2023, his family offered his audio archive to renowned United author Wayne Barton. It includes 800 hours of interviews with the great and the good to pass through Old Trafford between 1986 and 2010.

Many of them are forgotten or even unheard gems. In the digital era, every comment made by a United player or official travels the world. Thirty years ago, interviews played on local radio would have generally remained local, aired once or twice and then never heard again.

The podcast series, narrated by Paddy Barclay, unlocks a treasure trove of forgotten moments and new insights. Starting with the episode on Cantona which offers a fresh look at the events of January 25, 1995, and the days that followed. While the football world got itself in a fury at the Frenchman's actions, Tyrrell was granted access to key figures in the background within a day or two.

He spoke to chairman Martin Edwards and club solicitor Maurice Watkins for their take on the events in South London and what would come next. Watkins’ comments reveal how concerned United were at the potential for action from the football authorities and the police.

"At the moment, we're going to have to give full and detailed consideration to the matter during the day," he says. "I don't think at this stage we're in any position to give any comment.

"There's already been considerable comment made through other sources, but as you'll appreciate, where there are potential charges of a criminal nature and also through the FA, it is essential that no prejudicial comment is made at this stage."

Although he can say hardly anything, Watkins is still speaking. It is a reminder of the relations between local media and clubs a generation ago. It's hard to envisage a similar scenario in the modern era.

"It's been a very busy week and not one we would have chosen," Edwards says with a remarkable degree of understatement.

The chairman reveals he was "upset" with Cantona for getting sent off and didn't actually see the incident that followed. He only finally saw a proper replay when waking up in a London hotel the following morning.

Even though the incident is still fresh in the memory at this stage, United had already decided that Cantona was going nowhere.

"The first thing was do we keep Eric or not? I think the board decided everyone is worth a second chance, it was an unfortunate incident but then in granting him a second chance, we had to decide on the severity of the punishment," said Edwards.

"Manchester United is bigger than Eric Cantona, and the game of football is bigger than Manchester United, so we felt that we had to set an example and make the punishment fit the crime, which is a ban for the rest of the season."

Edwards reveals that the success Cantona had brought to Old Trafford was a factor in the decision-making, then talks openly about the joy he has had from watching the mercurial Frenchman in action.

"I am an Eric Cantona fan. Eric has given me enormous pleasure as a spectator over the last two years," he said. "When Eric isn't playing for me, there is something missing in the game. He's that creative player that makes things happen, he brings other players into the game, he scores goals, he makes goals for other people, he has been a tremendous asset to Manchester United on the field, and I would be loath to see that go."

As part of United's punishment, Cantona was made to work with the youth team, although Harrison didn't want some of those bad habits being passed on to his young charges.

“I don’t like them to do all those backheels really, we say watch the good players and see how they perform, they watch him and try to emulate him to a certain extent," he said.

“If he doesn’t turn up he’s in trouble, and if he doesn’t go to Plough Lane tonight, he’s in trouble. There’s talk of him being sacked, I will definitely sack him."

He wasn't sacked. But neither do we know if Cantona ever did go to Plough Lane.

• 'Manchester United: The Lost Tapes' is out every Friday. Future episodes include on-the-ground reporting from the Welcome to Hell trip to Istanbul in 1993, a re-telling of Michael Knighton's doomed takeover in 1989 and a look at the rivalry with Arsenal.