“Cantona Is So Human, That’s Why People Love Him”: Loyle Carner Talks FIFA 21, PL Legends and Working With Cantona

EA Sports has linked up with one of British music’s most notorious football fans, Loyle Carner, to produce a film celebrating the arrival of Eric Cantona as an icon in FIFA 21, There Is Only One King.

The film was written and directed by Loyle Carner and his brother, Ryan, which serves as an homage to their late father who idolised the France, Leeds and Manchester United legend. The piece also explores the belief that “there is a king in all of us”, featuring some of the most influential and positive faces within the grassroots game.

We caught up with Loyle (real name Ben Coyle-Larner) and Ryan to talk about the motivation behind the piece, the impact that Cantona has had on their lives, and how the modern game is a bigger influence on society and culture than ever before.

Let’s talk about this piece! The film is a big celebration of Eric Cantona’s career and his mythical status in the game. We also know he was a true icon for your late father. How big was that as an inspiration when creating There Is Only One King?

Loyle Carner: The inspiration was Cantona, man! It’s the first time we’ve ever been given an opportunity to work with someone who was close to our family history. He was a big hero to our dad before he passed away. It was one of the few times when we felt like we could work on something, that really meant something to us.

Ryan Coyle-Larner: It’s just so close to our heart and it’s much easier to work on something that’s close to you.

LC: Definitely. Something that you care about as opposed to something that just looks cool or whatever... We’re at a point now where if we don’t care about it like that, we just won’t do it. I think my dad would be very happy that me and my brother are able to work together, regardless of what it’s about or who it’s with. The fact that we’re acting as a team is a great thing for him to have left behind.

One of the things that really stood out was how you championed grassroots players in the piece…

LC: To get to the top end of football, I think you have to put in a lot of time and dedication. But what gets forgotten about is how many people are putting in the same level of work but it never happens for them. With this, we wanted to highlight everyone who is involved in football somehow, especially in this moment. You see, in a time like this when things are hard, it’s not necessarily the football managers or the players that suffer, it’s the pie and mash shop down the road, it’s the people who work in the gift shop, it’s the people who are cleaning the boots everyday... We wanted to shine a light on the real kings of this game.

What is it like to have worked with Cantona on this and what’s it like meeting someone who is such a mythological character?

LC: It was scary! I’ve met him two times before and he’s been cool, but he’s a tall guy and he’s built, too. He’s an absolute professional though, and of all the meetings I’ve had with him, this was great because I was on a level with him professionally. I wasn’t looking up to him and asking him to sign my boots; we were collaborating and giving him direction, which comes with a level of respect. And we kicked ball with him! I scored a mad goal, top bins! He asked me if I played and I said, “This will never happen ever again.”

This does beg the question of what Eric Cantona’s ability’s like 2020?

10 out of 10! The best football players, they kick the ball like it’s nothing. They don’t make it look difficult; it’s effortless, and he still has that.

It seems anytime you see Cantona in film or television, he really embraces this mythology around his name and has such mysterious and intense qualities to his persona. Does that hold up when you’re speaking to him on a 1:1 basis?

RCL: Our whole lives we’ve been sold the idea that Cantona is this myth, this legend: “I’m not a man, I’m Cantona”. It was really weird meeting him because it was actually so chill, so understated, so professional.

LC: He was just like a dad! I think what sets him apart from other football players is he’s so human, and that’s why people love him. He had naughty moments, he did some cheeky things, he was flawed but also could be humble one day, arrogant the next. Polite, rude. He was a full 360 of a human being, whereas so many players these days don’t display that type of versatility.

What other icons of the game did you guys vibe with at a similar age?

LC: So many people, man! Man United was actually big in our house, even though I’m a Liverpool fan, so I love Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard... But David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs were the players always in my house because of my dad! My brother was actually named Ryan after Giggsy. I didn’t love United then but you also couldn’t not rate it, just like Liverpool now. When United were winning everything all the time, what can you really say to them? I loved how passionate that team was, too. A whole group of players came from the academy and took their club to the top of the game, and that’s not really been seen before or since.

I know it’s easy to look back on that era with nostalgia now, but given the level of dominance they had for so long, if we were ever able to do a ‘Last Dance’ series for a Premier League team, it’s got to be that one.

LC: I was saying the same thing. They rebuilt as well! They had two or three whole teams in that time; like, Cantona wasn’t there because he retired super early, so they kept on finding so many pockets in the squad to refill with new players. It was unheard of. They really built a whole dynasty.

This link-up is all about FIFA 21. How big was the FIFA series in your household growing up?

LC: My little brother’s relationship with football is different to mine, because our dad really got at him to play football, but Ryan was more on art and creativity. His relationship with the game grew when he started playing FIFA with his friends and I remember him coming home one day and saying, “Yo! I play FIFA now!” So now, it’s been 10 or 15 years of Ryan just getting battered at FIFA. I still play all the time.

I did see you tweet recently about what a special feeling it is to smack someone on FIFA, exit that game, and hear your track playing when you’re back in the menu.

LC: What a sick feeling! It’s even more of a special feeling because I know there are so many people that hate me, and then they have the opposite feeling to me when they get beaten! It’s great when my track comes on just to rub it in.

You’re a Liverpool fan, which means you can finally celebrate being a Premier League champion! What did that title win mean to you?

LC: We actually watched it together while filming and Ryan didn’t care at all, but I was gassed. Not having fans there to see the trophy lift did have an impact, it didn’t have the same big release of energy, but it was definitely momentous. It actually made it feel like quite a personal moment. But over the course of the season, it’s been amazing.

You’re someone who’s very politically and socially conscious with your music, and we’ve obviously seen footballers embody some of that spirit this year, from Marcus Rashford’s food poverty campaign to Premier League players taking a knee for Black Lives Matter. What’s it been like to see that?

LC: It’s amazing. People have been doing it on their own for a while—you think of Rio Ferdinand or John Barnes—but now it’s a collective thing, and it’s not one black player’s responsibility to express the feelings of an entire community. I’d like to think it’s such an incredible way to start a conversation in households that might not have thought about this stuff before. For example, a daughter asks her dad “Why are they taking a knee?”, and that parent has to reflect and assess his prejudices and explain things for the first time.

RCL: And people listen, man. Marcus Rashford talking about the Tory government scrapping school meals vouchers got people to wake up, and forced the government to change. That’s such a good thing.

EA SPORTS FIFA 21 is available to pre-order now on PS4, Xbox One and PC. To find out more information, or to pre-order now, head to EA Sports here.