Ballon d'Or
The "Ballon d'Or", often referred to as the European Footballer of the Year, is an annual association football award. It is presented each year to the player who has been considered to have performed the best over the previous year. The award was conceived by France Football's chief magazine writer Gabriel Hanot, who asked his colleagues to vote for the player of the year in Europe in 1956. The inaugural winner was Stanley Matthews of Blackpool.[1]
Originally journalists could only vote for European players at European clubs; meaning that players like Pelé were ineligible for the award.[2] This changed in 1995 when there was a change in the rules to allow non-European players to be eligible for the award if they played for a European club. The first non-European to win after the rule change was Milan's George Weah in the same year.[3] The rules were changed again in 2007 with players of every nationality and from any club around the world eligible for the award. As a result, the number of journalists allowed to vote also increased, with 96 journalists from around the world choosing their top five players, as opposed to the 52 European based journalists in 2006.[4]
Three men have won the award three times, Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco van Basten. Platini won all of his awards in a row from 1983 to 1985, and is the only person to achieve this feat.[1] Ronaldo became the first Brazilian to win the award in 1997, after non-Europeans were made eligible.[3] Germany has produced the most winners, with five players winning seven awards between them. Italian club Juventus has had the most winners, with seven players winning eight awards whilst playing for the club.[5]
Winners
By player
| Player | Total | Years |
|---|---|---|
 Johan Cruyff
|
3 | 1971, 1973, 1974 |
 Michel Platini
|
3 | 1983, 1984, 1985 |
| Marco van Basten
|
3 | 1988, 1989, 1992 |
 Alfredo di Stefano
|
2 | 1957, 1959 |
 Franz Beckenbauer
|
2 | 1972, 1976 |
 Kevin Keegan
|
2 | 1978, 1979 |
| Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
|
2 | 1980, 1981 |
 Ronaldo
|
2 | 1997, 2002 |
| Stanley Matthews
|
1 | 1956 |
| Raymond Kopa
|
1 | 1958 |
 Luis Suárez
|
1 | 1960 |
| Omar Sivori
|
1 | 1961 |
 Josef Masopust
|
1 | 1962 |
 Lev Yashin
|
1 | 1963 |
 Denis Law
|
1 | 1964 |
 Eusébio
|
1 | 1965 |
| Bobby Charlton
|
1 | 1966 |
 Flórián Albert
|
1 | 1967 |
 George Best
|
1 | 1968 |
 Gianni Rivera
|
1 | 1969 |
| Gerd Müller
|
1 | 1970 |
| Oleg Blokhin
|
1 | 1975 |
 Allan Simonsen
|
1 | 1977 |
| Paolo Rossi
|
1 | 1982 |
| Ihor Belanov
|
1 | 1986 |
| Ruud Gullit
|
1 | 1987 |
| Lothar Matthäus
|
1 | 1990 |
| Jean-Pierre Papin
|
1 | 1991 |
| Roberto Baggio
|
1 | 1993 |
 Hristo Stoitchkov
|
1 | 1994 |
 George Weah
|
1 | 1995 |
| Matthias Sammer
|
1 | 1996 |
| Zinedine Zidane
|
1 | 1998 |
| Rivaldo
|
1 | 1999 |
| Luís Figo
|
1 | 2000 |
| Michael Owen
|
1 | 2001 |
| Pavel Nedvěd
|
1 | 2003 |
 Andriy Shevchenko
|
1 | 2004 |
| Ronaldinho
|
1 | 2005 |
| Fabio Cannavaro
|
1 | 2006 |
| Kaká
|
1 | 2007 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo
|
1 | 2008 |
By country
| Country | Players | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Germany
|
5 | 7 |
| Netherlands
|
3 | 7 |
| France
|
4 | 6 |
| Italy
|
5 | 5 |
| England
|
4 | 5 |
| Brazil
|
4 | 5 |
| Soviet Union
|
3 | 3 |
| Portugal
|
3 | 3 |
| Argentina
|
2 | 3 |
| Spain
|
2 | 3 |
| Czech Republic
|
2 | 2 |
| Scotland
|
1 | 1 |
| Hungary
|
1 | 1 |
| Northern Ireland
|
1 | 1 |
| Denmark
|
1 | 1 |
| Bulgaria
|
1 | 1 |
 Liberia
|
1 | 1 |
| Ukraine
|
1 | 1 |
* Di Stefano and Sivori were Argentine players but they acquired Spanish and Italian citizenships respectively.
By club
Clubs are ranked according to the number of Ballon d'Or awards their players won while they were playing for the club. Clubs that Ballon d'Or winners played for during the first part of the year only are not included.
| Club | Players | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Juventus
|
7 | 8 |
| Milan
|
6 | 8 |
| Barcelona
|
5 | 6 |
| Real Madrid
|
4 | 6 |
| Bayern Munich
|
3 | 5 |
| Manchester United
|
4 | 4 |
| Dynamo Kyiv
|
2 | 2 |
| Internazionale
|
2 | 2 |
| Hamburg
|
1 | 2 |
| Blackpool
|
1 | 1 |
| Dukla Prague
|
1 | 1 |
 Dynamo Moscow
|
1 | 1 |
| Benfica
|
1 | 1 |
| Ferencváros
|
1 | 1 |
| Ajax
|
1 | 1 |
| Borussia Mönchengladbach
|
1 | 1 |
| Marseille
|
1 | 1 |
| Borussia Dortmund
|
1 | 1 |
| Liverpool
|
1 | 1 |
* Player was a member of the club for only the second part of the year.
Notes
- ^ a b Despite being born in Argentina Alfredo di Stéfano acquired Spanish citizenship in 1956, and went on to play for the Spanish national football team.
- ^ Despite being born in Argentina, Omar Sívori acquired Italian citizenship in 1961, and went on to play for the Italian national football team.
- ^ Johan Cruyff was signed by Barcelona from Ajax mid-way through 1973.
- ^ Ruud Gullit was signed by Milan from PSV Eindhoven mid-way through 1987.
- ^ George Weah was signed by Milan from Paris Saint-Germain mid-way through 1995.
- ^ Ronaldo was signed by Internazionale from Barcelona mid-way through 1997.
- ^ Luís Figo was signed by Real Madrid from Barcelona mid-way through 2000.
- ^ Ronaldo was signed by Real Madrid from Internazionale mid-way through 2002.
References
- ^ a b "Ronaldo joins legendary list". BBC Sport. 1 December 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
- ^ "Matthews wins first Golden Ball". BBC Sport. 1 December 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
- ^ a b "The 1990s Ballon d'Or winners". BBC Sport. 1 December 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
- ^ "Kaka wins 2007 award". BBC Sport. 1 December 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
- ^ "Rankings by Wins". RSSSF. 9 October 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
See also
- UEFA Club Footballer of the Year
- FIFA World Player of the Year
- European Golden Shoe
- World Soccer Player of the Year
- FIFPro World Player of the Year