Players from England represented in the Ballon d’Or historically – Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur…
The first ever winner of the Ballon d’Or was Englishman Stanley Matthews, who played for Blackpool for 14 years.
1956
1st Stanley Matthews (Blackpool) English
1957
2nd Billy Wright (Wolverhampton) English
3rd Duncan Edwards (Manchester United) English
1961
3rd Johnny Haynes (Fulham) English
1963
3rd Jimmy Greaves (Tottenham Hotspur) English
1964
1st Denis Law (Manchester United) Scottish
1966
1st Bobby Charlton (Manchester United) ENglish
1967
2nd Bobby Charlton (Manchester United) English
1968
1st George Best (Manchester United) Northern Irish
2nd Bobby Charlton (Manchester United) ENglish
1970
2nd Bobby Moore (West Ham) English
1971
3rd George Best (Manchester United) Northern Irish
1977
2nd Kevin Keegan (Hamburg) English
1978
1st Kevin Keegan (Hamburg) English
1979
1st Kevin Keegan (Hamburg) English
1986
2nd Gary Lineker (Barcelona) English
1993
3rd Eric Cantona (Manchester United) French
1996
3rd Alan Shearer (Newcastle) English
1999
2nd David Beckham (Manchester United) English
2001
1st Michael Owen (Liverpool) English
2003
2nd Thierry Henry (Arsenal) French
2005
2nd Frank Lampard (Chelsea) English
3rd Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) English
2006
3rd Thierry Henry (Arsenal) French
2007
2nd Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) Portuguese
2008
1st Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) Portuguese
3rd Fernando Torres (Liverpool) Spanish
– An English player has won the Ballon d’Or five times.
– A player from an English club has won the Ballon d’Or six times.
– Manchester United are the best represented English club in the competition, with someone featuring in the top 3 on eleven occasions. Liverpool are then the most represented club with three occasions, then Arsenal with two, and then Chelsea, Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur, Blackpool, Wolves, Newcastle and West Ham all with one.
– Lionel Messi (Argentinian) is the most successful player, winning it four times in a row. Johan Cruyff (Dutch), Marco van Basten (Dutch) and Michel Platini (French) have all won it three times. Kevin Keegan won it twice when he was at Hamburg and has featured in the top 3 on three occasions, as has Sir Bobby Charlton.