In 1956 the Ballon d'Or was won by Stanley Matthews. The winger, who had already passed 40 when this vote was held, but was still playing in the first division, appears to have been granted the honor of being the inaugural footballer of the year mainly in recognition of his lengthy and impressive career as a whole, seeing as how he did not achieve anything remarkable that that year with either Blackpool or England.
| Embed from Getty Images |
| November 1956: Stanley Matthews representing England against Wales |
Matthews being named European Footballer of the Year was the outcome of a ballot held among a panel of football journalists organised by the magazine 'France Football', with one vote coming from each of the following 16 countries: Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, England, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, West Germany and Yugoslavia.
The result was announced in the edition of december 18, 1956.
| Name | Country | Club | Pts. |
|
1. |
Stanley Matthews | England | Blackpool | 47 |
2. |
Alfredo di Stefano | Spain [1] | Real Madrid | 44 |
3. |
Raymond Kopa | France | Real Madrid | 33 |
4. |
Ferenc Puskas | Hungary | Honved Budapest | 32 |
5. |
Lev Yashin | Soviet Union | Dynamo Moscow | 19 |
6. |
Jozsef Bozsik | Hungary | Honved Budapest | 15 |
7. |
Ernst Ocwirk | Austria | Sampdoria | 9 |
8. |
Sandor Kocsis | Hungary | Honved Budapest | 6 |
9. |
Thadée Cisowski | France | Racing Club de Paris | 4 |
| Ivan Kolev | Bulgaria | CDNA Sofia | 4 |
|
| Billy Wright | England | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 4 |
|
12. |
Julio 'Julinho' Botelho | Italy [2] | Fiorentina | 3 |
13. |
Stefan Boskov | Bulgaria | CDNA Sofia | 2 |
| Duncan Edwards | England | Manchester United | 2 |
|
| Gerhard Hanappi | Austria | Rapid Vienna | 2 |
|
| Robert Jonquet | France | Stade de Reims | 2 |
|
| Miguel Montuori | Italy | Fiorentina | 2 |
|
| José García Castro | Spain | Sevilla FC | 2 |
|
| Juan Schiaffino | Italy | AC Milan | 2 |
|
| Eduard Streltsov | Soviet Union | Torpedo Moscow | 2 |
|
21. |
Marcelino Vaquero | Spain | Sevilla FC | 1 |
| Bretislav Dolejsi | Czechoslovakia | Dukla Prague | 1 |
|
| Roger Piantoni | France | Nancy | 1 |
|
| Kees Rijvers | Holland | AS Saint-Etienne | 1 |
|
---- • European Footballer of the Year • 1957
#1: Alfredo di Stefano was born in Argentina, and had previously made international appearances for Argentina and Columbia, but now played for Spain.
#2: Julio Botelho was a Brazilian, but had also come to posses an Italian passport.