In 1971 the Ballon d'Or was won by Johan Cruyff. The mercurial Dutch attacker guided his club Ajax Amsterdam to victory in the European Cup that year. It would turn out to be the first of a hattrick of European Cups for Cruyff and his team mates.
| Embed from Getty Images |
| Johan Cruyff (sitting second from the right) and Ajax before the 1971 European Cupfinal. |
Cruyff being voted 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 26 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, East Germany, England, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Soviet Union, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, West Germany and Yugoslavia.
The result was announced in the edition dated December 28th, 1971.
| Name | Country | Club | Pts. |
|
| 1. | Johan Cruyff | Holland | Ajax | 116 |
| 2. | Alessandro Mazzola | Italy | Inter Milan | 57 |
| 3. | George Best | Northern Ireland | Manchester United | 56 |
| 4. | Gunter Netzer | West Germany | Borussia M'gladbach | 30 |
| 5. | Franz Beckenbauer | West Germany | Bayern Munich | 27 |
| 6. | Gerd Müller | West Germany | Bayern Munich | 18 |
| Josip Skoblar | Yugoslavia | Olympique Marseille | 18 | |
| 8. | Martin Chivers | England | Tottenham Hotspur | 12 |
| 9. | Piet Keizer | Holland | Ajax | 9 |
| 10. | Bobby Moore | England | West Ham United | 7 |
| Ferenc Bene | Hungary | Ujpesti Dozsa | 7 | |
12. |
Evgeni Rudakov | Soviet Union | Dynamo Kiev | 6 |
| 13. | Giacinto Facchetti | Italy | Inter Milan | 4 |
| Dimitris Domazos | Greece | Panathinaikos | 4 | |
| 15. | José Martinez Sánchez | Spain | Real Madrid | 3 |
| Dragan Dzajic | Yugoslavia | Red Star Belgrade | 3 | |
| Berti Vogts | West Germany | Borussia M'gladbach | 3 | |
| 18. | Terry Cooper | England | Leeds United | 2 |
| Francis Lee | England | Manchester City | 2 | |
| Wolfgang Overath | West Germany | 1. FC Köln | 2 | |
| Wilfred van Moer | Belgium | Standard Liège | 2 | |
| 22. | Bobby Charlton | England | Manchester United | 1 |
| Albert Shesternev | Soviet Union | CSKA Moscow | 1 | |
1970 • European Footballer of the Year • 1972