In 1978 the Ballon d'Or was won by Kevin Keegan. The English striker was a slightly curious choice as he didn't win anything with his club HSV that year and had also failed to qualify for the World Cup with England. Apparently Keegan didn't need any more silverware to convince the football world of his worth as a player.
| Embed from Getty Images |
| October 1978: Kevin Keegan on the bal for HSV |
Keegan 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 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 27th, 1978.
| Name | Country | Club | Pts. |
|
1. |
Kevin Keegan | England | Hamburger SV | 87 |
2. |
Hans Krankl | Austria | Rapid Vienna | 81 |
3. |
Rob Rensenbrink | Holland | Anderlecht | 50 |
4. |
Roberto Bettega | Italy | Juventus | 28 |
5. |
Paolo Rossi | Italy | Vincenza | 23 |
6. |
Ronnie Hellström | Sweden | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 20 |
| Ruud Krol | Holland | Ajax | 20 | |
8. |
Kenny Dalglish | Scotland | Liverpool | 10 |
| Allan Simonsen | Denmark | Borussia M'gladbach | 10 | |
10. |
Peter Shilton | England | Nottingham Forest | 9 |
11. |
Arie Haan | Holland | Anderlecht | 7 |
12. |
René van de Kerkhof | Holland | PSV Eindhoven | 6 |
13. |
Antonio Cabrini | Italy | Juventus | 5 |
| Willy van de Kerkhof | Holland | PSV Eindhoven | 5 | |
15. |
Johan Cruyff | Holland | FC Barcelona | 4 |
| Graeme Souness | Scotland | Liverpool | 4 | |
| Zdenek Nehoda | Czechoslovakia | Dukla Prague | 4 | |
18. |
Marian Masny | Czechoslovakia | Slovan Bratislava | 3 |
19. |
Archie Gemmill | Scotland | Nottingham Forest | 2 |
| Marius Tresor | France | Olympique Marseille | 2 | |
21. |
João Alves | Portugal | Benfica | 1 |
| Rainer Bonhof | West Germany | Valencia CF | 1 | |
| Zbigniew Boniek | Poland | Stal Mielec | 1 | |
| Franco Causio | Italy | Juventus | 1 | |
| Hansi Müller | West Germany | VfB Stuttgart | 1 | |
| Johan Neeskens | Holland | FC Barcelona | 1 | |
| Michel Platini | France | AS Nancy | 1 | |
| Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | West Germany | Bayern Munich | 1 | |
| Didier Six | France | Olympique Marseille | 1 | |
| François van der Elst | Belgium | Anderlecht | 1 | |
1977 • European Footballer of the Year • 1979