In 1979 the Ballon d'Or was won by Kevin Keegan. It was the second time in a row the industrious English forward won the prestigious award. Keegan helped Hamburger SV win the German Bundesliga that year, scoring seventeen goals in the process. It was HSV's first league title in almost twenty years.
| Embed from Getty Images |
| May 1979: Kevin Keegan celebrates scoring a goal against Scotland |
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 25th, 1979.
| Name | Country | Club | Pts. |
|
1. |
Kevin Keegan | England | Hamburger SV | 118 |
2. |
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | West Germany | Bayern Munich | 52 |
3. |
Ruud Krol | Holland | Ajax | 41 |
4. |
Manfred Kaltz | West Germany | Hamburger SV | 27 |
5. |
Michel Platini | France | AS Saint Etienne | 23 |
6. |
Paolo Rossi | Italy | Vincenza | 16 |
7. |
Trevor Francis | England | Nottingham Forest | 13 |
| Liam Brady | Ireland | Arsenal | 13 | |
9. |
Zbigniew Boniek | Poland | Widzew Lodz | 8 |
| Zdenek Nehoda | Czechoslovakia | Dukla Prague | 8 | |
11. |
Kenny Dalglish | Scotland | Liverpool | 7 |
| Allan Simonsen | Denmark | FC Barcelona | 7 | |
13. |
Paul Breitner | West Germany | Bayern Munich | 6 |
| Kees Kist | Holland | AZ'67 Alkmaar | 6 | |
15. |
Johnny Rep | Holland | AS Saint-Etienne | 5 |
| Tony Woodcock | England | 1.FC Köln | 5 | |
| Hans Krankl | Austria | FC Barcelona | 5 | |
| Safet Susic | Yugoslavia | Sarajevo | 5 | |
19. |
Uli Stielike | West Germany | Real Madrid | 4 |
20. |
Marius Tresor | France | Olympique Marseille | 3 |
21. |
João Alves | Portugal | Paris Saint Germain | 2 |
| Franco Causio | Italy | Juventus | 2 | |
| Gordon McQueen | Scotland | Manchester United | 2 | |
| René van de Kerkhof | Holland | PSV Einhoven | 2 | |
| Bruno Pezzey | Austria | Eintracht Frankfurt | 2 | |
| Simon Tahamata | Holland | Ajax | 2 | |
27. |
Juan Manuel Asensi | Spain | FC Barcelona | 1 |
| Trevor Brooking | England | West Ham United | 1 | |
| Ronnie Hellström | Sweden | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 1 | |
| Hansi Müller | West Germany | VfB Stuttgart | 1 | |
| Antonin Panenka | Czechoslovakia | Bohemians Prague | 1 | |
| Walter Schachner | Austria | Austria Wien | 1 | |
1978 • European Footballer of the Year • 1980