Stanley Matthews won the first ever Ballon d’Or in 1956, being one of only four Englishman to lift the iconic accolade ahead of Denis Law (1964), George Best (1968) along with Kevin Keegan twice in 1978 and 1979.
At the age of 41 years and ten months, Matthews remains the oldest winner of the prize, Lionel Messi in second having won the award aged 34.
Matthews remains somewhat of an anomaly in football terms after retiring from the professional game in 1961 at the age of 50.
He was a speed winger in his prime, still highly effective as he approached his 40’s and regarded as one of the best in the world.
Unbelievably, Matthews played at the top level of English football until his retirement – a feat that will almost certainly never be matched.
Stanley Matthews. ‘The Wizard of the Dribble’
The 40-year Old Marvel
The ultimate provider – Stanley Matthews was synonymous with the art of assisting.
Despite an association with exciting attacking play, scoring goals was never his forte. In fact, during 800 career appearances for Stoke City and Blackpool among others, Matthews only netted a total of 80 goals in thirty-five years!
Instead, he specialised in sublime trickery from wide areas and relentlessly creating opportunities for his teammates to score.
During the 1955/56 campaign, Blackpool finished second in Division One behind Manchester United and scored three goals in 37 games across all competitions.
In typical fashion, Matthews continued to provide assists for Blackpool’s prolific strike partnership of Jackie Mudie and Bill Perry who scored 42 league goals between them.
Matthews was also phenomenal during the 1955-56 British Home Championship which was a tournament played between the Home Nations. It was the only occasion across a hundred-year history that all four teams finished level on points. As goal difference wasn’t introduced until 1979, all four sides shared the trophy, holding it for three months each.
As the first ever Ballon d’Or vote came to a close – a rival emerged to challenge Matthews for Europe’s most prestigious individual honour.
Recognition Of A Legend
Ballon d’Or runner up and Real Madrid star striker Alfredo Di Stefano arguably enjoyed greater success than Matthews during his winning year.
In 1955/56, he scored 29 times in 37 matches as Los Blancos won the inaugural 1956 European Cup – making him worthy of the illustrious individual prize in any other season.
Yet Matthews arguably won the Ballon d’Or partly out of respect, gratitude and an honour from the organisation, a celebration of his longevity in the game.
Nicknamed “The Magician,” Matthews was undoubtedly one of the best dribblers of all-time, dancing past the opposition like they weren’t even there!
Yet despite his immense talent, he rarely tackled and was not known for heading the ball or even using his left foot.
Franz Beckenbauer once said that the speed and skill Matthews possessed meant that “almost no one in the game could stop him. English forward John Charles insisted that Matthews was “the best crosser I’ve ever seen – and he had to contend with the old heavy ball.
Matthews holds the record for being the oldest England player ever, appearing in his final international game during 1957 at the age of 42 – a year after his Ballon d’Or victory.
He was named ‘FWA Footballer of the Year’ in both 1948 and 1963 along with inclusion in the ‘Football League 100 Legends’ of 1998.
Matthews was inducted into the ‘English Football Hall of Fame’ in 2002 and five years later featured as part of the ‘PFA Team of the Century.’
1956 Ballon d’Or Top 20
| Rank | Name | Club(s) | Nationality | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stanley Matthews | England Blackpool | England | 47 |
| 2 | Alfredo Di Stéfano | Spain Real Madrid | Spain[a] | 44 |
| 3 | Raymond Kopa | France Reims, Spain Real Madrid | France | 33 |
| 4 | Ferenc Puskás | Hungary Budapest Honvéd | Hungary | 32 |
| 5 | Lev Yashin | Soviet Union Dynamo Moscow | Soviet Union | 19 |
| 6 | József Bozsik | Hungary Budapest Honvéd | Hungary | 15 |
| 7 | Ernst Ocwirk | Austria Wien, Italy Sampdoria | Austria | 9 |
| 8 | Sándor Kocsis | Hungary Budapest Honvéd | Hungary | 6 |
| 9 | Thadée Cisowski | France RC Paris | France | 4 |
| Ivan Kolev | Bulgaria CDNA Sofia | Bulgaria | ||
| Billy Wright | England Wolverhampton Wanderers | England | ||
| 12 | Júlio Botelho | Italy Fiorentina | Italy[b] | 3 |
| 13 | Stefan Bozhkov | Bulgaria CDNA Sofia | Bulgaria | 2 |
| Duncan Edwards | England Manchester United | England | ||
| Gerhard Hanappi | Austria Rapid Wien | Austria | ||
| Robert Jonquet | France Reims | France | ||
| Miguel Montuori | Italy Fiorentina | Italy | ||
| Pepillo | Spain Sevilla | Spain | ||
| Juan Alberto Schiaffino | Italy Milan | Italy | ||
| Eduard Streltsov | Soviet Union Torpedo Moscow | Soviet Union |
Trivia
Despite playing over 400 games for Blackpool from 1947 to 1962, Stanley Matthews only scored eighteen goals, a ratio of one strike every 24 matches!
In 1955/56, Alfredo Di Stéfano missed out on the La Liga title – an event that would happen only twice during his decade long stay at the Bernabeu.
Raymond Kopa featured for Reims against Di Stefano’s Real Madrid in the 1956 European Cup final with his side losing 4-3 to Los Blancos.
