In 1967, Florian Albert became the first Hungarian to win the Ballon d’Or and second central European player to claim the accolade, following Czechoslovakian midfielder Josef Masopust five years earlier.
The striker had been scoring consistently in Hungary’s top flight from the age of 18 – since the 1959/60 season and into his mid-twenties.
Albert faced other notable and deserving victors on his way to winning the award in 1967.
Runner-up Bobby Chartlon had been typically outstanding as Manchester United won the 1966/67 league title whilst Celtic Midfielder Jimmy Johnstone proved instrumental in the Scottish side’s European Cup triumph when they completed somewhat of a trophy quadruple.
Yet Florian Albert outperformed them both with pure individual brilliance and was the outright winner of the Ballon d’Or by a margin of 28 points. During the calendar year, his talents reached the next level, as he transcended the Central European game and began to thrive throughout the continent.
Florian Albert was European football’s newest superstar.
Hungarian Highs
Florian Albert’s best ever domestic season arrived in 1967.
The forward scored a remarkable 38 goals in 40 games across all competitions. In the Hungarian Nemzeti Bajnokság or ‘National Championship,’ Albert was even more impressive as he netted 28 times in just 27 league games.
His Ferencváros side won the league title by eight points ahead of second place Ujpest, Albert finishing the campaign as the second highest top scorer, behind only Ujpest’s Antal Dunai who scored 36 goals.
Albert was also named ‘Hungarian Player of the Year’ at the end of 1967.
But unlike previous seasons, this calendar year would see the forward outgrow the confines of his home nation and showcase his abilities on the European stage.
He was about to capture the imagination of a whole continent.
Europe Takes Notice
Like many underappreciated talents before him, Florian Albert found wider recognition after a series of mesmerising performances in European competition.
He joins a long list of footballers who were either relatively unknown, undiscovered or poised to take the step, evolving from domestic dominators to mingle amongst Europe’s elite.
During the 1960’s, the European Fairs Cup was an integral part of the football tournament landscape and the equivalent of today’s Europa League.
Whilst players from the globe’s various league champions were battling it out within the glamour of the European Cup, the Fairs Cup offered some of the less well-established clubs the opportunity to compete against teams from other countries.
Florian Albert took the competition by storm!
The Hungarian scored twice in the First round first leg vs Olimpija Ljubljana and once in the return home leg. He also netted a flurry of goals against Örgryte IS and Eintracht Frankfurt before Ferencváros were finally eliminated before the quarter final stage.
Albert scored eight times in just six European matches and drew the attention of a continent.
His Ballon d’Or win caused quite the stir in Hungary. Only days later, he appeared on the front cover of French football newspapers, on television, billboards and radio stations.
In 1967, everyone wanted a piece of world football’s latest sensation.
Florian Albert spent his entire career with Ferencváros, playing 409 times for the Hungarian side and scoring 294 goals.
1967 Ballon d’Or Top 20
| Rank | Name | Club(s) | Nationality | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flórián Albert | Ferencváros | Hungary | 68 |
| 2 | Bobby Charlton | Manchester United | England | 40 |
| 3 | Jimmy Johnstone | Celtic | Scotland | 39 |
| 4 | Franz Beckenbauer | Bayern Munich | West Germany | 37 |
| 5 | Eusébio | Benfica | Portugal | 26 |
| 6 | Tommy Gemmell | Celtic | Scotland | 21 |
| 7 | Gerd Müller | Bayern Munich | West Germany | 19 |
| 8 | George Best | Manchester United | Northern Ireland | 18 |
| 9 | Igor Chislenko | Dynamo Moscow | Soviet Union | 9 |
| 10 | János Farkas | Vasas | Hungary | 8 |
| Sandro Mazzola | Internazionale | Italy | ||
| Pirri | Real Madrid | Spain | ||
| 13 | Gigi Riva | Cagliari | Italy | 6 |
| Eduard Streltsov | Torpedo Moscow | Soviet Union | ||
| 15 | Anatoliy Byshovets | Dynamo Kyiv | Soviet Union | 5 |
| 16 | Alan Ball | Everton | England | 4 |
| Helmut Haller | Bologna | West Germany | ||
| Włodzimierz Lubański | Górnik Zabrze | Poland | ||
| Gianni Rivera | Milan | Italy | ||
| 20 | Zvezdan Čebinac | PSV Eindhoven | Yugoslavia | 3 |
Trivia
During the previous 1966/67 season, Flórián Albert finished as the European Cup’s top scorer, finding the net a total of seven times for Ferencváros, the Hungarian team reaching the quarter-finals before eventually being eliminated by Inter Milan.
Bobby Charlton was once voted twelfth on World Soccer’s list detailing “The Greatest Players of the 20th century.”
Jimmy Johnstone was part of the famous Celtic team that won a domestic treble and European Cup across the course of the 1966/67 campaign. They became the first team in history to achieve the feat!
