While we all know that George Best was Northern Ireland’s first Ballon D’Or winner, let’s not forget about all the other Northern Irish nominees down the years.
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Danny Blanchflower was top twenty thrice in the 1950s and 1960s. Pat Jennings braced that trophy in the 1970s. He was 23rd in 1973 and 27th in 1975, then he was also 21st in 1985. And Norman Whiteside who was 18th in 1983. Harry Gregg, Jimmy McIlroy and Danny Blanchflower (twice) were also in it. Will write a post on it sometime.
1957 –
14th – Danny Blanchflower (Tottenham Hotspur)
The Ballon D’Or started in 1956 and there were no Northern Irish nominees in the inaugural year, which was won by the legendary Englishman Stanley Matthews. However, in 1957, Danny Blanchflower was 14th. The winner was Alfredo Di Stefano.
1958 –
8th – Harry Gregg (Manchester United)
19th – Danny Blanchflower (Tottenham Hotspur)
In 1958, Northern Ireland had two nominations, hardly a surprise given that we reached the World Cup quarter finals. It was perhaps surprising that Peter McParland who scored 5 goals at the World Cup was not included. But Danny Blanchflower again made the cut and Harry Gregg finished 8th.
1961 –
17th – Danny Blanchflower (Tottenham Hotspur)
35th – Jimmy McIlroy (Burnley)
We had to wait three years later and when we did, we had another Northern Irish brace in it. Of course Danny Blanchflower made the cut, his third time in the charts inspired by taking Tottenham Hotspur to the league and cup double. He was joined by the impressive Jimmy McIlroy, who finished joint 35th alongside the great Eusebio.
1967 –
8th – George Best (Manchester United)
George’s first time in the Ballon D’Or charts was 1967, inspired by winning the league at Manchester United and some heroics in the green shirt, especially in a notable match where he helped to “destroy” Scotland in a match that “was a 1-0 that was way more than a 1-0”. The Belfast Boy would shine again.
1968 –
1st – George Best (Manchester United)
George only went and won it the year after. To date, Northern Ireland first, one and only Ballon D’Or.
1969
6th – George Best (Manchester United)
For the third year in a row, George Best was also in the top 10, finishing 6th in 1969.
1971
3rd – George Best (Manchester United)
George Best was back in the Ballon D’Or top three in 1971, taking home a bronze behind Sandro Mazzola (Italy and Internazionale) and Johan Cruyff (Netherlands and Ajax).
1973
23rd – Pat Jennings (Tottenham Hotspur)
Our second goalkeeper to be nominated was of course Big Pat. Pat Jennings, whilst playing for Tottenham Hostpur in 1973 came 23rd.
1975
27th – Pat Jennings (Tottenham Hotspur)
Big Pat made the list again in 1975 for the second time. The winner was Soviet Union (Ukraine) and Dynamo Kiev forward Oleg Blokhin.
1983
18th – Norman Whiteside (Manchester United)
Our superhero Norman Whiteside was still only 18 when he was nominated for the Ballon D’Or. By this point, Norman had already scored in a League Cup Final, an FA Cup final and played 5 World Cup tournament matches!
1985
21st – Pat Jennings (Tottenham Hotspur)
Pat Jennings, now aged 39 made the Ballon D’Or list for the third time. He had helped Northern Ireland keep clean sheets at Romania and England away on route to our third World Cup finals.
Notable omissions include Martin O’Neill for Nottingham Forest in 1978, 1979 and 1980, Gerry Armstrong in 1982 (UK top World Cup goalscorer) and David Healy in 2007 (broke the Euro Qualifying record with 13 goals including hat-tricking Spain and bracing Sweden).
Norman Whiteside, Pat Jennings and George Best can also count themselves unlucky not to be nominated on more occasions.
Total Northern Irish Nominations of Ballon D’Or (1956 – 2024)
George Best – 4
Danny Blanchflower – 3
Pat Jennings – 3
Harry Gregg – 1
Jimmy McIlroy – 1
Norman Whiteside – 1
