Featured Image Credit: Getty / France Football
Topics: Ballon d'Or, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Real Madrid, Football
Josh Lawless
Topics: Ballon d'Or, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Real Madrid, Football
Only one player in football history has won the Super Ballon d'Or trophy - the most prestigious prize that can be awarded in the sport.
Back in 1956, the first ever Ballon d'Or trophy was handed out, with Blackpool's Sir Stanley Matthews the inaugural winner.
Since then, the world's greatest players of several eras have got their hands on the award, including Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
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The Ballon d'Or has gone through various name changes over the years and partnered with various outlets, but the award has always retained the Ballon d'Or name and been handed out by France Football.
But in 1989, France Football decided to add a new award to the mix - the Super Ballon d'Or.
Instead of simply recognising the best-performing player from the last year, the organisers decided to reward the best-performing player from the past three decades.
The one player to have the honour of winning the Super Ballon d'Or is none other than Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano.
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The striker scored 308 goals for Real and played an integral role in five consecutive European Cup wins between 1956 and 1960.
He won the Ballon d'Or twice, in 1957 and 1959. But France Football commemorated his achievements again in a unique way.
To mark the 30th anniversary of the France Football magazine, they handed out the Super Ballon d'Or. Only European players were in contention for the award - meaning the likes of Pele and Diego Maradona were not eligible.
Di Stefano was born in Argentina, and played there until 1949. He later went on to represent Colombia and then Spain, having earned citizenship that qualified him for this trophy.
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Cruyff and Platini were among the nominees but the award went to Di Stefano, 30 years after his second Ballon d'Or win.
The trophy looks a lot similar to the Ballon d'Or but has a lot of gold mini footballs bearing resemblance to Ferrero Rocher chocolates at the base.
The one-of-a-kind award was stationed at the Real Madrid Museum at the Santiago Bernabeu for years but then went to auction in London in September 2021 as part of a 'Property from the estate of Alfredo Di Stefano' event alongside other iconic memorabilia from his career.
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As per Julien's Auctions, the trophy sold for a whopping £187,500.
In 1995, a 'Golden Ballon d'Or' recognising non-European stars was handed out to Argentina legend Diego Maradona.
But after he finally got his hands on the World Cup, plenty of fans thought that seven-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi should have his own special version.
He added an eighth Ballon d'Or award to his collection last year - underlining his claim to be the greatest player to ever play the game.