Which winner of the ‘Ballon d’Or’ has played for the most and the fewest clubs?

Since the first ‘Ballon d’Or’ ceremony in 1956, 47 different players have won the award.

These are names that have made history both for their national teams and for the clubs they represented throughout their careers.

But which Ballon d’Or winner played for the most clubs? And which one played for the fewest?

We’ve looked at the figures to find out.

(Before we get to the list, it’s worth clarifying that we’ve only counted the clubs for which the players played as professionals. This means that youth teams and other types of sports clubs, such as futsal teams, have been excluded. We also haven’t included clubs that players represented only on special occasions, such as guest appearances in commemorative friendlies.)

The winner of the ‘Ballon d’Or’ who played for the most clubs: George Best (15 clubs)

The legendary Northern Irishman George Best received four nominations for the ‘Ballon d’Or’ throughout his career and won the trophy in 1968, aged 22.

The win came at the height of his 11 seasons at Manchester United. Having come through the club’s youth ranks, Best made his first-team debut in 1963 and was United’s top scorer in the English league for five consecutive seasons. With the team, he won two league titles, two English Super Cups (Charity Shield) and one European Cup.

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But United was merely the first of the 15 clubs Best played for over the course of his 20-year career, spanning five continents: Europe, Africa, North America, Asia and Oceania.

Despite spending so many years at United, Best spent only one or two seasons at each of his other clubs before packing his bags and setting off for yet another unexpected challenge in some other corner of the world.

He retired in 1984, aged 38.

List of senior professional clubs for which George Best played:

  • 1963–74: Manchester United (England)

  • 1974: Jewish Guild (South Africa)

  • 1974: Dunstable Town (England)

  • 1975: Stockport County (England)

  • 1975–76: Cork Celtic (Ireland)

  • 1976: Los Angeles Aztecs (United States)

  • 1976–77: Fulham (England)

  • 1977–78: Los Angeles Aztecs (United States)

  • 1978–79: Fort Lauderdale Strikers (United States)

  • 1979–80: Hibernian (Scotland)

  • 1980–81: San Jose Earthquakes (United States)

  • 1982: Sea Bee (Hong Kong)

  • 1982: Hong Kong Rangers (Hong Kong)

  • 1982–83: Bournemouth (England)

  • 1983: Brisbane Lions (Australia)

  • 1984: Tobermore United (Northern Ireland)

At the other end of the scale, two winners of the ‘Ballon d’Or’ played for just one professional club.

Ballon d’Or winners who played for the fewest clubs: Lev Yashin and Flórián Albert (one club each)

In 1963, the Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin won the ‘Ballon d’Or’ at the age of 34. Throughout his career, he was nominated for the award 10 times.

Yashin spent his entire career at Dynamo Moscow.

He was invited to join the club’s youth team in 1948, after being spotted whilst playing for the team at the factory where he worked.

In 1950, he made his professional debut for Dynamo’s first team.

It marked the start of a career spanning 326 appearances for the club, during which time the so-called ‘Black Spider’ established himself as one of the world’s greatest goalkeepers, winning five Soviet Championship titles and three Soviet Cups with Dynamo.

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He retired in 1970, aged 40, 20 years after his debut – without ever having played for another club.

To this day, he remains the only goalkeeper to have won the ‘Ballon d’Or’.

Next, we have Flórián Albert.

The Hungarian striker won the ‘Ballon d’Or’ in 1967, aged 26. He was nominated for the award eight times throughout his career.

Albert spent his entire career at Ferencváros.

He joined the Budapest club as a child in 1952 and made his professional debut in 1958.

In total, Albert played 351 matches for Ferencváros and scored 256 goals, as well as winning four Hungarian League titles, one Hungarian Cup and one Inter-Cities Fairs Cup during his long spell at the club.

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He retired in 1974, aged 32, 16 years after his debut – without ever having played for any other club.

The full ranking

Right, here are the two extremes: the winner of the ‘Ballon d’Or’ who played for the most clubs and those who played for just one.

Below is the full list of winners, ranked by this criterion.

All the winners of the ‘Ballon d’Or’, ranked by the number of clubs they played for:

  1. George Best – 15 clubs

  2. George Weah – 13 clubs

  3. Rivaldo – 12 clubs

  4. Jean-Pierre Papin – 10 clubs

  5. Eusébio / Hristo Stoichkov / Ronaldinho – 9 clubs

  6. Roberto Baggio / Ronaldo – 7 clubs

  7. Bobby Charlton / Johan Cruyff / Kevin Keegan / Paolo Rossi / Igor Belanov / Ruud Gullit / Pavel Nedvěd / Fabio Cannavaro / Luka Modrić – 6 clubs

  8. Alfredo Di Stéfano / Luis Suárez / Lothar Matthäus / Michael Owen / Cristiano Ronaldo – 5 clubs

  9. Denis Law / Allan Simonsen / Matthias Sammer / Zinedine Zidane / Luís Figo / Kaká / Karim Benzema / Rodri / Ousmane Dembélé – 4 clubs

  10. Stanley Matthews / Raymond Kopa / Omar Sívori / Josef Masopust / Gerd Müller / Franz Beckenbauer / Oleg Blokhin / Karl-Heinz Rummenigge / Michel Platini / Andriy Shevchenko / Lionel Messi – 3 clubs

  11. Gianni Rivera / Marco van Basten – 2 clubs

  12. Lev Yashin / Flórián Albert – 1 club