In the mid-Nineties, billboards were erected across the UK showing Eric Cantona looking suitably enigmatic before a St George’s flag.

The advertising slogan proclaimed that 1966 was a great year for English football, but not for the obvious reason, that being the time when the Three Lions won their only World Cup. It was because that was when the Manchester United star was born.

It was a clever twist on convention that made a lasting cultural impact and on being reminded of it recently, it got us thinking. In a similar vein, what was a great year for Ballon d’Or?

Fine vintages

When pinpointing vintage years in the Ballon d’Or canon several candidates come to light, not least 1955.

It was in June of that year when the highly venerated Michel Platini was born, with the prolific Karl-Heinz Rummernigge coming into the world just three months later, in Lippstadt, West Germany.

These two sublimely gifted footballers won the Ballon d’or five times between them in the early Eighties.

There is also 1945 to consider, that being the year when two further German giants of the game were born.

Gerd Müller’s remarkable goal-scoring exploits have gone down in legend while Franz Beckenbauer didn’t simply invent the role of the modern sweeper. He mastered it.

Müller won the Ballon d’or in 1970, after firing ten World Cup goals that summer. The incomparable Beckenbauer won the prestigious honour in 1972 and 1976.

Yet, when revisiting the esteemed roster of previous winners there is one particular year that stands out, producing no less than four champions.

So in tribute to that famous advertising campaign – the original poster of which now resides in the Victoria and Albert Museum – the following statement can be made…

1972 was a great year for Ballon d’or. Zinedine Zidane, Rivaldo, Figo, and Pavel Nedvěd were born.

Zinedine Zidane – The generational magician

There was little jeopardy about the outcome of the 1998 Ballon d’Or chase, the discussions beforehand focusing on the margin of victory predicted for the French genius.

In the event, it was a landslide, Zidane claiming 31.9% of the overall voting.

Four months prior, the magical midfielder had orchestrated his nation’s first ever World Cup triumph, scoring two goals in the final. For Juventus, his conjuring up of chances for Alessandro Del Piero, among others, had secured a Serie A title as well as a Champions League final appearance.

On a more intangible level, ‘Zizou’ was also unquestionably a generational talent, at the peak of his powers and thoroughly deserving of recognition.

Born on 23 June 1972, in La Castellane, a tough, deprived area of Marseille, the son of Algerian immigrants had humble beginnings but ultimately achieved greatness.

Rivaldo – The innate artist

The 1999 Ballon d’Or winner was nine weeks old when Zidane made his introduction to the world, and so inherently skilful was the Brazilian he could presumably already do several keepy-uppies in his crib.

Like his French counterpart, Rivaldo grew up in poverty, raised in a Recife favela where malnourishment as a child brought about bow-leggedness. Aged 16, he was nearly denied a professional contract when coaches at Paulistano believed him to be too physically weak to make it in the game.

Those doubts were aired in 1989 but a decade later he was bestowed with the highest individual honour in football after scoring 24 La Liga goals for Barcelona on route to attaining a league title.

At least a handful of them were moments of artistic perfection.

Luis Figo – The single-minded alchemist

In November 2000, the Portuguese schemer became the first Real Madrid player to win a Ballon d’Or since Alfredo Di Stéfano, but in truth most of the alchemy that put him in the reckoning was created at their fierce rivals Barcelona the season before.

In his final campaign in Catalonia, Figo registered 39 goal involvements, an impressive tally that included 10 Champions League assists.  

Beyond the frenzied headlines and rancour that accompanied his move across Spain, the winger continued to put in mesmerizing performances for his new club, guiding them to a La Liga title soon after.

Additionally, the played who was born in the winter of 1972, in Almada, close to Lisbon, was influential in Portugal reaching the semi-finals of that summer’s European Championships.

Pavel Nedvěd – The master of his craft

Nicknamed "Furia Ceca" (Czech Fury) by adoring Juventus fans, Nedvěd is the oldest of our 1972 vintage to attain a Ballon d’Or, doing so aged 31 in 2003.

By then, the entrepreneurial midfielder had already established himself as one of the most elite practitioners of his craft around, his endless running and impish creativity helping Lazio achieve unprecedented success in the mid-to-late-Nineties.

A big-money move to Turin in the summer of 2001 – ironically, to replace the departing Zidane - saw his game transcend to even greater heights and this was especially true of his second campaign that equated to ten months of sustained and sheer brilliance.

Many Juve supporters believe their club would have prevailed in the 2003 Champions League final had their finest player not been suspended for it.