The cornerstone of success

It was the great Brian Clough’s firm conviction that a successful side started with the recruitment of a world-class goalkeeper. It was a credo later shared by Jose Mourinho. Both men conquered Europe with imperious teams. Both men knew what they were talking about.

For Clough, his custodian of choice was Peter Shilton, a six-time Ballon d’Or nominee. Mourinho, meanwhile, when constructing his first, formidable Chelsea creation, signed Petr Cech, for what was then a club record fee.

To this day, no keeper has kept more clean sheets in the Premier League (202).

Really, it does not need to be stated how important a reliable goalkeeper is to any team, title contenders or otherwise. They are the very foundation on which a side’s fortunes are built. We know this.

As former Arsenal stopper John Lukic once put it…

"A good goalkeeper is as valuable as a striker that's going to score 20 to 25 goals a season"

Still, the validation of this truth from two legendary managers adds to its lore.

Unique at a cost

Why is it therefore that only one goalkeeper has ever won the Ballon d’Or?

Given how crucial the role is – and additionally, how it’s possible to stand out from the crowd and excel individually, due to its unique criterion – you may think that goalkeepers would be in receipt of the famed golden ball once every decade or so.

In fact, of the 47 distinguished winners of Ballon d’Or – ten of whom have won it multiple times – Lev Yashin is the sole representative of the goalkeeping fraternity. Six other keepers have finished in the top three.

This means that keepers make up only 1.4% of Ballon d’Or winners since the award’s inaugural year in 1956, and 3.3% of top three finishers.

Addressing the balance

In 2019, to address this imbalance, the Yashin Trophy was formed, and the thinking behind its inception largely explains why so few shot-stoppers have been voted into the highest echelons of the main prize.

It was felt that goalkeeping is such a singular pursuit, almost separate to that of outfield players, a distinct award was warranted, in order to properly recognize their accomplishments.

This reasoning goes a long way to explaining why the presence of keepers has been scant on the Ballon d’Or stage down the decades.

Comparing Lionel Messi to Cristiano Ronaldo is one thing. But comparing either player to Manuel Neuer or Thibaut Courtois?

It’s entirely possible, of course, but also apples and oranges come to mind.

In defence of defenders

If the introduction of the esteemed Yashin Trophy has rectified this, what about defenders, who equally have been in short supply at the top-end of the Ballon d’Or voting across its 70-year history.

A breakdown of each previous winner’s primary position on the field of play highlights this.

Ballon d’Or winners since 1956

Attackers 76.8%

Midfielders 16%

Defenders 5.7%

Goalkeepers 1.4%

As regards to top three finishers, the situation improves, but only marginally.

Ballon d’Or top three finishers since 1956

Attackers 69.3%

Midfielders 18.9%

Defenders 8.5%

Goalkeepers 3.3%

As with keepers, the incalculable value deriving from skilled defending in football does not need to be elaborated on, and certainly pitches around the globe have been graced by some remarkably stellar centre-backs and full-backs down the years.

A list of fifty and more exceptional talents spanning different eras can easily be curated by heart, each of them world class.

Why then have so few directly challenged the likes of Di Stefano, Cruyff and Messi at the business end of the Ballon d’Or voting?

The answer to this leans into cliché, that being the long-standing trope that attacking players tend to grab the headlines and take the glory, via their creativity and goals scored.  

Defenders, for their part, are entrusted to prevent such glories from occurring, and moreover – and crucially – typically do so as a unit.

This latter point is key to understanding why flair tends to attract a greater degree of acclaim than nullification.

Let’s say a team wins the Champions League, triumphing 1-0 in the final.

The goalscorer is heralded, especially if the goal is impressively executed. Should he have also converted many goals that season he will almost inevitably be included in the conversation for individual honours come the season’s end.

A centre-back in that very same game might well have been immaculate. Commanding throughout. Responsible for a heroic, last-ditch tackle.

Beyond a compliment or two from a matchday pundit, however, along with acknowledgment from astute observers, it is the defence that held firm. The defence that kept a clean sheet.

The acclaim is shared around.

This logic can be extended on occasion to off the pitch, too.

We began with reference to Jose Mourinho so let’s end on the current Real Madrid coach.

In 2004/05 his Chelsea team conceded only 15 Premier League goals all season, a record that still stands.

At the heart of the Blues defence that term, Ricardo Carvalho and John Terry were consistently superb and nigh-on impenetrable, the latter subsequently finishing tenth in the Ballon d’Or rankings.

Yet that record-breaking rearguard is chiefly remembered as Mourinho’s doing, a rationale undeniably grounded in truth, but one that denies Carvalho and Terry due credit.

In contrast, how much is Mourinho attributed with Frank Lampard’s 17 goals from midfield that season, or Arjen Robben’s exhilarating wing-play?

The exceptional exceptions

Naturally, and thankfully, there have always been exceptions to the rules above, with Franz Beckenbauer winning the Ballon d’Or twice in the Seventies courtesy of his masterful displays for Bayern Munich and West Germany.

In 1996, Mattheus Sammer’s orchestration from deep for Die Mannschaft at the Euros was rightfully and fully recognised in Paris. The same goes for Fabio Cannavaro’s bedrocking of Italy at the 2006 World Cup.

Here is a comprehensive list of every centre-back and full-back who has either won the Ballon d’Or, or finished in the top three, since its inception.

  • Billy Wright (1957, 2nd)

  • Karl-Heinz Schnellinger (1962, 3rd)

  • Giacinto Facchetti (1965, 2nd)

  • Franz Beckenbauer (1966, 3rd)

  • Bobby Moore (1970, 2nd)

  • Franz Beckenbauer (1972, winner)

  • Franz Beckenbauer (1974, 2nd)

  • Franz Beckenbauer (1975, 2nd)

  • Franz Beckenbauer (1976, winner)

  • Ruud Krol (1979, 3rd)

  • Paul Breitner (1981, 2nd)

  • Franco Baresi (1989, 2nd)

  • Andreas Brehme (1990, 3rd)

  • Paolo Maldini (1994, 3rd)

  • Matthias Sammer (1996, winner)

  • Roberto Carlos (2002, 2nd)

  • Paolo Maldini (2003, 3rd)

  • Fabio Cannavaro (2006, winner)

  • Virgil Van Dijk (2019, 2nd)