Thirteenth Ballon d'Or winner - George Best

The thirteenth Ballon d'Or winner - George Best

The best Northern Irishman in history takes home the individual award in 1968

Ten years after the tragedy in Munich, Manchester United once again have a squad full of unique players, one of whom managed to stand out and help the Red Devils achieve their first European triumph. This football player is George Best, who at 22 years old became one of the youngest winners of the Ballon d'Or. The Northern Irish attacking footballer was voted the best European player in 1968.

On December 24, Christmas Eve, Best found out he had earned the most prestigious individual award in football. He collected 61 points from the votes of 15 of the total of 25 journalists entitled to vote in the ranking. In doing so, Best overtook teammate Bobby Charlton, who collected 53 to remain at the foot of the summit he claimed in 1966 for the second consecutive year. Manchester United really is a special team, and with George and Bobby it became a real nightmare in '68. Dragan Jaic from Red Star remains third in the ranking. The striker collects 46 points – 10 more than Franz Beckenbauer, who again remains outside the top three. 7 people who voted for George Best put him in the first position, according to three he is not worthy enough for the Ballon d'Or, but still he is second, four put him in the third position and one - in the fourth place. For Charlton, the first places are 5, the second - 3, the third - 4 and the fourth - 2. Fifteen people give their vote for Jajic, but only four think that the Ballon d'Or should go to the striker from Yugoslavia, only two leave him second , and there are three journalists each who estimated that it was the third, fourth and fifth.

George Best's achievements in 1968 remain unsurpassed. The Northern Irishman scored 32 goals for Manchester United, making him the Red Devils' top scorer both in the English Championship, where he scored 28 times, and in all competitions. Those 28 goals also make him the top scorer in England's First Division, but he has to share the prize with Southampton's Ron Davies. United, on the other hand, remains second in the standings with 2 points less than its city rival Manchester City. However, there is no one to stop Man United in the European Champions Cup tournament. The team triumphed 4-1 after extra time in the final against Benfica, with Best scoring the first goal in extra time. He scored a total of 3 times in this competition, which is not much, it is even 3 less than the six goals of the top scorer for the season 67/68 in the Eusebio tournament. But his strike in the final and the winner against Real Madrid in the first semi-final at Old Trafford were more than significant goals to get United to the Wembley clash.

Best runner-up Bobby Charlton also made a significant contribution to Man United's success, and at the national level he scored one of the two goals for the success against the USSR in the match for third place in the European Championship. Certainly, the dispute between the two seems huge, but apart from them, the glimpse that came from the Balkans is not small at all. Dragan Džić is one of the first great goalscorers from Yugoslavia. Jajic led England to victory in the semi-finals of Euro 1968 and opened the scoring against Italy in the final, but the Squadra Azzurra reached the replay, winning 2-0. Perhaps, if he had become European champion, Džić would have been at least second in the standings for the Ballon d'Or in 1968. And even at the club level, the striker is far from being so brilliant, after two of his teammates were more successful in Red Star's title in the championship.

George Best found himself without much competition and began to become a fan favorite of both Manchester United and Northern Ireland. Fully deserved and backed up by individual and team achievements, is the Ballon d'Or for the magical player from Belfast.