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Since the inception of the Ballon d'Or award in 1956 by France Football, there have been 52 recipients of the Ballon d'Or. The winners are adjudged after voting done by the world's most renowned football journalists who ultimately decide who the best male player was based on his performance in the previous year.
Footballers from across the globe are eligible for the honour. Stanley Matthews of Blackpool was named the first winner of the Ballon d'Or in 1956.
Since then, the most number of titles have been won by Barcelona players (11), followed by Real Madrid (10), Milan (8), Juventus (8), Bayern Munich (5), and Manchester United (4).
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo jointly hold the record for the most Ballon d'Or with 5 wins each. Many would know that Ronaldo won his first Ballon d'Or with Manchester United back in 2008 and the remaining 4 with Real Madrid (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017). However, do you know who was the first Manchester United player to win the trophy? Well, it was Denis Law -- a club legend.
The Scottish forward became the first Manchester United player to lift the Ballon d'Or in 1964 and is one of their most celebrated players. He has a glorious past and a career spanning 19 years. The Aberdeen-born player first played for Huddersfield Town before moving on to Manchester City in 1960 and Torino in 1961. Law is best remembered for the time he spent with Manchester United. He scored 171 goals in 309 league appearances for The Red Devils.
Law holds the club record for scoring 46 goals in one season across all competitions in the 1963-64 season. Overall, he scored a staggering 237 goals in 404 appearances across all competitions for Manchester United in the 11 years he spent with the club. This put him 3rd in the all-time highest scorers of the club, behind Wayne Rooney and Bobby Charlton. Although The Red Devils finished 2nd in the league during the 1963-64 season, Law's performance was out of the world.
The King, as he was popularly nicknamed by the supporters, remains the only Scottish player to have won the Ballon d'Or award till date. He also wreaked havoc in national colours and has 30 goals in 55 appearances for the national team. A statue featuring him, George Best, and Bobby Charlton is present at Old Trafford and known as the 'United Trinity.' In fact, the two other players to win the Ballon d'Or besides Law and Cristiano are George Best and Bobby Charlton, who won it in 1968 and 1966, respectively.
Manchester United went on to win the title in the 1964-65 season, their first one after the Munich disaster. Denis Law was the league's top scorer with 28 goals that season and had a great contribution for The Red Devils.
