The Ballon d’Or has been in the news today as some of the world’s best players got together in the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris to honour the men’s and women’s footballing talent.
Manchester City’s Rodri was named the winner of the prestigious tournament for the men with Aitana Bonmati picking up the trophy for the women.
Sadly, no Celtic players were nominated or present at the award ceremony in France but it got us thinking here at 67 Hail Hail just how many Celtic players have been nominated or been close to winning football’s most prestigious player award.
Full list of Celtic heroes nominated for the Ballon d’Or
Seven former Celtic players in total have been nominated for the award as well as former Celtic managers making the list whilst at other clubs during their playing careers.
So let’s take a look and see which of Celtic’s heroes were close to being crowned the world’s best player.
Tommy Gemmell – 1967 and 1968
Tommy Gemmell was nominated in 1967 after Celtic became the first British team to win the European Cup.
The Lisbon Lion placed 6th behind the likes of legendary names Bobby Charlton, Franz Beckenbauer and Eusebio.
In 1968 Gemmell was once again nominated and placed 24th with George Best picking up the gong that year.
Jimmy Johnstone – 1967 and 1968
Nominated with fellow Lisbon Lion, Tommy Gemmell, Jimmy Johnstone placed third just behind Bobby Charlton and winner, Ferencvaros’ Florian Albert.
In 1968, Johnstone also placed 24th alongside Celtic teammate, Gemmell.
Incredibly, the legendary Celtic winger won just 23 caps for Scotland scoring four goals after making his debut against Wales in October 1964.
Kenny Dalglish – 1983
Winner of the Ballon d’Or Silver Award, Kenny Dalglish was nominated and placed as the runner-up in 1983 whilst at Liverpool.
Former Celtic manager, Gordon Strachan was also nominated and placed fourth as Michel Platini picked up the award.
Paul McStay – 1984
Paul McStay was nominated in 1984 and watched Michel Platini pick up the award for the second year in a row.
Placing 18th, McStay placed ahead of AC Milan’s Mark Hately and level with Gordon Strachan who was at Manchester United at the time.
Pat Bonner – 1989
Marco van Basten won the Ballon d’Or in 1989 with Celtic hero Pat Bonner also nominated and finishing in 17th place ahead of the likes of Barcelona’s Ronald Koeman, Gianluca Vialli at Sampdoria and AC Milan’s Paulo Maldini.
Former Celtic boss, John Barnes, also placed 17th that year.
Henrik Larsson – 2001 and 2003
Henrik Larsson was nominated twice for the Ballon d’Or during his Celtic career. Michael Owen won the award in 2001 with Larsson finishing 14th ahead of Roberto Baggio, Steven Gerrard and Alessandro del Pierro.
In 2003, Larsson placed 12th for the Ballon d’Or. Pavel Nedved won the trophy but the Celtic legend placed ahead of Deco, Francesco Totti and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Shunsuke Nakamura – 2007
Shunsuke Nakamura is the last-ever Celtic star to have been nominated for the Ballon d’Or. In 2007 the Japanese freekick specialist watched Brazilian superstar, Kaka, pick up the award.
However, placing 36th Nakamura was in good company on level terms with names such as Raul, Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Fernando Torres.
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