Annual winners of the European Footballer of the Year:

    1956 - Stanley Matthews (England)

    1957 - Alfredo di Stefano (Spain)

    1958 - Raymond Kopa (France)

    1959 - Alfredo di Stefano (Spain)

    1960 - Luis Suarez (Spain)

    1961 - Omar Sivori (Italy)

    1962 - Josef Masopust (Czechoslovakia)

    1963 - Lev Yashin (Soviet Union)

    1964 - Denis Law (Scotland)

    1965 - Eusebio (Portugal)

    1966 - Bobby Charlton (England)

    1967 - Florian Albert (Hungary)

    1968 - George Best (Northern Ireland)

    1969 - Gianni Rivera (Italy)

    1970 - Gerd Mueller (West Germany)

    1971 - Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)

    1972 - Franz Beckenbauer (Germany)

    1973 - Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)

    1974 - Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)

    1975 - Oleg Blokhin (Soviet Union)

    1976 - Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany)

    1977 - Allan Simonsen (Denmark)

    1978 - Kevin Keegan (England)

    1979 - Kevin Keegan (England)

    1980 - Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany)

    1981 - Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany)

    1982 - Paolo Rossi (Italy)

    1983 - Michel Platini (France)

    1984 - Michel Platini (France)

    1985 - Michel Platini (France)

    1986 - Igor Belanov (Soviet Union)

    1987 - Ruud Gullit (Netherlands)

    1988 - Marco van Basten (Netherlands)

    1989 - Marco van Basten (Netherlands)

    1990 - Lothar Matthaeus (Germany)

    1991 - Jean-Pierre Papin (France)

    1992 - Marco van Basten (Netherlands)

    1993 - Roberto Baggio (Italy)

    1994 - Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)

    1995 - George Weah (Liberia)

    1996 - Matthias Sammer (Germany)

    1997 - Ronaldo (Brazil)

    1998 - Zinedine Zidane (France)

    1999 - Rivaldo (Brazil)

    2000 - Luis Figo (Portugal)

    2001 - Michael Owen (England)

    2002 - Ronaldo (Brazil)

    2003 - Pavel Nedved (Czech Republic)

    2004 - Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine)

    2005 - Ronaldinho (Brazil) Enditem