Golden Gloves isn't enough: Keepers deserve the Ballon d'Or too
The Ballon d’Or is football’s highest individual prize. Since 1956, it has been handed to the sport’s brightest stars for their skills, wins, and impact on the pitch. Yet, as the years pass, it feels like this award was made only for goal scorers.
If saving games isn’t enough for keepers to win the Ballon d'Or, what is? It’s time for goalkeepers to get the honour they’ve long earned.
The Ballon d’Or
The Ballon d’Or, a French term for ‘Golden Ball’, is an esteemed award that the France Football magazine hosts every year. It’s given to the best-performing footballer over the last season.
The winner is chosen through votes from a panel of specialised journalists. The jurors weigh the footballer’s playing form, team performance, trophies, and fair play. But in truth, the award leans hard on goals and assists, often leaving defenders and goalkeepers behind.
Goalkeepers and their role on the field
Keepers are called the ‘last line of defence’ for a reason. They hold the backline, make split-second saves, and often start counter-attacks to help stop the opposing team from scoring.
Modern goalkeepers like Thibaut Courtois and Gianluigi Donnarumma show how the role demands speed, strength, and smarts. Yet, despite all this, they get less praise and almost no rewards.
Goalkeeper analyst Bill Reno has the answer. He mentioned that a keeper’s position is ‘antithetical’ to the sport, where everyone is trying to score a goal and they stop it. This makes it harder for fans to appreciate the role, and somehow, keepers receiving no Ballon d’Or awards made sense.
Keepers and the Golden Ball: Will they ever meet again?
For over 69 years of Ballon d’Or, only one keeper has ever won the award: Lev Yashin, in 1963. Dubbed ‘The Black Spider’, he was deemed as a wall in goal, but even his win remains a rare case.
Take the 2014-15 season. It was a time when top-tier players graced the Ballon d’Or. Keeper Manuel Neuer had just lifted the World Cup and led Bayern Munich to the Champions League. Yet, Lionel Messi won the Golden Ball, thanks to his goals and Barcelona’s success.
Critics called it unfair. Headlines argued that Neuer deserved the Golden Ball that year. In a nutshell, the system is flawed, as the jurors tend to favour strikers and goals. Media hype outweighs the stats and clean sheets from players on the backline, and only a few appreciate the goalkeeping craft.
What can be done? France Football might tweak their system a bit to help shine the spotlight on other deserving players by:
- Weighing each position’s impact and not just depending on goals.
- Introducing a keeper-focused specific prize or adjusting voting panels if the Ballon d’Or can’t change
- Highlighting saves, clean sheets, and clutch moments from keepers in matches
Time to rethink the gold standard
The Ballon d’Or is meant to honour the best footballer of the season. For keepers, the bar remains out of reach for a lack of fair recognition. As the game evolves, so should its awards. It’s high time to crown the hidden powerhouse of football clubs.
