{"id":1852,"date":"2019-02-11T12:12:07","date_gmt":"2019-02-11T12:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/?p=1852"},"modified":"2019-04-17T15:10:17","modified_gmt":"2019-04-17T15:10:17","slug":"from-our-ceo-adding-to-an-iconic-list-of-ballon-dor-winners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/2019\/02\/11\/from-our-ceo-adding-to-an-iconic-list-of-ballon-dor-winners\/","title":{"rendered":"From Our CEO: Adding To An Iconic List of Ballon d’Or Winners"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

What do George Weah, Jean-Pierre Papin, Andriy Shevchenko, Matthias Sammer and Hristo Stoichkov have in common? Of course, it’s pretty well-known that they are all past Ballon d’Or<\/a> winners. But the few names on this short list share something else, too. These are the only five names from the past three decades who\u2019ve won the Ballon d’Or but aren’t Icons… yet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every other former winner of football’s most coveted individual prize has undertaken a signing session for Icons, from Marco Van Basten<\/a> to Ronaldo Nazario<\/a>, Zinedine Zidane<\/a> to Lionel Messi<\/a>. And so, when mercurial midfielder Luka Modric<\/a> won this year’s accolade, it was only a matter of time before he joined our roster. Well, it was 58 days, to be exact.<\/p>\n

In fact, our recent signing with Luka also kept alive another impressive streak of ours: we can now say that we have worked with the winners of the award from each of the past fourteen seasons.<\/p>\n

Luka was delighted to join the list and even allowed our signing team to hold the actual Ballon d’Or award that he has at home on his mantelpiece in Madrid. ‘Signed By The World’s Best’ indeed!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So, how do we<\/em> get to these players? Well, to be frank, it’s a combination of judgement and luck. We first worked with Messi, for example, when he was just 17-years-old. The year was 2006 and we had been tipped off about this new sensation in Barcelona by our man on the ground in Spain. I could write for days with similar stories. We met Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a> as he arrived in Manchester. Kaka<\/a> had been an Icon for a number of years before he won a Ballon d’Or. We even saw a 19-year-old Neymar Jr<\/a> playing in Sao Paolo \u2013 that was 2013 and we were sat next to Kaka’s father. It was Ronaldo Nazario who had let us know that this guy might be a future Ballon d’Or winner. Neymar Jr hasn’t won it yet, of course, but\u00a0we’re playing the long-game.<\/p>\n

We like to think we can spot talent and it was great to see our first Icon of the Future<\/a>, Callum Hudson-Odoi<\/a>, who signed for Icons back in May 2018, selling more items during our January Sale than many of the biggest names in the sport. It shows we might be on to something with the Chelsea starlet. Maybe he too will have something shiny on his mantelpiece in a decade’s time…<\/p>\n

I always say that as a kid I collected football stickers but nowadays I collect footballers. So come on, George, Jean-Pierre, Andriy, Matthias and Hristo \u2013 it’s time to get in touch and join the world’s most truly iconic club.<\/p>\n

\n

See the full range of all-new Luka Modric signed memorabilia by clicking here<\/a>.<\/em><\/h4>\n

See our unrivalled collection of memorabilia signed by nominees and winners of the Ballon d’Or by clicking here<\/a>.<\/em><\/h4>\n

Follow Icons on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0for all our\u00a0latest blog posts,\u00a0special\u00a0offers and competitions.<\/em><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What do George Weah, Jean-Pierre Papin, Andriy Shevchenko, Matthias Sammer and Hristo Stoichkov have in common? Of course, it’s pretty well-known that they are all past Ballon d’Or winners. But the few names on this short list share something else, too. These are the only five names from the past three decades who\u2019ve won the… <\/p>\n

Read More<\/i><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[465],"tags":[450,31,8,420,154,432,448,452,449,454,22,453,451,229,372],"class_list":["post-1852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-from-our-ceo","tag-andriy-shevchenko","tag-ballon-dor","tag-barcelona","tag-callum-hudson-odoi","tag-cristiano-ronaldo","tag-from-our-ceo","tag-george-weah","tag-hristo-stoichkov","tag-jean-pierre-papin","tag-kaka","tag-lionel-messi","tag-marco-van-basten","tag-matthias-sammer","tag-ronaldo-nazario","tag-zinedine-zidane"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfQcey-tS","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":141,"url":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/2015\/01\/14\/congratulations-cristiano-ronaldo-fifa-ballon-dor-winner-2014\/","url_meta":{"origin":1852,"position":0},"title":"Congratulations Cristiano Ronaldo: 2014 FIFA Ballon d’Or Winner!","author":"Icons.com","date":"January 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Huge congratulations from all at Icons to the one and only Cristiano Ronaldo - official FIFA Ballon d'Or 2014 winner! 69 goals in 2013 saw the Portuguese superstar rocket to victory, pipping Leo Messi and Bayern Munich wide man Franck Ribery to the prestigious award at a ceremony in Zurich\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Announcements"","block_context":{"text":"Announcements","link":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/category\/announcements\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Real Madrid's Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo delivers a speech after receiving the 2013 FIFA Ballon d'Or award for player of the year during the FIFA Ballon d'Or award ceremony at the Kongresshaus in Zurich on January 13, 2014. AFP PHOTO \/ OLIVIER MORIN (Photo credit should read OLIVIER MORIN\/AFP\/Getty Images)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Cristanio-Ronaldo-Ballon-dor-Winner-2014.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Cristanio-Ronaldo-Ballon-dor-Winner-2014.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Cristanio-Ronaldo-Ballon-dor-Winner-2014.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3839,"url":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/2025\/03\/26\/andy-brassell-george-weah-on-the-ballon-dor-wenger-and-that-solo-goal\/","url_meta":{"origin":1852,"position":1},"title":"ANDY BRASSELL: George Weah on the Ballon d’Or, Wenger and THAT solo goal","author":"Andy Brassell","date":"March 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"We have to ask this first. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s the best goal I ever scored in my career,\u201d says George Weah, and it is good to have one of the immutable truths of football confirmed first-hand. We are talking, of course, about his solo effort for AC Milan on the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Signing Sessions"","block_context":{"text":"Signing Sessions","link":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/category\/signing-sessions\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/George-Weah-with-Icons.com-Board.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/George-Weah-with-Icons.com-Board.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/George-Weah-with-Icons.com-Board.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/George-Weah-with-Icons.com-Board.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":151,"url":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/2013\/12\/09\/why-we-love-the-race-for-this-years-fifa-ballon-dor-the-closest-ever\/","url_meta":{"origin":1852,"position":2},"title":"Why We Love The Race For This Year’s FIFA Ballon d’Or, The Closest Ever","author":"Icons.com","date":"December 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"No matter who eventually wins the FIFA Ballon d'Or award this January, one thing's for sure - this year's player of the year award will surely be remembered as the hardest ever to call. Each of the three players named in an announcement yesterday as up for the prestigious award\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Why We Love"","block_context":{"text":"Why We Love","link":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/category\/why-we-love\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"(FILE PHOTO) In this composite image a comparison has been made between Franck Ribery (L), Lionel Messi (C) and Cristiano Ronaldo (R). All three players have been short listed for the FIFA Ballon d'Or 2013, the winner of the award will be revealed at the FIFA Ballon dOr gala in Zurich on January 13, 2014. ***LEFT IMAGE*** AUGUST 01: Franck Ribery of Muenchen controls the ball during the Audi Cup Final match between FC Bayern Muenchen and Manchester City at Allianz Arena on August 1, 2013 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Alex Grimm\/Bongarts\/Getty Images) ***CENTRE IMAGE*** NOVEMBER 01: Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona runs with the ball during the La Liga match between FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol at Camp Nou on November 1, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos\/Getty Images) ***RIGHT IMAGE*** SEPTEMBER 28: Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid CF runs with the ball during the La Liga match between Real Madrid CF and Club Atletico de Madrid at Bernabeu on September 28, 2013 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos\/Getty Images)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/FIFA-Ballon-Dor-Race.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/FIFA-Ballon-Dor-Race.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/FIFA-Ballon-Dor-Race.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1005,"url":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/2017\/03\/08\/win-a-cristiano-ronaldo-signed-nike-boot-with-footy-com\/","url_meta":{"origin":1852,"position":3},"title":"CLOSED | WIN a Cristiano Ronaldo Signed Nike Boot with FOOTY.COM","author":"Icons.com","date":"March 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Video via FOOTY.COM on Facebook After a stellar 2016 in which\u00a0he not only\u00a0won the UEFA Champions League for a third time\u00a0but also inspired\u00a0a\u00a0first ever major trophy as the captain of his country AND\u00a0bagged a\u00a0fourth Ballon d'Or, Cristiano Ronaldo's standing as the best player in world football became less of a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Giveaways & Competitions"","block_context":{"text":"Giveaways & Competitions","link":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/category\/giveaways-and-competitions\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"04-cristiano-certificate","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/04-cristiano-certificate.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/04-cristiano-certificate.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/04-cristiano-certificate.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.icons.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/04-cristiano-certificate.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3433,"url":"https:\/\/www.icons.com\/news\/2024\/10\/28\/andy-brassell-assessing-the-race-for-the-2024-ballon-dor\/","url_meta":{"origin":1852,"position":4},"title":"ANDY BRASSELL: Assessing the Race for the 2024 Ballon d\u2019Or","author":"Andy Brassell","date":"October 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"As we prepare to learn who this year\u2019s recipient of the Ballon d\u2019Or will be, it is worth reflecting on how much its parameters have changed in the last couple of years. 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