Kevin Keegan’s 1978 Ballon d’Or, won without a World Cup | OneFootball

Kevin Keegan, who died on Monday aged 75, won the 1978 Ballon d’Or despite missing the World Cup. L'Équipe notes he amassed 87 points, six ahead of Austria’s Hans Krankl, after a prolific year at Hamburg.

Rob Rensenbrink was third on 50, ahead of Roberto Bettega on 28 and Paolo Rossi on 23. Seven players topped at least one of the 26 ballots, with Keegan taking nine first-place votes to Krankl’s eight, and both named 22 times.

England failed to reach Argentina 1978 and Keegan also missed Europe with Hamburg that year. He admitted at the time he feared those absences would count against him, especially after losing the 1977 prize to Allan Simonsen by three points despite Liverpool’s league and European Cup double.

Keegan’s early months in Germany were turbulent, including a team boycott and an eight-match ban early in 1978. The arrival of Günter Netzer as sporting director in February 1978 reshaped Hamburg around him and moved out dissenters. HSV still finished 10th in 1977-78, but groundwork was laid under incoming coach Branko Zebec.

Playing off Horst Hrubesch and Willi Reimann as a nine-and-a-half, he set the tone. Hamburg reached the winter break of 1978-79 one point behind Kaiserslautern. Off the pitch, his daughter Laura was born in November 1978.

In Copenhagen on 20 September, Keegan’s brace led England’s 4-3 win over Denmark, outshining holder Allan Simonsen. He ended the year with a hat-trick against Bielefeld, four days before the announcement. It was the only World Cup-year Ballon d’Or to go to a non-participant.

Source: L'Équipe