Ronaldo’s 2008 Season Tops Inaugural B.O.A.T. Fan Poll

Cristiano Ronaldo’s 2008 Manchester United season ranked first in the inaugural Ballon d’Or of All Time fan poll, ahead of Lionel Messi’s 2012 campaign, organisers’ results showed. Ronaldo’s 2017 season placed third. The ranking reflects participating fans’ preferences and is not an official Ballon d’Or award or a definitive judgment on the greatest season. The B.O.A.T. initiative was introduced to mark the Ballon d’Or’s 70th anniversary. It invited fans to choose among individual Ballon d’Or-winning seasons by players who had won the award at least twice. Because the seasons, rather than players, were ranked, Ronaldo and Messi each appeared multiple times in the results. Each vote cost one euro, and participants could vote more than once. Organisers reported that 5,009 participants cast multiple votes, including 44 who submitted between 10 and 26 votes each. The paid, repeat-voting format means the result records the choices of those who took part; it is not an independently audited comparison of players or seasons. The poll’s top three were followed by Messi’s 2023 season in fourth place. Ronaldo’s 2016 and 2014 campaigns ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, while Messi’s...