On This Day: Di Stefano, Best & Weah won Ballon d'Or; Utd legend Law made debut

Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (December 24th) in football history. If you have more stories and news that happened on this day in history, please post them in the comment area and share them with AFers!

Ballon d'Or Day

On this day in 1989, RealMadrid legend Alfredo Di Stéfano won the Super Ballon d’Or. He is the only footballer to have received this award. 

On this day in 1968 George Best won Ballon d'Or

Manchester United's winger George Best wins award for best European football player ahead of team mate Bobby Charlton and Red Star Belgrade winger Dragan Džajić; Best was the first Northern Irish national to win the award. He was the third Manchester United player to win the trophy after Denis Law (1964) and Bobby Charlton (1966)

On this day in 1991 Jean-Pierre Papin won Ballon d'Or

On this day in 1991, Marseille forward Jean-Pierre Papin is named Europe's best football player; first from the French League to win the trophy

On this day in 1995 George Weah won Ballon d'Or

Due to his performances with both Paris Saint-Germain and Milan, in 1995 Weah was the recipient of several individual awards: he won the Ballon d'Or, the Onze d'Or, and was named FIFA World Player of the Year, becoming the first and, currently, only native African player, to win these awards;&nbsp

Weah dedicated his FIFA World Player of the Year victory to his former manager, Arsène Wenger, stating that it was thanks to him that he was able to develop into a world class player. That year, Weah also won the African Player of the Year Award for the third time in his career, and was named to the Onze de Onze by the French football magazine Onze Mondial. 

In 1996, Weah finished second in the FIFA World Player of the Year ranking; he was also the recipient of the FIFA Fair Play Award, and was voted the African Player of the Century by sport journalists from around the world.

On this day in 1956 - Man United legend Denis Law made his debut

On 24 December 1956, Denis Law made his professional debut for Huddersfield Town in a 1-2 away win over Notts County.

Manager Andy Beattie signed Law in April 1955 despite reportedly calling him an unlikely prospect who was "weak, puny, and bespectacled." Unsurprisingly, the young forward failed to get playing time for his first season there, which ended in relegation. But as the team struggled in Division Two at the start of the 1956-57 season, Beattie resigned in November and was replaced by his assistant Bill Shankly, who apparently had a higher opinion of Law.

Law made his first professional appearance at the age of 16 years and 303 days, making him the youngest first-team player in club history. Huddersfield went on to win 1-2 over Notts County, with both of their goals scored by forward Ron Simpson.

Law went on to star for Huddersfield over the next three seasons. Shankly left for Liverpool in 1959 and tried to bring Law with him, but Liverpool could not afford him. In 1960, he moved to Manchester City for a British-record fee of £55,000, then broke it when he moved from Torino to Manchester United for £115,000 in July 1962. There, he went on to win domestic and European trophies, including the 1964 Ballon d'Or.

On this day in1938, Chelsea beat Liverpool 4-1 at Stamford Bridge (The Blues Get A White Christmas)

It was a considerable upset, as Chelsea were sitting in 20th position at the time, while Liverpool were in third.

Unfortunately for the Blues, only 6,801 people showed up for the match, which remains Chelsea's lowest attendance for a top-division match. The small crowd was due in part to weather, as London had received about a foot of snow in the days leading up to the match, making travel difficult.

The win did little to change Chelsea's fortunes for the season, as they finished in 20th, one spot above the relegation zone. Liverpool finished in 11th.