The first Ballon d'Or was handed over in Blackpool town hall with a china plate. Seventy years later the ceremony has moved to England for the man who won it.

The Ballon d'Or is handed out at the London Palladium on Monday. The ceremony usually happens in Paris. This year it has moved to England, as a mark of respect to the first man who won it. 1

That first winner was Stanley Matthews, and he collected the trophy in Blackpool town hall, 70 years ago, at 41 and still playing.

Gabriel Hanot, the L'Équipe editor who came up with the idea of crowning the world's best player every year, made the presentation himself. 1 The town's mayor added a specially commissioned china plate, and Matthews, who was teetotal, gave a short speech. 1

His son, Stanley Matthews Jr, described the day for The Guardian. "There was no ceremony. 'Here's your Ballon d'Or, well done', sort of thing," he said. "But obviously it's grown over the years, and now it's a huge event." 1 Stanley Matthews Jr will be at the Palladium on Monday with his sister Jean and her two daughters. 1

Matthews began at his local club, Stoke, in 1932. 1 He wore boots "so light, they were like slippers", his son said. Late in his career he had the fire brigade water the pitch before kick-off so it played slicker. 1

The money was small. Matthews earned at most £20 a week until the maximum wage was abolished in 1961, said Joe Pierce, producer of a 2017 film about him. 1 In the same years the baseball player Joe DiMaggio was paid $100,000 a year. 1

He was knighted in 1965 and retired at 50. He won the last of his 54 England caps at 42, and he remains the oldest winner of the Ballon d'Or. 1

Between 1953 and 1978 Matthews coached abroad in the off-season, in a different African country each summer. 1 Months after collecting the trophy he went to Ghana for exhibition matches marking independence, where he was given an ivory sword and crowned a "soccerhene". 1 In the mid-1970s he coached a Soweto team, Stan's Men, found them Coca-Cola sponsorship and took them to a tournament in Brazil. That work ended after the 1976 Soweto Uprising. 1

Only one African player, George Weah, and three Englishmen, Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan and Michael Owen, have won the award since. 1

Real Madrid boycotted the last two editions of the ceremony, angry that Rodri took the 2024 men's award ahead of Vinícius Júnior. The club made an exception last year for Caroline Weir, a women's nominee. 2 ESPN reported on Monday that Kylian Mbappé will lead a Madrid delegation this time, with Marc Cucurella, Yan Diomande and Felicia Schröder also travelling. 2

Mbappé arrives from a 2-1 win at Barcelona on Sunday. He scored on 41 and 87 minutes, the second his 100th goal for the club. 3 One nominee will be absent: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament on 21 October and will have surgery. 4