Don Balón was a
Spanish weekly sports magazine specialising in
Spanish and international
football. It was distributed on five continents.
The magazine was founded in 1975 by José María Casanovas, a very well known Spanish sport journalist, who had the idea of creating an internationally recognized sport magazine. In the same year he also founded the daily sport newspaper
Sport, which focuses on
FC Barcelona.
Don Balón was a member of the
European Sports Magazines association along with similar publications
World Soccer,
Kicker, and
A Bola.
Don Balón published special magazine supplements every year on
La Liga and European competitions. Since 1976 the magazine conferred the
Premio Don Balón (
Don Balón Award) yearly to the best Spanish player, the best foreign player, the best coach, the best referee and the breakthrough player in
La Liga.
The magazine disappeared on September 2011 due to the economic crisis and a scandal which brought on the arrest of its lead editor Rogelio Rengel.
The magazine also produced an annual list of 100 young players, who they felt had huge potential, from across the world. When the magazine ceased publishing, In Bed With Maradona, an online football journal, continued this list