Editor-in-Chief Juan Carlos Casas Frequency Weekly | Categories Sport Final issue 2011 | |
First issue 7 October 1975 (1975-10-07) Company Editorial Don Balón, S.A. | ||
Don Balón was a Spanish weekly sports magazine specializing in Spanish and international football. The magazine was published in Barcelona between 1975 and 2011. It was distributed on five continents.
History and profile
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 had its headquarters in Barcelona. The magazine was published on weekly basis and 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. In 1976 the magazine launched 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 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
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.