England Reportedly Wants Lev Yashin’s Name Removed from Football History

Representatives of the English delegation have sparked controversy after reportedly suggesting that the Lev Yashin Award — given annually by France Football to the best goalkeeper in the world — should be renamed.

A Quiet Proposal in Tirana

On September 11, during a UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Tirana, Albania, English officials allegedly raised the issue of individual awards. Not formally at the podium, but in private conversations. Their proposal centered around renaming the prize for the world’s best goalkeeper, which currently honors Lev Yashin — the only goalkeeper in history to win the Ballon d’Or.

According to whispers from behind the scenes, some members of the English FA, along with delegates from a few other nations, suggested naming the award after England’s Gordon Banks or Italy’s Dino Zoff instead. Whether these rumors should be taken seriously remains debatable, but the story has already caused a stir across the football community.

Yashin’s Legacy Defended

Vasily Frolov, Yashin’s grandson, strongly dismissed the idea:

“Only France Football has the right to decide what the award is called. When I was in France during the approval of this prize, representatives of France Football told me how much they loved Yashin. For them, Lev Ivanovich is first and foremost a legendary, great goalkeeper. They even said his name had become symbolic — when a boy would go in goal, they’d say: ‘You’re Yashin.’”

Frolov’s words highlight how deeply Yashin’s name is woven into the heritage of the sport, particularly in France.

The Banks Perspective

Ironically, even Gordon Banks himself once rejected any comparison. When asked if it bothered him to be considered “the second goalkeeper in history,” Banks famously replied:

“Being second after Yashin is a great honor. Every goalkeeper would answer the same.”

The respect between legends makes the proposal even harder to understand.

A Legend Beyond Borders

Yashin’s status as a global icon is unquestionable. For example, when FIFA organized the match celebrating the centenary of English football in 1963, it was Lev Yashin who was invited to guard the goal for the “World XI.”

More recently, in May 2025, the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) named him the greatest goalkeeper of all time.

Politics or Football?

The very fact that such proposals are even discussed raises uncomfortable questions. Are there truly no bigger issues for UEFA executives to deal with? And more importantly, how could English officials expect to influence an award that belongs to France Football in the first place?

Football history is full of debates, but rewriting it by erasing Lev Yashin’s name would be a dangerous precedent. It forces us to ask again: is football still about sport, or has it become just another stage for politics?

Published by Patrick Jane
19.09.2025