Overlooked by some of the most luxurious property in Monaco, The Champions Promenade is the only destination for football pilgrims from all over the world. Surely such an illustrious homage to such a vast collection of footballing legends exists nowhere else on the planet. 71 of the best players to have played the game are celebrated along a stretch of Monaco’s coast, with golden plaques garnishing the scenic stretch of pavement.
The award itself, The Golden Foot, is awarded to one player each year to honour great achievement both on and off the pitch. Players must be at least 28 years of age to qualify for the award, which can only be awarded to a player once. In addition to selecting one player each year, the voting committee – which is formed by online voters – also selects a few footballing legends to honour.
With UEFA EURO 2016 kicking off on June 10th in France, The Champions Promenade will surely prove to be a popular attraction for those visiting the Principality of Monaco.
Golden Foot Winners:
2003 – Roberto Baggio; 2004 – Pavel Nedvěd; 2005 – Andriy Shevchenko; 2006 – Ronaldo; 2007 – Allessandro Del Piero; 2008 – Roberto Carlos; 2009 – Ronaldinho; 2010 – Francesco Totti; 2011 – Ryan Giggs; 2012 – Zlatan Ibrahimović; 2013 – Didier Drogba; 2014 – Andrés Iniesta; 2015 – Samuel Eto’o.
Golden Foot Legends:
2003 – Diego Maradona, Eusébio, Gianni Rivera, Just Fontaine; 2004 – Alfredo Di Stéfano, Dino Zoff, Michel Platini; 2005 – Francisco Gento, George Best, George Weah, Gigi Riva, Roberto Rivellino; 2006 – Alcides Ghiggia, Ferenc Puskás, Giacinto Facchetti, Raymond Kopa, Zico; 2007 – Gerd Müller, Hristo Stoitchkov, Mario Kempes, Paolo Rossi, Romário; 2008 – Aldair, Igor Belanov, Luis Suárez, Zinedine Zidane; 2009 – Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Nilton Santos, Oleg Blokhin, René Higuita, Zbigniew Boniek; 2010 – Carlos Dunga, Francisco Varallo, Franz Beckenbauer, Giancarlo Antognoni, Hugo Sánchez; 2011 – Abedi Pele, Javier Zanetti, Luís Figo, Rabah Madjer, Ruud Gullit; 2012 – Eric Cantona, Franco Baresi, Lothar Matthäus, Pelé (2); 2013 – Carlos Valderrama, Jean-Pierre Papin, Osvaldo Ardiles; 2014 – Antonín Panenka, Jean-Marie Pfaff, Hakan Sukur, Hidetoshi Nakata, Mia Hamm, Roger Milla; 2015 – Gheorghe Hagi, Daniel Passarella, David Trezeguet, Rinat Dasayev.
Where?
The Champions Promenade runs along Monaco’s coast, adjacent to the Grimaldi Forum. Acessible from Avenue Princesse Grace, the path can be followed from the Japonese Gardens to Larvotto Beach.
