France Football magazine introduced an award for the African footballer of the year in 1970. The first winner was Salif Keïta. He was a 24 year old forward from Mali who played for Saint-Étienne. Keïta scored over 120 goals for Saint-Étienne (1967-1972) including 42 in the 1970-71 season. The club won 3 consecutive league championships and were double winners twice. Keïta later played for Olympique de Marseille, Valencia and Sporting Lisbon.
