Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes were all incredible players.

But which one is the better of the three?

That's a debate which is still raging today long after the three have retired from professional football.

In truth, there is no right or wrong answer in the debate.

If you want arguably the best goal scoring midfielder of his generation, you'll go with Lampard.

Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard on international duty

If you want someone who can do it all, you'll go with Gerrard.

And if you want an elegant midfielder who can control the middle of the park, you'll go with Scholes.

A good way to settle the debate is by looking at the amount of Ballon d'Or votes each player received during their careers.

And the results are very damning for one star in particular...

3) Paul Scholes - 0 votes

Scholes was nominated for the Ballon d'Or five times but didn’t receive a single vote. Incredible.

2000: 0 votes
2001: 0 votes
2003: 0 votes
2004: 0 votes
2007: 0 votes

Total: 0 votes

Paul Scholes in action for Man United

2) Frank Lampard - 169 votes

Like Scholes, Lampard was nominated for the Ballon d'Or on five occasions. He fared much better in the voting, receiving 169 votes. His best finish came in 2005 when he finished second to Ronaldinho.

2004: 5 votes
2005: 148 votes
2006: 3 votes
2008: 8 votes
2009: 5 votes

Total: 169 votes

Frank Lampard in action for Chelsea

1) Steven Gerrard - 220 votes

Gerrard was nominated for the prestigious award on six occasions. He received votes in every year apart from 2006. His best finish came in 2005, where he finished third.

2001: 1 vote
2005: 142 votes
2006: 0 votes
2007: 17 votes
2008: 28 votes
2009: 32 votes

Total: 220 votes

So there we have it. If Ballon d'Or votes were used as the metric to pick a winner, then Gerrard would be the victor. Lampard finishes as a close second, while Scholes finishes well behind the duo.

Whether you prefer Scholes, Lampard or Gerrard, we can all probably agree on one thing. The fact that Scholes never received one single Ballon d'Or vote in his career is a travesty.