# 1953 in sports

1953 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

## American football

* NFL Championship: the Detroit Lions won 17–16 over the Cleveland Browns at Briggs Stadium

## Association football

England
* First Division – Arsenal win the 1952–53 title.
* FA Cup – Blackpool beat Bolton Wanderers 4–3 in what is known as "The Matthews Final", although it is Stan Mortensen who scores a winning hat-trick for Blackpool.
* England lose 6–3 to Hungary at Wembley Stadium their first ever loss to a team from Continental Europe at home.
Scotland
* Coronation Cup (football) – Celtic beat Hibernian 2–0 at Hampden Park.
Spain
* La Liga won by Barcelona F.C.
Italy
* Serie A won by F.C. Internazionale Milano
West Germany
* German football championship won by 1. FC Kaiserslautern
France
* French Division 1 won by Stade de Reims
Portugal
* Primeira Liga won by Sporting C.P.

## Australian rules football

* Victorian Football League
** 23 May: Fitzroy, against a brilliant Footscray defence, kick the lowest VFL/AFL score since 1899, 1.0 (6) to 10.6 (66). Fitzroy seemed doomed to the first 0.0 (0) score in VFL history until Allan Ruthven scored a goal with ten minutes to go.
** 4 July: Geelong beats Collingwood’s previous record of 20 consecutive wins, beating North Melbourne 12.14 (86) to 13.7 (85).
** 1 August: Collingwood ends a run of 26 unbeaten games (including a draw with Essendon) by Geelong, beating them 10.15 (75) to 7.13 (55)
** 26 September: Collingwood wins the 57th VFL Premiership, beating Geelong 11.11 (77) to 8.17 (65)
** Brownlow Medal awarded to Bill Hutchison (Essendon)
* South Australian National Football League:
** 3 October: West Torrens wins the last of its four SANFL premierships, beating Port Adelaide 9.13 (67) to 8.12 (60)
** Magarey Medal won by Jim Deane (South Adelaide)
* Western Australian National Football League:
** 8 August: Bernie Naylor kicks a WANFL record 23 goals against Subiaco, including twelve in one quarter.
** 10 October: South Fremantle win their second consecutive premiership and seventh overall, beating West Perth 18.12 (120) to 8.13 (61)
** Sandover Medal awarded to Merv McIntosh (Perth)

## Baseball

* World Series – New York Yankees won 4 games to 2 over the Brooklyn Dodgers
* The Boston Braves of the National League moved to Milwaukee, becoming the first MLB franchise to relocate in 50 years.

## Basketball

* NCAA Men's Basketball Championship –
** Indiana wins 69–68 over Kansas
* NBA Finals –
** Minneapolis Lakers won 4 games to 1 over the New York Knicks
* The eighth European basketball championship, Eurobasket 1953, is won by the Soviet Union.
* The fifteenth South American Basketball Championship in Montevideo is won by Uruguay.

## Boxing

* September 24 in New York City – Rocky Marciano retains his World Heavyweight title with a TKO over Roland La Starza in the 11th round.
* October in New York City – Bobo Olson scored a 15-round decision over Randy Turpin to win the World Middleweight Championship

## Bowling

Nine-pin bowling
* Nine-pin bowling World Championships –
** Men's champion: Alfred Beierl, Austria
** Women's champion: Jelena Šincek, Yugoslavia
** Men's team champion: Yugoslavia
** Women's team champion: Austria

## Canadian football

* Grey Cup – Hamilton Tiger-Cats win 12–6 over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers

## Cricket

England
* County Championship – Surrey
* Minor Counties Championship – Berkshire
* Most runs – Bill Edrich 2557 @ 47.35 (HS 211)
* Most wickets – Bruce Dooland 172 @ 16.58 (BB 7–19)
* Wisden Cricketers of the Year – Keith Miller, Neil Harvey, Johnny Wardle, Willie Watson, Tony Lock
Australia
* Sheffield Shield – South Australia
* Most runs – Neil Harvey 1659 @ 63.80 (HS 205)
* Most wickets – Hugh Tayfield 70 @ 27.91 (BB 7–71)
* South Africa make their first tour of Australia since 1931–32, and tie the five-Test series two-all with one draw
India
* Ranji Trophy – Holkar
New Zealand
* Plunket Shield – Otago
* Following their Australian tour, South Africa tour New Zealand, winning a two-Test series one-nil with one draw
South Africa
* Currie Cup – not contested
West Indies
* India make their first tour of the West Indies, losing a five-test series 0–1 with four draws.

## Cycling

* Giro d'Italia won by Fausto Coppi of Italy
* Tour de France – Louison Bobet of France
* UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race – Fausto Coppi of Italy

## Figure skating

* World Figure Skating Championships –
** Men's champion: Hayes Alan Jenkins, United States
** Ladies’ champion: Tenley Albright, United States
** Pair skating champions: Jennifer Nicks & John Nicks, Great Britain
** Ice dancing champions: Jean Westwood & Lawrence Demmy, Great Britain

## Golf

Men's professional
* Masters Tournament – Ben Hogan
* U.S. Open – Ben Hogan
* PGA Championship – Walter Burkemo
* British Open – Ben Hogan
* PGA Tour money leader – Lew Worsham – $34,002
* Ryder Cup – United States wins 6½ to 5½ over the British team.
Men's amateur
* British Amateur – Joe Carr
* U.S. Amateur – Gene Littler
Women's professional
* Women's Western Open – Louise Suggs
* U.S. Women's Open – Betsy Rawls
* Titleholders Championship – Patty Berg
* LPGA Tour money leader – Louise Suggs – $19,816

## Harness racing

* Little Brown Jug for pacers won by Keystoner
* Hambletonian for trotters won by Helicopter
* Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
** Pacers: Captain Sandy

## Horse racing

Steeplechases
* Cheltenham Gold Cup – Knock Hard
* Grand National – Early Mist
Hurdle races
* Champion Hurdle – Sir Ken
Flat races
* Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Wodalla
* Canada – Queen's Plate won by Canadiana
* France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by La Sorellina
* Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Chamier
* English Triple Crown Races:
** 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Nearula
** The Derby – Pinza
** St. Leger Stakes – Premonition
* United States Triple Crown Races:
** Kentucky Derby – Dark Star
** Preakness Stakes – Native Dancer
** Belmont Stakes – Native Dancer

## Ice hockey

* World Hockey Championship
** Men's champion: Sweden defeated West Germany and Switzerland.
** Canada did not participate in the World Hockey Championship, the government claiming it was not worth the expense.
* Stanley Cup – Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 1 over the Boston Bruins
* Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
* Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
* NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship – University of Michigan Wolverines defeat University of Minnesota Golden Gophers 7–3 in Colorado Springs, CO
* HC Kometa Brno was founded in South Moravian Region, Czechoslovakia, present day of Czech Republic.

## Rugby league

* 1952–53 European Rugby League Championship / 1953–54 European Rugby League Championship
* 1953 New Zealand rugby league season
* 1953 NSWRFL season
* 1952–53 Northern Rugby Football League season / 1953–54 Northern Rugby Football League season

## Rugby union

* 59th Five Nations Championship series is won by England

## Snooker

* World Snooker Championship – Fred Davis beats Walter Donaldson 37–34

## Tennis

Australia
* Australian Men's Singles Championship – Ken Rosewall (Australia) defeats Mervyn Rose (Australia) 6–0, 6–3, 6–4
* Australian Women's Singles Championship – Maureen Connolly Brinker (USA) defeats Julia Sampson Hayward (USA) 6–3, 6–2
England
* Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Vic Seixas (USA) defeats Kurt Nielsen (Denmark) 9–7, 6–3, 6–4
* Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Maureen Connolly Brinker (USA) defeats Doris Hart (USA) 8–6, 7–5
France
* French Men's Singles Championship – Ken Rosewall (Australia) defeats Vic Seixas (USA) 6–3, 6–4, 1–6, 6–2
* French Women's Singles Championship – Maureen Connolly (USA) defeats Doris Hart (USA) 6–2, 6–4
USA
* American Men's Singles Championship – Tony Trabert (USA) defeats Vic Seixas (USA) 6–3, 6–2, 6–3
* American Women's Singles Championship – Maureen Connolly (USA) defeats Doris Hart (USA) 6–2, 6–4
Events
* Maureen Connolly becomes the first woman to win the Grand Slam in tennis.
Davis Cup
* 1953 Davis Cup – Australia 3–2 United States at Kooyong Stadium (grass) Melbourne, Australia

## Multi-sport events

* Pan Arab Games held in Alexandria, Egypt

## Awards

* Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Ben Hogan, PGA golf
* Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Maureen Connolly, Tennis