# 1971 in sports

1971 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

## Alpine skiing

* Alpine Skiing World Cup
** Men's overall season champion: Gustav Thöni, Italy
** Women's overall season champion: Annemarie Pröll, Austria

## American football

* 17 January − Super Bowl V: the Baltimore Colts (AFC) won 16–13 over the Dallas Cowboys (NFC)
** Location: Miami Orange Bowl
** Attendance: 79,204
** MVP: Chuck Howley, LB (Dallas)
* 25 December – The Miami Dolphins defeat the Kansas City Chiefs in a divisional playoff game. The double-overtime contest is the longest game in NFL history, and the Chiefs' last home game at Municipal Stadium.
* Orange Bowl (1970 season):
** The Nebraska Cornhuskers won 17–12 over the Louisiana State Tigers to win the AP Poll national championship after the previous #1 Texas Longhorns lost in the Cotton Bowl and the #2 Ohio State Buckeyes lost in the Rose Bowl.
* 24 October – death of Chuck Hughes, Detroit Lions wide receiver

## Association football

* 2 January – At the end of a Rangers–Celtic match at Ibrox Park in Glasgow, barriers at Stairway 13 give way under a mass of fans, killing 66 and injuring over 200 others.
* 30 June – death of Georgi Asparuhov (28), Bulgarian international
* Atlético Mineiro wins the first Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
* Arsenal are the English First Division champions
* England – FA Cup – Arsenal won 2–1 over Liverpool to win The Double
* European Championship Cup Final: Ajax – Panathinaikos 2–0

## Athletics

* August – Athletics at the 1971 Pan American Games held in Cali, Colombia
* August – 1971 European Athletics Championships held at Helsinki

## Australian rules football

* Victorian Football League
** Hawthorn wins the 75th VFL Premiership (Hawthorn 12.10 (82) d St Kilda 11.9 (75))
** Brownlow Medal awarded to Ian Stewart (Richmond)
* SANFL
** North Adelaide 10.19 (79) defeated Port Adelaide 9.5 (59)

## Bandy

* 1971 Bandy World Championship is held in Sweden and won by Soviet Union.

## Baseball

* World Series – Pittsburgh Pirates won 4 games to 3 over the Baltimore Orioles. Game four, played on 13 October at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, was the first night game in World Series history.

## Basketball

* NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship –
** UCLA wins 68–62 over Villanova
** Indiana University Hires Bob Knight as their head basketball coach.
* NBA Finals –
** Milwaukee Bucks win 4 games to 0 over the Baltimore Bullets
* 1971 ABA Finals –
** Utah Stars defeat Kentucky Colonels 4 games to 3; Stars defeat Indiana Pacers in division finals while Colonels defeat Virginia Squires.

## Boxing

* 8 March – Joe Frazier defeats Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden, in the first of three epic bouts between the two, to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.

## Canadian football

* Grey Cup – Calgary Stampeders won 14–11 over the Toronto Argonauts
* Vanier Cup – Western Ontario Mustangs won 15–14 over the Alberta Golden Bears

## Cricket

* 5 January, Melbourne – first-ever One Day International is played after a Test match is abandoned because of rain, Australia beating England by 5 wickets.

## Cycling

* Giro d'Italia won by Gösta Pettersson of Sweden
* Tour de France – Eddy Merckx of Belgium
* UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race – Eddy Merckx of Belgium

## Field hockey

* Men's World Cup in Barcelona, Spain
** Gold Medal: Pakistan
** Silver Medal: Spain
** Bronze Medal: India
* Pan American Games (Men's Competition) in Cali, Colombia
** Gold Medal: Argentina
** Silver Medal: Mexico
** Bronze Medal: Canada

## Figure skating

* World Figure Skating Championships –
** Men's champion: Ondrej Nepela, Czechoslovakia
** Ladies' champion: Trixi Schuba, Austria
** Pair skating champions: Irina Rodnina & Alexei Ulyanov, Soviet Union
** Ice dancing champions: Lyudmila Pakhomova & Alexandr Gorshkov, Soviet Union

## Golf

Men's professional
* PGA Championship – Jack Nicklaus
* Masters Tournament – Charles Coody
* U.S. Open – Lee Trevino
* British Open – Lee Trevino
* PGA Tour money leader – Jack Nicklaus – $244,491
* Ryder Cup – United States won 18½ to 13½ over Britain in team golf
Men's amateur
* British Amateur – Steve Melnyk
* U.S. Amateur – Gary Cowan
Women's professional
* LPGA Championship – Kathy Whitworth
* U.S. Women's Open – JoAnne Carner – this win made her the first person to win three different USGA individual championship events.
* Titleholders Championship – not played
* LPGA Tour money leader – Kathy Whitworth – $41,181

## Harness racing

* United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
** Cane Pace – Albatross
** Little Brown Jug – Nansemond
** Messenger Stakes – Albatross
* United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
** Hambletonian – Speedy Crown
** Yonkers Trot – Quick Pride
** Kentucky Futurity – Savoir
* Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
** Pacers: Stella Frost
** Trotters: Geffini

## Horse racing

Steeplechases
* Cheltenham Gold Cup – L'Escargot
* Grand National – Specify
Flat races
* Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Silver Knight
* Canada – Queen's Plate won by Kennedy Road
* France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Mill Reef
* Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Irish Ball
* English Triple Crown Races:
** 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Brigadier Gerard
** The Derby – Mill Reef
** St. Leger Stakes – Athens Wood
* United States Triple Crown Races:
** Kentucky Derby – Canonero II
** Preakness Stakes – Canonero II
** Belmont Stakes – Pass Catcher

## Ice hockey

* 13 April – death of Michel Brière (21), Canadian player with Pittsburgh Penguins
* Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins
* Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
* Stanley Cup – Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 3 over the Chicago Black Hawks
* World Hockey Championship
** Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Czechoslovakia
* NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship – Boston University Terriers defeat University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Golden Gophers 4–2 in Syracuse, New York
* World Hockey Association (WHA) is formed as an alternative North American professional hockey league to the NHL

## Lacrosse

* Cornell beats Maryland 12–6 to win the first NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship.
* The Brantford Warriors win the Mann Cup.
* The Richmond Roadrunners win the Minto Cup.
* The Victoria McDonalds win the Castrol Cup.

## Radiosport

* Sixth Amateur Radio Direction Finding European Championship held in Duisburg, Federal Republic of Germany.

## Rugby league

* 18 September – the 1971 NSWRFL season culminates in a Grand Final victory for South Sydney, defeating St George 16–10
* 1971 New Zealand rugby league season
* 1970–71 Northern Rugby Football League season / 1971–72 Northern Rugby Football League season

## Rugby union

* 77th Five Nations Championship series is won by Wales who complete the Grand Slam

## Snooker

* World Snooker Championship – John Spencer beats Warren Simpson 37–29

## Swimming

* 27 August – US swimmer Mark Spitz recaptures the world record in the men's 200m butterfly (long course), clocking 2:03.9 at a meet in Houston, Texas.
* 31 August – Four days after Mark Spitz broke the world record in the men's 200m butterfly (long course), West Germany's Hans-Joachim Fassnacht betters the time to 2:03.3 at a meet in Landskrona, Sweden.

## Tennis

* Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
** Australian Open – Ken Rosewall
** French Open – Jan Kodeš
** Wimbledon championships – John Newcombe
** U.S. Open – Stan Smith
* Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
** Australian Open – Margaret Court
** French Open – Evonne Goolagong
** Wimbledon championships – Evonne Goolagong
** U.S. Open – Billie Jean King
* Davis Cup – United States wins 3–2 over Romania in world tennis.
* Sixteen-year-old Chris Evert makes her US Open debut reaching the semifinals where she is defeated by eventual champion Billie Jean King.
* First time in 16 years that Americans won both the men's and women's title at the US Open.

## Volleyball

* Men and Women's European Volleyball Championship held in Italy
** 1971 Men's European Volleyball Championship won by the USSR
** 1971 Women's European Volleyball Championship won by the USSR
* Volleyball at the 1971 Pan American Games held in Cali, Colombia
** Men's and women's tournaments both won by Cuba

## Multi-sport events

* Sixth Pan American Games held in Cali, Colombia
* Sixth Mediterranean Games held in İzmir, Turkey

## Awards

* ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year: Lee Trevino, PGA Golf
* Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Lee Trevino, PGA golf
* Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Evonne Goolagong, Tennis
* Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year - Lee Trevino, PGA golf