1953 in sports explained

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 12.14 (86) to 13.7 (85).
  • 1 August: Collingwood ends a run of 26 unbeaten games (including a draw with) 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,^[1] 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,^[2] including twelve in one quarter.^[3]
  • 10 October: win their second consecutive premiership and seventh overall, beating 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:
  1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Nearula
  2. The Derby – Pinza^[4]
  3. St. Leger Stakes – Premonition
• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby – Dark Star
  2. Preakness Stakes – Native Dancer
  3. 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.

Motorsport

See main article: 1953 in motorsport and List of 1953 motorsport champions.

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 – 3–2 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

Notes and References

1. It merged with Woodville after the 1990 season, and the new club won flags in 1993, 2006 and 2011
2. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article59677789 Naylor gets his second “Fiver”
3. https://web.archive.org/web/20040121162316/http://www.members.iinet.net.au/~falcons/history/memorylane.html A Trip Down Memory Lane
4. Web site: Epsom Derby History, Winners, & Facts Britannica . www.britannica.com . 3 January 2022 . en.