1975 in sports explained

1975 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

• January 12 − Super Bowl IX: the Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC) won 16−6 over the Minnesota Vikings (NFC)
  • Location: Tulane Stadium
  • Attendance: 80,997
  • MVP: Franco Harris, FB (Pittsburgh)
• Birmingham Vulcans win the final season of WFL competition, had best overall record when league ceased after first twelve weeks of regular season.

Association football

• Brazil – Internacional wins the Campeonato Brasileiro
• England – the League Championship – Derby County took the title for the second time in four seasons, finishing two points clear of Liverpool and Ipswich Town.
• England – FA Cup – West Ham United beat Fulham 2–0 at Wembley Stadium in front of 100,000 people. Alan Taylor was the scorer of both goals.
• England – League Cup – Aston Villa beat Norwich City 1–0 at Wembley Stadium.
• European Cup – Bayern Munich defeated Leeds United 2–0 in a controversial final at the Parc des Princes, Paris.
• European Cup Winners' Cup – Dynamo Kyiv beat Ferencváros 3–0 in Basel, Switzerland.
• UEFA Cup – Borussia Mönchengladbach beat FC Twente 5–1 on aggregate, with a leg played at each team's home stadium.
• Ecuador – Ecuadorian Serie A Champions: Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito

Athletics

• August 12 – New Zealand's John Walker set a new world record in Gothenburg, Sweden, becoming the first man to break 3:50 for the mile when he clocked 3:49.4.
• October – Athletics at the 1975 Pan American Games held in Mexico City

Australian rules football

• Victorian Football League
  • North Melbourne wins the 79th VFL Premiership (North Melbourne 19.8 (122) d Hawthorn 9.13 (67))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Gary Dempsey (Footscray)
• South Australian National Football League:
  • August 23: Glenelg kick the all-time record score for a major Australian Rules competition, kicking 49.23 (317) to Central District's 11.13 (79). It beat the previous record by an amazing 91 points.

Baseball

See main article: 1975 in baseball.

• January 23 – Slugger Ralph Kiner is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
• September 16 – Pirates second baseman Rennie Stennett ties Wilbert Robinson's ML record, set June 10, 1892, by going 7-for-7 in a 9-inning game. He scored five of his club's runs in a 22–0 massacre of the Cubs, a major-league record for the biggest score in a shutout game in the 20th century.
• World Series – Cincinnati Reds win 4 games to 3 over the Boston Red Sox. Often described as one of the most memorable of all World Series.

Basketball

• April 9 – Asia's first professional basketball league, the Philippine Basketball Association played its first game at the Araneta Coliseum.
• Darryl Dawkins becomes the first NBA player drafted out of high school.
• NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship –
  • UCLA wins 92–85 over Kentucky in John Wooden's final game as Bruins coach.
• NBA Finals –
  • Golden State Warriors win 4 games to 0 over the Washington Bullets
• 1975 ABA Finals –
  • Kentucky Colonels defeat Indiana Pacers 4 games to 1

Boxing

• October 1 in Manila, Philippines Muhammad Ali defeated Joe Frazier to maintain the Heavyweight Championship of the world. Known as the Thrilla In Manila, many regard it as the greatest fight in boxing history.

Canadian football

• Grey Cup – Edmonton Eskimos won 9–8 over the Montreal Alouettes
• Vanier Cup – Ottawa Gee-Gees won 14–9 over the Calgary Dinos

Cricket

• 1975 Cricket World Cup, the first to be held. West Indies beat Australia by 17 runs.

Cycling

• Giro d'Italia won by Fausto Bertoglio of Italy
• Tour de France – Bernard Thévenet of France
• UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race – Hennie Kuiper of Netherlands

Disc sports

• The first disc ultimate games in Canada are played as exhibition games at the Canadian Open Frisbee Championships on Toronto Islands.
• Ultimate is played as an exhibition of a new sport at the World Frisbee Championships (WFC) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

Dogsled racing

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion –
  • Emmitt Peters won with lead dogs: Nugget & Digger

Field hockey

• Men's World Cup held in Kuala Lumpur and won by India
• 1975 Pan American Games men's competition held in Mexico City and won by Argentina

Figure skating

• World Figure Skating Championships –
  • Men's champion: Sergey Nikolayevich Volkov, Soviet Union
  • Ladies' champion: Dianne de Leeuw, Netherlands
  • Pair skating champions: Irina Rodnina & Alexander Zaitsev, Soviet Union
  • Ice dancing champions: Irina Moiseyeva & Andrei Minenkov, Soviet Union

Golf

Men's professional

• Masters Tournament – Jack Nicklaus
• U.S. Open – Lou Graham
• British Open – Tom Watson
• PGA Championship – Jack Nicklaus
• PGA Tour money leader – Jack Nicklaus – $298,149
• Ryder Cup – United States wins 21–11 over Britain & Ireland in team golf.

Men's amateur

• British Amateur – Vinny Giles
• U.S. Amateur – Fred Ridley

Women's professional

• LPGA Championship – Kathy Whitworth
• U.S. Women's Open – Sandra Palmer
• LPGA Tour money leader – Sandra Palmer – $76,374

Harness racing

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
  1. Cane Pace – Nero
  2. Little Brown Jug – Seatrain
  3. Messenger Stakes – Bret's Champ
• United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
  1. Hambletonian – Bonefish
  2. Yonkers Trot – Surefire Hanover
  3. Kentucky Futurity – Noble Rogue
• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
  • Pacers: Young Quinn

Horse racing

• footy July 6 – In what was billed as the "Battle of the Sexes", Kentucky Derby winner, Foolish Pleasure went head to head in a match race against the undefeated filly, Ruffian. In the lead, Ruffian broke a leg and, after an unsuccessful operation to save her, the horse widely believed to have been the greatest thoroughbred filly ever was humanely put down.

Steeplechases

• Cheltenham Gold Cup – Ten Up
• Grand National – L'Escargot

Flat races

• Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Think Big
• Canada – Queen's Plate won by L'Enjoleur
• France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Star Appeal
• Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Grundy
• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Bolkonski
  2. The Derby – Grundy^[1]
  3. St. Leger Stakes – Bruni
• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby – Foolish Pleasure
  2. Preakness Stakes – Master Derby
  3. Belmont Stakes – Avatar

Ice hockey

• Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins.
• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers
• Stanley Cup – Philadelphia Flyers defeat the Buffalo Sabres 4 games to 2
• World Hockey Championship –
  • Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Czechoslovakia
• Avco World Trophy – Houston Aeros win 4 games to 0 over the Quebec Nordiques
• SM-liiga, the Finnish professional ice hockey league, launched its first season 1975–1976
• NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship – Michigan Technological University Huskies defeat University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Golden Gophers 6–1 in St. Louis, Missouri

Lacrosse

• The National Lacrosse League of 1974 and 1975 play their 2nd and last season.
• The Quebec Caribous defeat the Montreal Québécois 4 games to 2 to win the National Lacrosse League (1974–75) Championship.
• The Vancouver Burrards win the Mann Cup.
• The Windsor Warlocks win the Founders Cup.
• The Peterborough Gray Munros win the Minto Cup.

Motorsport

See main article: 1975 in motorsport and List of 1975 motorsport champions.

Orienteering

• First Ski Orienteering World Championships held in Hyvinkää, Finland.

Rugby league

• 1975 Amco Cup
• 1975 European Rugby League Championship
• 1975 New Zealand rugby league season
• 1975 NSWRFL season
• 1975 Pacific Cup
• 1974–75 Northern Rugby Football League season / 1975–76 Northern Rugby Football League season
• 1975 Rugby League World Cup

Rugby union

• 81st Five Nations Championship series is won by Wales

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship – Ray Reardon beats Eddie Charlton 31–30

Swimming

• The second FINA World Championships held in Cali, Colombia

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open – John Newcombe
  2. French Open – Björn Borg
  3. Wimbledon championships – Arthur Ashe
  4. U.S. Open – Manuel Orantes
• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open – Evonne Goolagong
  2. French Open – Chris Evert
  3. Wimbledon championships – Billie Jean King
  4. U.S. Open – Chris Evert
• Davis Cup – Sweden wins 3–2 over Czechoslovakia in world tennis.
• Eighteen-year-old Martina Navratilova of Czechoslovakia announces her defection to the United States

Volleyball

• Asian Men's Volleyball Championship held in Melbourne: won by Japan
• Asian Women's Volleyball Championship held in Melbourne: won by Japan
• Men and Women's European Volleyball Championship held in Yugoslavia: men's and women's tournaments both won by USSR
• Volleyball at the 1975 Pan American Games held in Mexico City: men's and women's tournaments both won by Cuba

Water polo

• 1975 FINA Men's World Water Polo Championship held in Cali, Colombia, and won by USSR.

General sporting events

• Seventh Pan American Games held in Mexico City, Mexico^[2]
• Seventh Mediterranean Games held in Algiers, Algeria
• Eighth Summer Universiade held in Rome, Italy
• Eighth Winter Universiade held in Livigno, Italy

Awards

• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Fred Lynn, Major League Baseball
• Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Chris Evert, Tennis

Notes and References

1. Web site: Epsom Derby History, Winners, & Facts Britannica . www.britannica.com . January 3, 2022 . en.
2. Web site: FAQ: What are the Pan American Games? . Team Canada - Official Olympic Team Website . January 4, 2022.