1902 in sports

1902 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

World lightweight boxing champion Joe Gans

American football

College championship

Rose Bowl (1901 season):
- The Michigan Wolverines won 49–0 over the Stanford Indians to win the college football national championship
Michigan Wolverines – college football national championship

Professional championships

Events

1 January — inaugural Rose Bowl game is played at Pasadena, California
September — the first professional football league, the National Football League (1902), which is unrelated to the current NFL, is formed from three teams based in Pennsylvania and who are backed by Major League Baseball. The league folds a few months later.
21 November — the Philadelphia Football Athletics defeated the Kanaweola Athletic Club of Elmira, New York, 39–0, in the first ever professional American football night game.
29 November — the Pittsburgh Stars defeated the Philadelphia Football Athletics, 11–0, at the Pittsburgh Coliseum, to win the 1902 National Football League championship.
28 December — the Syracuse Athletic Club defeated the New York Philadelphians, 5–0, in the first indoor professional American football game, which was held at Madison Square Garden.

Association football

Brazil

Fluminense FC was founded in Laranjeiras area, Rio de Janeiro.^[1]

England

The Football League – Sunderland 44 points, Everton 41, Newcastle United 37, Blackburn Rovers 36, Nottingham Forest 35, Derby County 35
FA Cup final – Sheffield United 2–1 Southampton at Crystal Palace, London (replay following 1–1 draw at Crystal Palace)
26 April — shortly after being saved from bankruptcy, Newton Heath changes its name to Manchester United

Scotland

Scottish Football League – Rangers
Scottish Cup final – Hibernian 1–0 Celtic at Celtic Park^[2]

Spain

10 March — foundation of Real Madrid as Madrid Fútbol Club

Athletics

Sammy Mellor wins the sixth running of the Boston Marathon.^[3]

Australian rules football

VFL Premiership

Collingwood wins the 6th VFL Premiership: Collingwood 9.6 (60) d Essendon 3.9 (27) at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)
With a handful of exceptions, all VFL/AFL Grand Finals are played at the MCG from 1902

Baseball

National championship

National League championship – Pittsburgh Pirates
American League championship – Philadelphia Athletics

Events

23 April — infielder Lou Castro debuts with the Philadelphia Athletics in the American League as the first Latin-American to play in Major League Baseball
Winnipeg Maroons wins the inaugural Northern League Championship in the minor leagues

Boxing

Events

Joe Gans wins the World Lightweight Championship by knocking out Frank Erne in the first round. Gans successfully defends the title five times by the end of the year.
25 July — James J. Jeffries defeats Bob Fitzsimmons by an eighth-round knockout in San Francisco, Fitzsimmons failing in his bid to recover the World Heavyweight Championship

Lineal world champions^[4]

Canadian Football

The ORFU is reduced to two teams after Hamilton ceases play after the first game of the season.
Ontario Rugby Football Union - Ottawa Rough Riders
Quebec Rugby Football Union - Ottawa College
Manitoba Rugby Football Union - Winnipeg Rowing Club
Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union - McGill
Dominion Championship - The Ottawa Rough Riders defeat Ottawa College 5-0

Cricket

Events

No cricket is played in South Africa due to the Boer War.
Australia defeats England in The Ashes by 2 Tests to 1 after the first two Tests have been rained off. In one of the most famous Test series in history, the final three matches are full of drama with Victor Trumper scoring a century before lunch in the Third Test, Australia winning the Fourth Test by just 3 runs and England winning the Fifth Test by one wicket following a century in only 75 minutes by Gilbert Jessop.

England

County Championship – Yorkshire
Minor Counties Championship – Wiltshire
Most runs – Victor Trumper 2570 @ 48.49 (HS 128)
Most wickets – Wilfred Rhodes 213 @ 13.15 (BB 8–26)
Wisden Cricketers of the Year – Warwick Armstrong, Cuthbert Burnup, James Iremonger, James Kelly, Victor Trumper

Australia

Sheffield Shield – New South Wales
Most runs – Clem Hill 1035 @ 51.75 (HS 107)
Most wickets – Len Braund 62 @ 28.69 (BB 6–90)

India

Bombay Presidency – Europeans shared with Parsees

South Africa

Currie Cup – not contested

West Indies

Inter-Colonial Tournament – not contested

Figure skating

World Figure Skating Championships

World Men's Champion – Ulrich Salchow (Sweden)

Golf

Major tournaments

British Open – Sandy Herd
US Open – Laurie Auchterlonie, who becomes the first golfer to break 80 in all four rounds of the US Open

Other tournaments

British Amateur – Charles Hutchings
US Amateur – Louis N. James

Horse racing

England

Grand National – Shannon Lass
1,000 Guineas Stakes – Sceptre
2,000 Guineas Stakes – Sceptre
The Derby – Ard Patrick^[5]
The Oaks – Sceptre
St. Leger Stakes – Sceptre

Australia

Melbourne Cup – The Victory

Canada

King's Plate – Lyddite

Ireland

Irish Grand National – Patlander
Irish Derby Stakes – St. Brendan

USA

Kentucky Derby – Alan-a-Dale
Preakness Stakes – Old England
Belmont Stakes – Masterman

Ice hockey

Stanley Cup

Winnipeg Victorias successfully defends the Stanley Cup, defeating Toronto Wellingtons in a Cup challenge by two games to nil in a best-of-three series
March – Winnipeg Victorias wins the Manitoba Hockey Association championship to retain the Stanley Cup
1 March — Montreal HC wins the Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL) championship and challenges Winnipeg
13–17 March — Montreal and Winnipeg play a best-of-three series for the Stanley Cup, Montreal winning by two games to one to claim the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1894

Motor racing

Paris-Vienna Trail

The Paris-Vienna Trail is run on 26–29 June over 990 km and won by Marcel Renault (France) driving a Renault in a time of 15:47:43. The race is in retrospect sometimes referred to as the VII Grand Prix de l'ACF.^[6]

Gordon Bennett Cup

The third Gordon Bennett Cup is run from Paris to Innsbruck and won by Selwyn Edge (Great Britain) driving a Napier 30hp.

Circuit des Ardennes

The inaugural Circuit des Ardennes is run on 31 July 1902 in the vicinity of Bastogne. The total distance is 512.05 km (i.e., 85.34 km x 6 laps). The winner is Charles Jarrott (Great Britain), driving a Panhard-Levassor 70 hp in a time of 5:53:39.

Great Britain