1947 in sports

1947 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

American football

• Chicago Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles 28-21 to win the NFL championship.
• Cleveland Browns beat the New York Yankees to win the AAFC championship.
• Notre Dame Fighting Irish – college football national championship shared with Michigan

Association football

England

• First Division – Liverpool win the 1946-47 title.
• FA Cup – Charlton Athletic beat Burnley 1-0 after extra time

Spain

• La Liga won by Valencia

Italy

• Serie A won by Torino

Germany

• No major football is held due to the Allied occupation of Germany.

France

• French Division 1 won by CO Roubaix-Tourcoing

Portugal

• Primeira Liga won by Sporting C.P.

Australian rules football

Victorian Football League

• Carlton wins the 51st VFL Premiership, defeating Essendon 13.8 (86) to 11.19 (85) in the 1947 VFL Grand Final.
• Brownlow Medal awarded to Bert Deacon (Carlton)

South Australian National Football League

• 4 October – West Adelaide win their sixth SANFL premiership, defeating Norwood 10.15 (75) to 5.15 (45)
• Magarey Medal awarded to Bob Hank (West Torrens)

Western Australian National Football League

• 11 October – South Fremantle with their third WA(N)FL premiership but first since 1917, defeating West Perth 13.8 (86) to 9.17 (71)
• Sandover Medal awarded to Clive Lewington (South Fremantle)

Baseball

• January 20 – death of Josh Gibson (35), famed Negro League slugger
• Jackie Robinson becomes the first African-American baseball player in Major League Baseball.
• April 27 – Babe Ruth Day was celebrated all across the Major Leagues, with Babe himself appearing at Yankee Stadium. Although stricken with throat cancer, Ruth said to the audience: "The only real game I think in the world is baseball."
• World Series – New York Yankees beat Brooklyn Dodgers 4 games to 3.
• June 27–28 – In the inaugural College World Series, California defeats Yale 2 games to 0 in the best-of-three series. The Yale team featured future U.S. President George Bush.
• Negro World Series – New York Cubans defeat the Cleveland Buckeyes, 4 games to 1.

Basketball

BAA (NBA) Finals

• Philadelphia Warriors win four games to one over the Chicago Stags

NBL Championship

• Chicago American Gears win three games to two over the Rochester Royals

Boxing

• Rocky Graziano defeats Tony Zale to win boxing’s world middleweight championship.
• December 5 – Joe Louis defeats Jersey Joe Walcott to retain his heavyweight championship

Canadian football

• Grey Cup – Toronto Argonauts defeat Winnipeg Blue Bombers 10–9

Cricket

Events

• Dennis Compton and Bill Edrich both beat Tom Hayward’s 1906 record of 3,518 runs in a first-class season.
• England tour Australia for the first Ashes series since 1938, losing three Tests to nil
• South Africa tour England for the first time since 1935, losing three Tests to nil

England

• County Championship – Middlesex
• Minor Counties Championship – Surrey Second Eleven
• Most runs – Dennis Compton 3,816 @ 90.85 (HS 246)
• Most wickets – Tom Goddard 238 @ 17.38 (BB 9–41)
• Wisden Cricketers of the Year – Alan Melville, Norman Yardley, Martin Donnelly, Dudley Nourse, Jack Robertson

Australia

• Sheffield Shield – Victoria
• Most runs – Dennis Comption 1,432 @ 65.09 (HS 163)^[1]
• Most wickets – Doug Wright 51 @ 33.31 (BB 7–105)^[2]

India

• Ranji Trophy – 7-11 March: Baroda defeated Holkar by an innings and 409 runs

New Zealand

• Plunket Shield – Auckland

South Africa

• Currie Cup – Transvaal

Figure skating

• World Figure Skating Championships
  • Men's champion: Hans Gerschwiler, Switzerland
  • Ladies' champion: Barbara Ann Scott, Canada
  • Pair skating champions: Micheline Lannoy & Pierre Baugniet, Belgium

Golf

Men’s professional

• Masters Tournament – Jimmy Demaret
• U.S. Open – Lew Worsham
• PGA Championship – Jim Ferrier
• British Open – Fred Daly

Men’s amateur

• British Amateur – Willie Turnesa
• U.S. Amateur – Skee Riegel

Women’s professional

• Women's Western Open – Louise Suggs
• U.S. Women's Open – Betty Jameson
• Titleholders Championship – Babe Zaharias

Horse racing

Steeplechases

• Cheltenham Gold Cup – Fortina
• Grand National – Caughoo

Hurdle races

• Champion Hurdle – National Spirit

Flat races

• September 1, 1947: Calumet Farm of Lexington, Kentucky became the first stable in Thoroughbred racing history to surpass $1 million in annual earnings when Armed won the Washington Park Handicap.
• Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Hiraji^[3]
• Canada – Queen's Plate won by Moldy
• France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Le Paillon
• Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Sayajirao
• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Tudor Minstrel
  2. Epsom Derby – Pearl Diver
  3. St. Leger Stakes – Sayajirao
• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby – Jet Pilot
  2. Preakness Stakes – Faultless. This race is remembered for radio race caller Clem McCarthy declaring Jet Pilot the winner when in reality it was Faultless.
  3. Belmont Stakes – Phalanx

Ice hockey

• Toronto Maple Leafs defeat Montreal Canadiens 4 games to 2 to win the Stanley Cup. Ted "Teeder" Kennedy scores the match-winning goal late in game six to win the Maple Leafs their first of three straight Cups, the first time any NHL team has accomplished that feat.

Motor racing

• FIA formalizes a new World Drivers' Championship for Formula A (Formula One) open-wheel racing. It replaces the European Championship.
• Wally Parks founds the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) to better organize drag racing.
• 30 May – Mauri Rose wins the 31st running of the Indianapolis 500 in the Blue Crown Spark Plug Special Deidt-Offenhauser
• 16 September – J. R. Cobb in the Railton Special breaks his own prewar land speed record, raising the mark to 394.19 mph (634.39 km/h). In doing so, Cobb records the first one-way pass over 400 mph (640 km/h).
• 14 December – at the Ebony Bar at the Streamline Hotel, Daytona Beach, Florida, "Big Bill" France begins talks with influential racers and promoters that will lead to the creation of NASCAR.

Rowing

The Boat Race

• 29 March — Cambridge wins the 93rd Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race

Rugby league

• 1946–47 European Rugby League Championship/1947–48 European Rugby League Championship
• 1947 New Zealand rugby league season
• 1947 NSWRFL season
• 1946–47 Northern Rugby Football League season/1947–48 Northern Rugby Football League season

Rugby union

Five Nations Championship

• 53rd Five Nations Championship series is shared by England and Wales

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship – Walter Donaldson beats Fred Davis 82-63.

Speed skating

Speed Skating World Championships

• Men's All-round Champion – Lassi Parkkinen (Finland)
• Women's All-round Champion – Verné Lesche (Finland)

Tennis

Australia

• Australian Men's Singles Championship – Dinny Pails (Australia) defeats John Bromwich (Australia) 4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 7–5, 8–6
• Australian Women's Singles Championship – Nancye Wynne Bolton (Australia) defeats Nell Hall Hopman (Australia) 6–3, 6–2

England

• Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Jack Kramer (USA) defeats Tom Brown (USA) 6–1, 6–3, 6–2
• Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Margaret Osborne duPont (USA) defeats Doris Hart (USA) 6–2, 6–4

France

• French Men's Singles Championship – József Asbóth (Hungary) defeats Eric Sturgess (South Africa) 8–6, 7–5, 6–4
• French Women's Singles Championship – Patricia Canning Todd (USA) defeats Doris Hart (USA) 6–3, 3–6, 6–4

USA

• American Men's Singles Championship – Jack Kramer (USA) defeats Frank Parker (USA) 4–6, 2–6, 6–1, 6–0, 6–3
• American Women's Singles Championship – Louise Brough Clapp (USA) defeated Margaret Osborne duPont (USA) 8–6, 4–6, 6–1

Davis Cup

• 1947 Davis Cup –  United States 4–1  Australia at West Side Tennis Club (grass) New York City, United States

Awards

• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Johnny Lujack, College football
• Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Babe Didrikson Zaharias, LPGA golf

References

1. First Class Batting and Fielding in Australia 1946–47 (ordered by runs)
2. First-Class Bowling in Australia 1946–47 (ordered by wickets)
3. Melbourne Cup: Past Winners 1941 to 1950

{{Sports by year 1901 – 1950}}