1863 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

National championship *

National Association of Base Ball Players The National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) was the first organization governing American baseball. (The sport was spelled with two words in the 19th century.) The first convention of sixteen New York City area clubs in 1857 effecti ...

champion –

Brooklyn Eckfords Eckford of Brooklyn, or simply Eckford, was an American baseball club from 1855 to 1872. When the Union Grounds opened on May 15, 1862 for baseball in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, it became the first enclosed baseball grounds in America. Three clubs cal ...

Events * The champion Eckford club of

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

wins all ten matches against National Association members, a run that began in August 1862

Boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

Events * 5 May —

Joe Coburn Joe Coburn (July 29, 1835 in Middletown, County Armagh, Ireland – December 6, 1890 in New York City, New York) was an Irish-American boxer. In 1862 he claimed the Heavyweight Championship from John Carmel Heenan when Heenan refused to fight him ...

defeats

Mike McCoole Mike McCoole (12 March 1837 in Ireland – 17 October 1886 at New Orleans), sometimes spelled McCool, was an Irish-born bare-knuckle boxing champion who came to America at the age of thirteen. He claimed the Heavyweight Championship of Americ ...

after 67 rounds and is now widely recognised as American Champion.Cyber Boxing Zone – Joe Coburn
Retrieved on 8 November 2009. * 10 December — Tom King defeats

John C. Heenan John Camel Heenan, also known as the Benicia Boy (2 May 1834 – 28 October 1873) was an American Bare-knuckle boxing, bare-knuckle prize fighter. Though highly regarded, he had only three formal fights in his career, losing two and drawing one. ...

in the 24th round to retain the English Championship title.Cyber Boxing Zone – Tom King
Retrieved on 8 November 2009. This is Heenan's final fight.
Retrieved on 8 November 2009.

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

Events * 8 January — formation of

Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club is one of 18 first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Yorkshire. Yorkshire are the most successful team in English cricketing hi ...

out of the Sheffield Match Fund Committee that has been established in 1861. Yorkshire CCC plays its initial first-class match v.

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

on 4, 5 & 6 June. It is a rain-affected draw, evenly balanced. * 12 August — formation of

Hampshire County Cricket Club Hampshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Hampshire. Hampshire teams formed by earlier organisations, principal ...

. A number of previous county organisations including the famous

Hambledon Club The Hambledon Club was a social club that is famous for its organisation of 18th century cricket matches. By the late 1770s it was the foremost cricket club in England. Foundation The origin of the club, based near Hambledon in rural Hampshire, ...

have existed in Hampshire during the previous hundred years or more, but none have survived indefinitely. * 15 December — formation of

Middlesex County Cricket Club Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Middlesex which has effectively been subsumed within the ceremonial ...

at a meeting in the London Tavern. * An organisation in Cheltenham is believed to have been the forerunner of

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Gloucestershire. Founded in 1870, Gloucestershire have always ...

, which has definitely been founded by 1871. Exact details of the club's foundation have been lost. England * Most runs – Will Mortlock 736 @ 26.28 (HS 106) * Most wickets –

George Wootton George Wootton (1834–1924) was an English cricketer. Biography Born 16 October 1834, Clifton, Nottinghamshire, England; Wootton joined the All England Eleven in 1860 English cricket season, 1860 but did not play his first first-class match ...

87 @ 9.74 (BB 8–9)

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Rules * 26 October — foundation by local clubs of

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

(FA) in London. The first set of Laws is drafted, based mainly on the Cambridge University Rules. The purpose is to regulate English football under a single code of rules, but the

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

clubs do not join because of the ball handling issue. Their attempt at compromise between the "dribbling" and "handling" codes is rejected by the dribblers and so rugby football becomes in time an entirely separate sport. The FA rules establish

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

(''aka'' football or "soccer") as a distinct sport. * Apart from their main purpose of introducing standard rules of play and procedure, the Laws seek to differentiate between association football and rugby football. The essential difference in the two codes is encapsulated in Laws 9 and 11 which state that no (outfield) player shall run with the ball (in his hands) and that no (outfield) player shall throw the ball or pass it to another with his hands. The Laws will be amended later to clarify the situation at throw ins and during possession by goalkeepers but the FA is emphatic from the start that "hand ball" is illegal during normal play. * These Laws are originally known as the "London Rules" because they are only adopted by some London clubs and hardly anywhere else. Several clubs exist in Sheffield at the time and they play to the so–called

Sheffield Rules The Sheffield Rules was a code of football devised and played in the English city of Sheffield between 1858 and 1877. The rules were initially created and revised by Sheffield Football Club, with responsibility for the laws passing to the Shef ...

. Gradually the FA, led by Charles Alcock, manages to persuade the clubs that a uniform set of rules is desirable and, after many adaptations and compromises, the FA rules eventually become standard. * The rejection of handling causes the "Rugby rules" clubs and colleges to withdraw from the FA and they will eventually found the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

in 1871. Clubs founded * Probable foundation of

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

as Stoke Ramblers, although it is not known to have played any matches until 1868. If founded in 1863, it is the second oldest senior professional club playing association football after

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

. * Foundation of the original Bradford Football Club, playing rugby rules, which in 1907 will become

Bradford Park Avenue A.F.C. Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former h ...

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

Major tournaments *

British Open The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

– Willie Park senior

Horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

England *

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap ...

– Emblem *

1,000 Guineas Stakes The 1000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 ...

– Lady Augusta *

2,000 Guineas Stakes The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year at ...

–

Macaroni Macaroni (, Italian: maccheroni) is dry pasta shaped like narrow tubes.Oxford DictionaryMacaroni/ref> Made with durum wheat, macaroni is commonly cut in short lengths; curved macaroni may be referred to as elbow macaroni. Some home machines ...

* The Derby – Macaroni * The Oaks – Queen Bertha *

St. Leger Stakes The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a ...

–

Lord Clifden Lord Clifden (1860 – 7 February 1875) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. He was undefeated as a two-year-old, including wins in the Woodcote Stakes and Champagne Stakes (Great Britain), Champagne Stakes. As a three-year-old he was just ...

Australia *

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbou ...

– Banker Canada *

Queen's Plate The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate between 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest Thoroughbred horse race, having been founded in 1860. It is also the oldest continuously run race in North America. It is run at a distance of ...

– Touchstone

Rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

The Boat Race * 28 March —

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

wins the 20th

Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. There are separate men's a ...

References

{{Sports by year 1851 – 1900 Sports by year