1926 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

American football

NFL championship Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...

– Frankford Yellow Jackets (14–1–2) * Rose Bowl (1925 season): ** The Alabama Crimson Tide won 20–19 over the Washington Huskies to share the

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

national championship

Association football

England * The Football League – Huddersfield Town 57 points,

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

52,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

48, Bury 47, Sheffield United 46,

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

44 * FA Cup final –

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

1–0

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

at Empire Stadium, Wembley, London * Huddersfield Town is the first team to win the League championship title three times in succession. Germany * National Championship – SpVgg Fürth 4–1

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charl ...

at Frankfurt Greece * Formation of the Hellenic Football Federation (HFF)

Athletics

Sweden * the Second Women's World Games, Gothenburg

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

VFL Premiership * Melbourne wins the 30th

VFL The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

Premiership: Melbourne 17.17 (119) d

Collingwood Collingwood, meaning "wood of disputed ownership", may refer to: Educational institutions * Collingwood College, Victoria, an Australian state Prep to Year 12 school * Collingwood College, Durham, college of Durham University, England * Collingw ...

9.8 (62) at

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...

(MCG) Brownlow Medal * The annual Brownlow Medal is awarded to Ivor Warne-Smith (Melbourne)

Bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...

Sweden *

Championship final In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

– Västerås SK 1-0 IK Sirius

Baseball

World Series * 2–10 October — St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeats New York Yankees (AL) to win the

1926 World Series The 1926 World Series was the World Series, championship series of the 1926 Major League Baseball season. The 23rd edition of the Series, it pitted the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals against the American League champion New York Y ...

by 4 games to 3 Negro leagues * Rube Foster, founder of the Negro National League (NNL) and owner and manager of the Chicago American Giants, suffers a nervous breakdown and has to be confined to an asylum. His protégé Dave Malarcher takes over as manager and leads the team to the NNL pennant. * The Chicago American Giants ( NNL) defeat the Bacharach Giants of

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

( ECL), 5 games to 3, in the

1926 Colored World Series The 1926 Colored World Series was the championship tournament for the 1926 season of Negro league baseball. It was the third overall Series played. It matched the Chicago American Giants, champions of the Negro National League (1920–1931), and t ...

. * Mule Suttles of the St. Louis Stars hits a Negro leagues record 27 home runs. His .498 batting average and 21 triples are also records.

Basketball

ABL Championship * Cleveland Rosenblums win three games to none over the Brooklyn Arcadians

Boxing

Events * 23 September — Gene Tunney defeats Jack Dempsey over 10 rounds in Philadelphia to win the World Heavyweight Championship * Tiger Flowers twice defeats Harry Greb for the

World Middleweight Champion Championship recognition 1884–1910 Champions were recognized by public acclamation. A champion in that era was a fighter who had a notable win over another fighter and kept winning afterward. Retirements or disputed results could lead to a cha ...

ship but then loses it to former

World Welterweight Champion In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

Mickey Walker who holds it until 1931 Lineal world champions * World Heavyweight Championship – Jack Dempsey → Gene Tunney *

World Light Heavyweight Champion This is a chronological list of world light heavyweight boxing champions, as recognized by four of the better-known sanctioning organizations: Championship recognition 1903–1910 The light-heavyweight division was created in 1903, the brainc ...

ship –

Paul Berlenbach Paul Berlenbach (February 18, 1901 – September 30, 1985) was the world light heavyweight boxing champion from May 30, 1925, when he wrested the crown from Mike McTigue, until July 16, 1926, when he was defeated by his nemesis Jack Delaney. ''The ...

→ Jack Delaney *

ship – Harry Greb → Tiger Flowers → Mickey Walker *

ship – Mickey Walker → Pete Latzo *

World Lightweight Champion This is a list of world lightweight boxing champions by organization, as recognized by four of the better-known sanctioning organizations: * The World Boxing Association (WBA), founded in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA), * The World ...

ship – Rocky Kansas → Sammy Mandell *

World Featherweight Champion Championship recognition Public Acclamation: 1884 to 1921 Champions were recognized by wide public acclamation. A heavyweight champion was a boxer who had a notable win over another notable boxer and then went without defeat. Retirements from the ...

ship –

Louis "Kid" Kaplan Louis "Kid" Kaplan (born October 15, 1901 in Kyiv, Ukraine – October 26, 1970) was a professional boxer and a 1925 world featherweight champion. Early life Kaplan and his family emigrated to the United States from the Kyiv when he was five ...

→ vacant *

World Bantamweight Champion This is a list of world bantamweight boxing champions, as recognized by the four major sanctioning organizations in boxing: * The World Boxing Association (WBA), established in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA). The WBA often recognize ...

ship – Charley Phil Rosenberg *

World Flyweight Champion This is a list of world flyweight boxing champions, as recognized by the four major sanctioning organizations in boxing: * The World Boxing Association (WBA), established in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA). The WBA often recognize up ...

ship – vacant

Canadian football

Grey Cup *

14th Grey Cup The 14th Grey Cup was played on December 4, 1926, before 8,276 fans at the Varsity Stadium at Toronto. The Ottawa Senators defeated the Toronto Varsity Blues 10–7. Joe Miller was the star of the game, scoring three vital late games "rouges" ( ...

– Ottawa Senators 10–7 Toronto Varsity Blues

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 * 31 May — India, New Zealand and West Indies are elected as Full Members of the Imperial Cricket Conference, increasing the number of nations playing Test cricket from three to six. * England regains The Ashes from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

by winning the five-match

Test series Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association footba ...

1–0. After the first four Tests are drawn, England wins the final match at The Oval by 289 runs. England * County Championship – Lancashire *

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...

– Durham * Most runs – Jack Hobbs 2949 @ 77.60 (HS 316*) * Most wickets – Charlie Parker 213 @ 18.40 (BB 8–73) * Wisden Cricketers of the Year – George Geary, Harold Larwood, Jack Mercer,

Bert Oldfield William Albert Stanley Oldfield (9 September 1894 – 10 August 1976) was an Australian cricketer and businessman. He played for New South Wales and Australia as a wicket-keeper. Oldfield's 52 stumpings during his Test career remains a record ...

, Bill Woodfull Australia * Sheffield Shield – New South Wales * Most runs – Arthur Richardson 904 @ 50.22 (HS 227) * Most wickets – Clarrie Grimmett 59 @ 30.40 (BB 6–76) * Victoria score 1,107 against New South Wales at the

in December 1926 - still the largest innings total in first-class cricket. India * Bombay Quadrangular – Hindus New Zealand * Plunket Shield – Wellington South Africa * Currie Cup – '' not contested'' West Indies * Inter-Colonial Tournament – Trinidad and Tobago

Cycling

Tour de France *

Lucien Buysse Lucien Buysse (; 11 September 1892 – 3 January 1980) was a Belgian cyclist and a champion of the Tour de France. Career Born in Wontergem, Buysse began racing professionally in 1914, when he entered the Tour de France but did not finish. He ...

(Belgium) wins the 20th Tour de France

Figure skating

World Figure Skating Championships * World Women's Champion –

Herma Szabo Herma Szabo (22 February 1902 – 7 May 1986) was an Austrian figure skater who competed in ladies' singles and pairs. As a single skater, she became the 1924 Olympic champion and a five-time world champion (1922–1926). She also won two worl ...

(Austria) * World Men's Champion –

Willi Böckel Willi is a given name, nickname (often a short form or hypocorism of Wilhelm (name), Wilhelm) and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Willi Apel (1893–1988), German-American musicologist * Willi Boskovsky (1909–1991), A ...

(Austria) * World Pairs Champions – Andreé Joly-Brunet and Pierre Brunet (France)

Golf

Events * Bobby Jones becomes the first golfer to win the British and US Open titles in the same year. Major tournaments * British Open – Bobby Jones * US Open – Bobby Jones * USPGA Championship – Walter Hagen Other tournaments * British Amateur – Jess Sweetser * US Amateur –

George Von Elm George "Gix" Von Elm (March 20, 1901 – May 1, 1961) was an American professional golfer most noted for his amateur career. He was selected by ''Golf Digest'' as Utah's greatest amateur golfer, and in the early 1960s was named Utah Golfer of ...

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 * Cheltenham Gold Cup –

Koko Koko or KOKO may refer to: Animals *Koko (gorilla) (1971–2018), a gorilla trained to communicate in American Sign Language *Koko (dog) (2005–2012), the Australian kelpie in the 2011 film ''Red Dog'' *Koko (horse), an Irish racehorse that won ...

* Grand National –

Jack Horner Jack Horner may refer to: *''Little Jack Horner'', a nursery rhyme People * Jack Horner (baseball) (1863–1910), American professional baseball player *Jack Horner (journalist) (1912–2005), Gordon John Horner, Minnesota sportscaster * Jack B. H ...

** 19 April – Willie Watkinson, the Grand National-winning jockey, dies three weeks after his victory in a fall at Bogside, Scotland *

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 ...

– Pillion *

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 ...

– Colorado * The Derby – Coronach * The Oaks – Short Story * St. Leger Stakes – Coronach Australia * Melbourne Cup – Spearfelt Canada *

King'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 ...

– Haplite France * Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe – Biribi Ireland * Irish Grand National – Amberwave * Irish Derby Stakes – Embargo USA *

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

– Bubbling Over * Preakness Stakes – Display *

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...

– Crusader

Ice hockey

Stanley Cup * 30 March to 6 April — Montreal Maroons defeats Victoria Cougars in the

1926 Stanley Cup Finals The 1926 Stanley Cup Finals saw the National Hockey League (NHL) champion Montreal Maroons, in their first Finals appearance, defeat the Western Hockey League (WHL) and defending Stanley Cup champion Victoria Cougars three games to one in the best ...

by 3 games to 1 Events * Allan Cup – University of Toronto defeats

Port Arthur Bearcats The Port Arthur Bearcats (Bear Cats) were a senior amateur ice hockey team based in Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada – now part of the city of Thunder Bay – from the early 1900s until 1970. Before settling on the nickname of Bea ...

* Memorial Cup – Calgary Canadians defeats

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

* The professional Western Hockey League folds; most players are sold for $300,000 to the National Hockey League (NHL). * December — new expansion teams debut in the NHL: Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Cougars and New York Rangers

Lacrosse

Events *

Rosabelle Sinclair Rosabelle Sinclair (1890 – 1981), known as the affectionately as the "Grand Dame of Lacrosse", established the first women's lacrosse team in the United States. She was the first woman to be inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Ea ...

establishes the United States' first women's lacrosse team at

Bryn Mawr School Bryn Mawr School, founded in 1885 as the first college-preparatory school for girls in the United States, is an independent, nonsectarian all-girls school for grades PK-12, with a coed preschool. Bryn Mawr School is located in the Roland Park co ...

Motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

Nordic skiing Nordic skiing encompasses the various types of skiing in which the toe of the ski boot is fixed to the Ski binding, binding in a manner that allows the heel to rise off the ski, unlike alpine skiing, where the boot is attached to the ski from toe ...

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships * 2nd FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1926 are held at Lahti, Finland

Rowing

The Boat Race * 27 March — Cambridge wins the 78th Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race

Rugby league

England * Championship – Wigan * Challenge Cup final – Swinton 9–3 Oldham at

Athletic Grounds, Rochdale The Athletic Grounds was a stadium in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. It was the home of Rochdale Hornets Rugby League Football Club for over 90 years until 1988. It has also been used for speedway, BriSCA F1 Stock Cars and greyhound ...

* Lancashire League Championship – Wigan * Yorkshire League Championship – Hull Kingston Rovers * Lancashire County Cup – Swinton 15–11 Wigan * Yorkshire County Cup –

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...

2–0 Huddersfield Australia * NSW Premiership – South Sydney 11–5 University (grand final)

Rugby union

Five Nations Championship * 39th Five Nations Championship series is shared by Ireland and Scotland

Speed skating

Speed Skating World Championships * Men's Allround Champion @ Trondheim, Norway – Ivar Ballangrud (Norway) * Overall Ladies World Champion @ Saint John, New Brunswick – Lela Brooks (Canada) * World Outdoor Champion – Charles Gorman (Canada) * International Outdoor Champion in pack style – John Farrell (United States)John O'Neil Farrell
. sports-reference.com

Tennis

Australia * Australian Men's Singles Championship – John Hawkes (Australia) defeats

James Willard Arthur James Willard (22 April 1893 – 10 June 1968), better known as ''Jim Willard'', was an Australian tennis player. Tennis career Willard won two mixed doubles titles alongside Daphne Akhurst at the Australasian Championships, the fu ...

(Australia) 6–1 6–3 6–1 * Australian Women's Singles Championship – Daphne Akhurst Cozens (Australia) defeats Esna Boyd Robertson (Australia) 6–1 6–3 England * Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Jean Borotra (France) defeats Howard Kinsey (USA) 8–6 6–1 6–3 * Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship –

Kitty McKane Godfree Kathleen "Kitty" McKane Godfree (née McKane; 7 May 1896 – 19 June 1992) was a British tennis and badminton player and the second most decorated female British Olympian, joint with Katherine Grainger According to A. Wallis Myers of ''The Dail ...

(Great Britain) defeats Lilí de Álvarez (Spain) 6–2 4–6 6–3 France * French Men's Singles Championship – Henri Cochet (France) defeats René Lacoste (France) 6–2 6–4 6–3 * French Women's Singles Championship –

Suzanne Lenglen Suzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen (; 24 May 1899 – 4 July 1938) was a French tennis player. She was the inaugural world No. 1 from 1921 to 1926, winning eight Grand Slam titles in singles and twenty-one in total. She was also a four-time World ...

(France) defeats Mary Browne (USA) 6–1 6–0 USA * American Men's Singles Championship – René Lacoste (France) defeats Jean Borotra (France) 6–4 6–0 6–4 * American Women's Singles Championship – Molla Bjurstedt Mallory (Norway) defeats Elizabeth Ryan (USA) 4–6 6–4 9–7 Davis Cup *

1926 International Lawn Tennis Challenge The 1926 International Lawn Tennis Challenge was the 21st edition of what is now known as the Davis Cup. 19 teams would enter the Europe Zone, while 5 would enter the America Zone. France defeated Japan in the Inter-Zonal play-off, but would fall ...

– 4–1 at Germantown Cricket Club (grass) Philadelphia, United States

References

{{Sports by year 1901 – 1950 Sports by year