1953 in sports

1953 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

American football

 * NFL Championship: the Detroit Lions won 17–16 over the Cleveland Browns at Briggs Stadium

Association football
England Scotland Spain Italy West Germany France Portugal
 * First Division – Arsenal win the 1952–53 title.
 * FA Cup – Blackpool beat Bolton Wanderers 4–3 in what is known as "The Matthews Final", although it is Stan Mortensen who scores a winning hat-trick for Blackpool.
 * England lose 6–3 to Hungary at Wembley Stadium their first ever loss to a team from Continental Europe at home.
 * Coronation Cup (football) – Celtic beat Hibernian 2–0 at Hampden Park.
 * La Liga won by Barcelona F.C.
 * Serie A won by F.C. Internazionale Milano
 * German football championship won by 1. FC Kaiserslautern
 * French Division 1 won by Stade de Reims
 * Primeira Liga won by Sporting C.P.

Australian rules football

 * Victorian Football League
 * 23 May: Fitzroy, against a brilliant Footscray defence, kick the lowest VFL/AFL score since 1899, 1.0 (6) to 10.6 (66). Fitzroy seemed doomed to the first 0.0 (0) score in VFL history until Allan Ruthven scored a goal with ten minutes to go.
 * 4 July: Geelong beats Collingwood’s previous record of 20 consecutive wins, beating 12.14 (86) to 13.7 (85).
 * 1 August: Collingwood ends a run of 26 unbeaten games (including a draw with ) by Geelong, beating them 10.15 (75) to 7.13 (55)
 * 26 September: Collingwood wins the 57th VFL Premiership, beating Geelong 11.11 (77) to 8.17 (65)
 * Brownlow Medal awarded to Bill Hutchison (Essendon)
 * South Australian National Football League:
 * 3 October: West Torrens wins the last of its four SANFL premierships, beating Port Adelaide 9.13 (67) to 8.12 (60)
 * Magarey Medal won by Jim Deane (South Adelaide)
 * Western Australian National Football League:
 * 8 August: Bernie Naylor kicks a WANFL record 23 goals against, including twelve in one quarter.
 * 10 October: win their second consecutive premiership and seventh overall, beating  18.12 (120) to 8.13 (61)
 * Sandover Medal awarded to Merv McIntosh (Perth)

Baseball

 * World Series – New York Yankees won 4 games to 2 over the Brooklyn Dodgers
 * The Boston Braves of the National League moved to Milwaukee, becoming the first MLB franchise to relocate in 50 years.

Basketball

 * NCAA Men's Basketball Championship –
 * Indiana wins 69–68 over Kansas
 * NBA Finals –
 * Minneapolis Lakers won 4 games to 1 over the New York Knicks
 * The eighth European basketball championship, Eurobasket 1953, is won by the Soviet Union.
 * The fifteenth South American Basketball Championship in Montevideo is won by Uruguay.

Boxing

 * September 24 in New York City – Rocky Marciano retains his World Heavyweight title with a TKO over Roland La Starza in the 11th round.
 * October in New York City – Bobo Olson scored a 15-round decision over Randy Turpin to win the World Middleweight Championship

Bowling
Nine-pin bowling
 * Nine-pin bowling World Championships –
 * Men's champion: Alfred Beierl, Austria
 * Women's champion: Jelena Šincek, Yugoslavia
 * Men's team champion: Yugoslavia
 * Women's team champion: Austria

Canadian football

 * Grey Cup – Hamilton Tiger-Cats win 12–6 over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Cricket
England Australia India New Zealand South Africa West Indies
 * County Championship – Surrey
 * Minor Counties Championship – Berkshire
 * Most runs – Bill Edrich 2557 @ 47.35 (HS 211)
 * Most wickets – Bruce Dooland 172 @ 16.58 (BB 7–19)
 * Wisden Cricketers of the Year – Keith Miller, Neil Harvey, Johnny Wardle, Willie Watson, Tony Lock
 * Sheffield Shield – South Australia
 * Most runs – Neil Harvey 1659 @ 63.80 (HS 205)
 * Most wickets – Hugh Tayfield 70 @ 27.91 (BB 7–71)
 * South Africa make their first tour of Australia since 1931–32, and tie the five-Test series two-all with one draw
 * Ranji Trophy – Holkar
 * Plunket Shield – Otago
 * Following their Australian tour, South Africa tour New Zealand, winning a two-Test series one-nil with one draw
 * Currie Cup – not contested
 * India make their first tour of the West Indies, losing a five-test series 0–1 with four draws.

Cycling

 * Giro d'Italia won by Fausto Coppi of Italy
 * Tour de France – Louison Bobet of France
 * UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race – Fausto Coppi of Italy

Figure skating

 * World Figure Skating Championships –
 * Men's champion: Hayes Alan Jenkins, United States
 * Ladies’ champion: Tenley Albright, United States
 * Pair skating champions: Jennifer Nicks & John Nicks, Great Britain
 * Ice dancing champions: Jean Westwood & Lawrence Demmy, Great Britain

Golf
Men's professional Men's amateur Women's professional
 * Masters Tournament – Ben Hogan
 * U.S. Open – Ben Hogan
 * PGA Championship – Walter Burkemo
 * British Open – Ben Hogan
 * PGA Tour money leader – Lew Worsham – $34,002
 * Ryder Cup – United States wins 6½ to 5½ over the British team.
 * British Amateur – Joe Carr
 * U.S. Amateur – Gene Littler
 * Women's Western Open – Louise Suggs
 * U.S. Women's Open – Betsy Rawls
 * Titleholders Championship – Patty Berg
 * LPGA Tour money leader – Louise Suggs – $19,816

Harness racing

 * Little Brown Jug for pacers won by Keystoner
 * Hambletonian for trotters won by Helicopter
 * Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
 * Pacers: Captain Sandy

Horse racing
Steeplechases Hurdle races Flat races
 * Cheltenham Gold Cup – Knock Hard
 * Grand National – Early Mist
 * Champion Hurdle – Sir Ken
 * Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Wodalla
 * Canada – Queen's Plate won by Canadiana
 * France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by La Sorellina
 * Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Chamier
 * English Triple Crown Races:
 * 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Nearula
 * The Derby – Pinza
 * St. Leger Stakes – Premonition
 * United States Triple Crown Races:
 * Kentucky Derby – Dark Star
 * Preakness Stakes – Native Dancer
 * Belmont Stakes – Native Dancer

Ice hockey

 * World Hockey Championship
 * Men's champion: Sweden defeated West Germany and Switzerland.
 * Canada did not participate in the World Hockey Championship, the government claiming it was not worth the expense.
 * Stanley Cup – Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 1 over the Boston Bruins
 * Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
 * Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
 * NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship – University of Michigan Wolverines defeat University of Minnesota Golden Gophers 7–3 in Colorado Springs, CO
 * HC Kometa Brno was founded in South Moravian Region, Czechoslovakia, present day of Czech Republic.

Rugby league

 * 1952–53 European Rugby League Championship / 1953–54 European Rugby League Championship
 * 1953 New Zealand rugby league season
 * 1953 NSWRFL season
 * 1952–53 Northern Rugby Football League season / 1953–54 Northern Rugby Football League season

Rugby union

 * 59th Five Nations Championship series is won by England

Snooker

 * World Snooker Championship – Fred Davis beats Walter Donaldson 37–34

Tennis
Australia England France USA Events Davis Cup
 * Australian Men's Singles Championship – Ken Rosewall (Australia) defeats Mervyn Rose (Australia) 6–0, 6–3, 6–4
 * Australian Women's Singles Championship – Maureen Connolly Brinker (USA) defeats Julia Sampson Hayward (USA) 6–3, 6–2
 * Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Vic Seixas (USA) defeats Kurt Nielsen (Denmark) 9–7, 6–3, 6–4
 * Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Maureen Connolly Brinker (USA) defeats Doris Hart (USA) 8–6, 7–5
 * French Men's Singles Championship – Ken Rosewall (Australia) defeats Vic Seixas (USA) 6–3, 6–4, 1–6, 6–2
 * French Women's Singles Championship – Maureen Connolly (USA) defeats Doris Hart (USA) 6–2, 6–4
 * American Men's Singles Championship – Tony Trabert (USA) defeats Vic Seixas (USA) 6–3, 6–2, 6–3
 * American Women's Singles Championship – Maureen Connolly (USA) defeats Doris Hart (USA) 6–2, 6–4
 * Maureen Connolly becomes the first woman to win the Grand Slam in tennis.
 * 1953 Davis Cup – 3–2  at Kooyong Stadium (grass) Melbourne, Australia

Multi-sport events

 * Pan Arab Games held in Alexandria, Egypt

Awards

 * Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Ben Hogan, PGA golf
 * Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Maureen Connolly, Tennis