1923 in sports

1923 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

American football

NFL championship

Canton Bulldogs (11–0–1)

College championship

Illinois Fighting Illini – college football national championship

Association football

Bulgaria

Formation of the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU)

England

The Football League – Liverpool 60 points, Sunderland 54, Huddersfield Town 53, Newcastle United 48, Everton 47, Aston Villa 46
FA Cup final – Bolton Wanderers 2–0 West Ham United at Empire Stadium, Wembley, London. The match, known as the "White Horse Final", is the inaugural Wembley final.
The Third Division North expands from 20 to 22 clubs, bringing the total number of Football League clubs to 88. With Stalybridge Celtic expelled, the new clubs are Doncaster Rovers, New Brighton (1923–1951) and Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic.

Germany

National Championship – Hamburger SV 3–0 Union Oberschöneweide at Berlin

Romania

Rapid București is founded under the name "Cultural and Sporting Association CFR" (in Romanian: Asociatia culturala si sportiva C.F.R.) by a group of workers at the Grivita workshops.

Spain

Celta de Vigo is founded after the merger of Real Vigo Sporting and Real Club Fortuna de Vigo.
Club Deportivo Villarreal, official founded on March 10, as predecessor for Villarreal CF.^{[citation needed]}

Turkey

Formation of the Turkish Football Federation (Türkiye Futbol Federasyonu or TFF)
Genclerbirligi of Ankara officially founded on March 14.^{[citation needed]}

Athletics

Monaco

third Women's Olympiad in Monte Carlo

UK

First British Track & Field championships for women, London

US

First American Track & Field championships for women, New Jersey

Australian rules football

VFL Premiership

13 October – Essendon wins the 27th VFL Premiership, defeating Fitzroy 8.15 (63) to 6.10 (46) at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in the 1923 VFL Grand Final.^[a]

South Australian Football League

29 September – Norwood 9.12 (66) defeats North Adelaide 6.4 (40) to win its second successive SAFL premiership
Magarey Medal won by Horrie Riley (Sturt)

West Australian Football League

6 October – East Perth win its fifth consecutive premiership, beating East Fremantle 9.9 (63) to 7.4 (46)
Sandover Medal won by "Digger" Thomas (East Perth)

Bandy

Sweden

Championship final – Västerås SK 2-1 IF Linnéa

Baseball

World Series

10–15 October — New York Yankees (AL) defeats New York Giants (NL) to win the 1923 World Series by 4 games to 2

Major League Baseball

18 April — opening of the original Yankee Stadium in the Bronx

Negro leagues

The Eastern Colored League (ECL) plays its first season with six teams: Hilldale Daisies, Brooklyn Royal Giants, Cuban Stars (East), New York Lincoln Giants, Atlantic City Bacharach Giants, and Baltimore Black Sox. Hilldale wins the first pennant. Afterward the league votes for expansion to eight teams, accepting the Harrisburg Giants and the Washington Potomacs.
The Negro National League completes its fourth season with the Kansas City Monarchs winning their first pennant after three years of domination by Rube Foster's Chicago American Giants. The other teams in the league are Indianapolis ABC's, Detroit Stars, St. Louis Stars, Cuban Stars (West), Toledo Tigers, and Milwaukee Bears. The Tigers and Bears disband during the season and three teams play under "associate" status for the remainder of the season: Cleveland Tate Stars, Birmingham Black Barons, and Memphis Red Sox.
Oscar "Heavy" Johnson wins the NNL triple crown, leading in batting average, home runs, and RBI, while Wilbur "Bullet" Rogan leads in wins and strikeouts. Raleigh "Biz" Mackey is the batting leader in the ECL with Jesse "Nip" Winters leading in most pitching categories.
There is no World Series between the two champions this year, owing to enmity between Rube Foster and the ECL president Ed Bolden

Boxing

Events

18 June — Jimmy Wilde's long reign as World Flyweight Champion ends when he is knocked out by Filipino Pancho Villa in the 7th round in New York City
31 August — Harry Greb, arguably the greatest-ever middleweight, takes the world title when he defeats Johnny Wilson over 15 rounds in New York City
14 September — Jack Dempsey knocks out Luis Firpo in the second round of a sensational fight at the Polo Grounds in New York City to retain his World Heavyweight Championship title.

Lineal world champions^[1]

World Heavyweight Championship – Jack Dempsey
World Light Heavyweight Championship – Battling Siki → Mike McTigue
World Middleweight Championship – Johnny Wilson → Harry Greb
World Welterweight Championship – Mickey Walker
World Lightweight Championship – Benny Leonard
World Featherweight Championship – Johnny Kilbane → Eugene Criqui → Johnny Dundee
World Bantamweight Championship – Joe Lynch
World Flyweight Championship – Jimmy Wilde → Pancho Villa

Canadian football

Grey Cup

11th Grey Cup in the Canadian Football League – Queen's University 54–0 Regina Roughriders

Cricket

Events

In a cool, damp English summer, a West Indian team is on tour, winning six and losing seven first-class matches.

England

County Championship – Yorkshire
Minor Counties Championship – Buckinghamshire
Most runs – Patsy Hendren 2934 @ 77.21 (HS 200*)
Most wickets – Maurice Tate 219 @ 13.97 (BB 8–30)
Wisden Cricketers of the Year – Arthur Gilligan, Roy Kilner, George Macaulay, Cec Parkin, Maurice Tate

Australia

Sheffield Shield – New South Wales
Most runs – Percy Chapman 782 @ 65.16 (HS 134*)
Most wickets – Arthur Mailey 55 @ 21.58 (BB 6–45)

India

Bombay Quadrangular – Parsees

New Zealand

Plunket Shield – Canterbury

South Africa

Currie Cup – not contested

West Indies

Inter-Colonial Tournament – not contested

Cycling

Tour de France

Henri Pélissier (France) wins the 17th Tour de France^[2]

Giro d'Italia

Costante Girardengo of Maino wins the eleventh Giro d'Italia

Figure skating

World Figure Skating Championships

World Men's Champion – Fritz Kachler (Austria)
World Women's Champion – Herma Szabo (Austria)
World Pairs Champions – Ludowika Jakobsson-Eilers and Walter Jakobsson (Finland)

Golf

Major tournaments

Other tournaments

British Amateur – Roger Wethered
US Amateur – Max Marston

Horse racing

England

Australia

Melbourne Cup – Bitalli

Canada

King's Plate – Flowerful

France

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe – Parth

Ireland

Irish Grand National – Be Careful
Irish Derby Stakes – Waygood

USA

Kentucky Derby – Zev
Preakness Stakes – Vigil
Belmont Stakes – Zev

Ice hockey

Stanley Cup

29–31 March — Ottawa Senators wins the Stanley Cup for the fifth time, defeating the Edmonton Eskimos by 2 games to 0 in the 1923 Stanley Cup Finals

Sweden

Klass I, a professional ice hockey league in Sweden, as predecessor for Swedish Hockey League, first officially game held on January 23.^{[citation needed]}