1902 in sports
1902 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
[American football]
College championship- Rose Bowl :
- * The Michigan Wolverines won 49-0 over the Stanford Indians to win the college football national championship
- Michigan Wolverines – college football national championship
Events
- 1 January — inaugural Rose Bowl game is played at Pasadena, California
- September — the first professional football league, the National Football League, which is unrelated to the current NFL, is formed from three teams based in Pennsylvania and who are backed by Major League Baseball. The league folds a few months later.
- 21 November — the Philadelphia Football Athletics defeated the Kanaweola Athletic Club of Elmira, New York, 39–0, in the first ever professional American football night game.
- 29 November — the Pittsburgh Stars defeated the Philadelphia Football Athletics, 11–0, at the Pittsburgh Coliseum, to win the 1902 National Football League championship.
- 28 December — the Syracuse Athletic Club defeated the New York Philadelphians, 5–0, in the first indoor professional American football game, which was held at Madison Square Garden.
[Association football]
- The Football League – Sunderland 44 points, Everton 41, Newcastle United 37, Blackburn Rovers 36, Nottingham Forest 35, Derby County 35
- FA Cup final – Sheffield United 2–1 Southampton at Crystal Palace, London
- 26 April — shortly after being saved from bankruptcy, Newton Heath changes its name to Manchester United
Spain
- 10 March — foundation of Real Madrid as Madrid Fútbol Club
Athletics">Athletics (sport)">Athletics
- Sammy Mellor wins the sixth running of the Boston Marathon.
[Australian rules football]
- Collingwood wins the 6th VFL Premiership: Collingwood 9.6 d Essendon 3.9 at Melbourne Cricket Ground
- With a handful of exceptions, all VFL/AFL Grand Finals are played at the MCG from 1902
[Baseball]
- National League championship – Pittsburgh Pirates
- American League championship – Philadelphia Athletics
- 23 April — infielder Lou Castro debuts with the Philadelphia Athletics in the American League as the first Latin-American to play in Major League Baseball
- Winnipeg Maroons wins the inaugural Northern League Championship in the minor leagues
[Boxing]
- Joe Gans wins the World Lightweight Championship by knocking out Frank Erne in the first round. Gans successfully defends the title five times by the end of the year.
- 25 July — James J. Jeffries defeats Bob Fitzsimmons by an eighth-round knockout in San Francisco, Fitzsimmons failing in his bid to recover the World Heavyweight Championship
- World Heavyweight Championship – James J. Jeffries
- World Middleweight Championship – Tommy Ryan
- World Welterweight Championship – Barbados Joe Walcott
- World Lightweight Championship – Frank Erne → Joe Gans
- World Featherweight Championship – Young Corbett II
- World Bantamweight Championship – Harry Forbes
[Cricket]
- No cricket is played in South Africa due to the Boer War.
- Australia defeats England in The Ashes by 2 Tests to 1 after the first two Tests have been rained off. In one of the most famous Test series in history, the final three matches are full of drama with Victor Trumper scoring a century before lunch in the Third Test, Australia winning the Fourth Test by just 3 runs and England winning the Fifth Test by one wicket following a century in only 75 minutes by Gilbert Jessop.
- County Championship – Yorkshire
- Minor Counties Championship – Wiltshire
- Most runs – Victor Trumper 2570 @ 48.49
- Most wickets – Wilfred Rhodes 213 @ 13.15
- Wisden Cricketers of the Year – Warwick Armstrong, Cuthbert Burnup, James Iremonger, James Kelly, Victor Trumper
- Sheffield Shield – New South Wales
- Most runs – Clem Hill 1035 @ 51.75
- Most wickets – Len Braund 62 @ 28.69
- Bombay Presidency – Europeans shared with Parsees
- Currie Cup – not contested
- Inter-Colonial Tournament – not contested
[Figure skating]
Major tournaments
- British Open – Sandy Herd
- US Open – Laurie Auchterlonie, who becomes the first golfer to break 80 in all four rounds of the US Open
- British Amateur – Charles Hutchings
- US Amateur – Louis N. James
[Horse racing]
- Grand National – Shannon Lass
- 1,000 Guineas Stakes – Sceptre
- 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Sceptre
- The Derby – Ard Patrick
- The Oaks – Sceptre
- St. Leger Stakes – Sceptre
- Melbourne Cup – The Victory
- Queen's Plate – Lyddite
- Irish Grand National – Patlander
- Irish Derby Stakes – St. Brendan
- Kentucky Derby – Alan-a-Dale
- Preakness Stakes – Old England
- Belmont Stakes – Masterman
[Ice hockey]
- Winnipeg Victorias successfully defends the Stanley Cup, defeating Toronto Wellingtons in a Cup challenge by two games to nil in a best-of-three series
- March – Winnipeg Victorias wins the Manitoba Hockey Association championship to retain the Stanley Cup
- 1 March — Montreal HC wins the Canadian Amateur Hockey League championship and challenges Winnipeg
- 13–17 March — Montreal and Winnipeg play a best-of-three series for the Stanley Cup, Montreal winning by two games to one to claim the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1894
[Motor racing]
- The Paris-Vienna Trail is run on 26–29 June over 990 km and won by Marcel Renault driving a Renault in a time of 15:47:43. The race is in retrospect sometimes referred to as the VII Grand Prix de l'ACF.
- The third Gordon Bennett Cup is run from Paris to Innsbruck and won by Selwyn Edge driving a Napier 30hp.
- The inaugural Circuit des Ardennes is run on 31 July 1902 in the vicinity of Bastogne. The total distance is 512.05 km. The winner is Charles Jarrott, driving a Panhard-Levassor 70 hp in a time of 5:53:39.
- The first motor race in Great Britain is held at Bexhill-on-Sea with more than 200 entries.
Rowing">Rowing (sport)">Rowing
- 22 March — Cambridge wins the 59th Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race
[Rugby league]
- Featherstone Rovers founded
- Championship – Broughton Rangers
- Challenge Cup final – Broughton Rangers 25–0 Salford at Athletic Grounds, Rochdale
- Lancashire League Championship – Wigan
- Yorkshire League Championship – Leeds
[Rugby union]
- 20th Home Nations Championship series is won by Wales
[Speed skating]
- Men's All-round Champion – none declared
[Tennis]
- Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Laurence Doherty defeats Arthur Gore 6–4 6–3 3–6 6–0
- Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Muriel Robb defeats Charlotte Cooper Sterry 7–5 6–1
- French Men's Singles Championship – Michel Vacherot defeats Max Decugis 6–4 6–2
- French Women's Singles Championship – Françoise Masson defeats P Girod: details unknown
- American Men's Singles Championship – William Larned defeats Reginald Doherty 4–6 6–2 6–4 8–6
- American Women's Singles Championship – Marion Jones defeats Elisabeth Moore 6–1 1–0 retired