1929 in sports

1929 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

American football

NFL championship

• Green Bay Packers wins National Football League title

College championship

• College football national championship – Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Pittsburgh Panthers and USC Trojans (shared)

Events

• 1 January – Rose Bowl is won by Georgia Tech defeating California 8–7
• 28 November – Ernie Nevers scores 6 rushing touchdowns for Chicago Cardinals against Chicago Bears

Association football

England

• The Football League – Sheffield Wednesday 52 points, Leicester City 51, Aston Villa 50, Sunderland 47, Liverpool 46, Derby County 46
• FA Cup final – Bolton Wanderers 2–0 Portsmouth at Empire Stadium, Wembley, London

Germany

• National Championship – SpVgg Fürth 3–2 Hertha BSC at Nuremberg

Australian rules football

VFL Premiership

• Collingwood wins the 33rd VFL Premiership: Collingwood 11.13 (79) d Richmond 7.8 (50) at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)

Brownlow Medal

• The annual Brownlow Medal is awarded to Albert Collier (Collingwood)

Bandy

Sweden

• Championship final – IF Göta 5-1 Västerås SK

Baseball

World Series

• 8–14 October — Philadelphia Athletics (AL) defeats Chicago Cubs (NL) to win the 1929 World Series by 4 games to 1

Basketball

ABL Championship

• Cleveland Rosenblums win four games to none over the Fort Wayne Hoosiers

Boxing

Events

• September — having successfully defended the World Light Heavyweight Championship this year against both Mickey Walker and James J. Braddock, Tommy Loughran relinquishes the title to fight as a heavyweight

Lineal world champions^[1]

• World Heavyweight Championship – vacant
• World Light Heavyweight Championship – Tommy Loughran → vacant
• World Middleweight Championship – Mickey Walker
• World Welterweight Championship – Joe Dundee → Jackie Fields
• World Lightweight Championship – Sammy Mandell
• World Featherweight Championship – Andre Routis → Bat Battalino
• World Bantamweight Championship – vacant → "Panama" Al Brown
• World Flyweight Championship – vacant

Canadian football

Grey Cup

• 17th Grey Cup – Hamilton Tigers 14–3 Regina Roughriders

Cricket

Events

• Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) organises the England tour of Australia in the 1928–29 season. England retains The Ashes, winning the first four Tests against Australia and losing the last for a 4–1 series victory. But, ominously for England, a young batsman called Don Bradman makes his Test debut for Australia.

England

• County Championship – Nottinghamshire
• Minor Counties Championship – Oxfordshire
• Most runs – Frank Woolley 2804 @ 56.08 (HS 176)
• Most wickets – Tich Freeman 267 @ 18.27 (BB 10–131)
• Wisden Cricketers of the Year – Ted Bowley, K. S. Duleepsinhji, Tuppy Owen-Smith, Walter Robins, Bob Wyatt

Australia

• Sheffield Shield – New South Wales
• Most runs – Don Bradman 1690 @ 93.88 (HS 340*)
• Most wickets – Clarrie Grimmett 71 @ 34.25 (BB 6–109)

India

• Bombay Quadrangular – Parsees

New Zealand

• Plunket Shield – Auckland

South Africa

• Currie Cup – not contested

West Indies

• Inter-Colonial Tournament – British Guiana

Cycling

Tour de France

• Maurice De Waele (Belgium) wins the 23rd Tour de France

Figure skating

World Figure Skating Championships

• World Men's Champion – Gillis Grafström (Sweden)
• World Women's Champion – Sonja Henie (Norway)
• World Pairs Champions – Lilly Scholz and Otto Kaiser (Austria)

Golf

Major tournaments

• British Open – Walter Hagen
• US Open – Bobby Jones
• USPGA Championship – Leo Diegel

Other tournaments

• British Amateur – Cyril Tolley
• US Amateur – Harrison R. Johnston

Horse racing

England

• Champion Hurdle – Royal Falcon
• Cheltenham Gold Cup – Easter Hero
• Grand National – Gregalach
• 1,000 Guineas Stakes – Taj Mahal
• 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Mr Jinks
• Epsom Derby – Trigo
• Epsom Oaks – Pennycomequick
• St. Leger Stakes – Trigo

Australia

• Melbourne Cup – Nightmarch

Canada

• Queen's Plate – Shorelint

France

• Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe – Ortello

Ireland

• Irish Grand National – Alike
• Irish Derby Stakes – Kopi

USA

• Kentucky Derby – Clyde Van Dusen
• Preakness Stakes – Dr. Freeland
• Belmont Stakes – Blue Larkspur

Ice hockey

Stanley Cup

• 28–29 March — Boston Bruins defeats New York Rangers by 2 games to 0 in the 1929 Stanley Cup Finals

Lacrosse

Events

• The Intercollegiate Lacrosse League is renamed the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA).

Motor racing

Grand Prix racing

• 14 April — the 1st Monaco Grand Prix is run at Monte Carlo. The winner is William Grover-Williams (Great Britain) driving a Bugatti T35B in 3:56:11.0 over 318 km (198 mi) (100 laps).
• 30 June — the 15th French Grand Prix, organised by the Automobile Club de France (ACF), is run at Circuit de la Sarthe, near Le Mans, over 604.58 km (375.67 mi) (37 laps). The winner is William Grover-Williams driving a Bugatti T35B in 4:33:01.2. The race is retrospectively referred to as the XXIII Grand Prix de l'ACF.

Indianapolis 500

• 30 May — 17th running of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is won by Ray Keech in the Simplex Piston Ring Special Miller.

Le Mans 24 hours

• The 7th Le Mans 24 hours race is won by Woolf Barnato (Great Britain) and Henry Birkin (Great Britain) driving a Bentley Speed Six over 174 laps 2,843.83 km (1,767.07 mi).

Nordic skiing

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships

• 4th FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1929 are held at Zakopane, Poland

Rowing

The Boat Race

• 23 March — Cambridge wins the 81st Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race

Rugby league

England

• Championship – Huddersfield
• Challenge Cup final – Wigan 13–2 Dewsbury at Empire Stadium, Wembley, London
• Lancashire League Championship – Swinton
• Yorkshire League Championship – Huddersfield
• Lancashire Cup – Wigan 5–4 Widnes
• Yorkshire Cup – Leeds 5–0 Featherstone Rovers

Australia

• NSW Premiership – South Sydney 30–10 Newtown (grand final)

Rugby union

Five Nations Championship

• 42nd Five Nations Championship series is won by Scotland

Snooker

World Championship

• 3rd World Snooker Championship is won by Joe Davis who defeats Tom Dennis 19–14

Speed skating

Speed Skating World Championships

• Men's All-round Champion – Clas Thunberg (Finland)

Tennis

Australia

• Australian Men's Singles Championship – Colin Gregory (Great Britain) defeats Richard Schlesinger (Australia) 6–2 6–2 5–7 7–5
• Australian Women's Singles Championship – Daphne Akhurst Cozens (Australia) defeats Louise Bickerton (Australia) 6–1 5–7 6–2

England

• Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Henri Cochet (France) defeats Jean Borotra (France) 6–4 6–3 6–4
• Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Helen Wills Moody (USA) defeats Helen Jacobs (USA) 6–1 6–2

France

• French Men's Singles Championship – René Lacoste (France) defeats Jean Borotra (France) 6–3 2–6 6–0 2–6 8–6
• French Women's Singles Championship – Helen Wills Moody (USA) defeats Simone Mathieu (France) 6–3 6–4

USA

• American Men's Singles Championship – Bill Tilden (USA) defeats Francis Hunter (USA) 3–6 6–3 4–6 6–2 6–4
• American Women's Singles Championship – Helen Wills Moody (USA) defeats Phoebe Holcroft Watson (Great Britain) 6–4 6–2

Davis Cup

• 1929 International Lawn Tennis Challenge –  France 3–2  United States at Stade Roland Garros (clay) Paris, France

References