1906 in sports

1906 St. Louis Post-Dispatch photo of Brad Robinson, who threw the first legal forward pass in American football

1906 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

American football [edit]

College championship

College football national championship – Princeton Tigers and Yale Bulldogs (shared)

Events

31 March — the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS) is established to set rules for amateur sports in the United States, including revisions to American football rules that legalise the forward pass. The IAAUS later became the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 1910.
5 September — Bradbury Robinson of St. Louis University throws the first legal forward pass to teammate Jack Schneider in a 22–0 victory over Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
25 October — Peggy Parratt of the Massillon Tigers throws the first legal forward pass in professional football to teammate Dan "Bullet" Riley in a 60–0 victory over a combined Benwood-Moundsville team in Massillon, Ohio.
24 November — the Canton Bulldogs-Massillon Tigers Betting Scandal effectively ends the first era of major professional football. All three of the top three teams in the nation will fall by the wayside by 1907.

Association football [edit]

England

The Football League – Liverpool 51, Preston North End 47, The Wednesday 44, Newcastle United 43, Manchester City 43, Bolton Wanderers 41
FA Cup final – Everton 1–0 Newcastle United at Crystal Palace, London

Germany

National Championship – VfB Leipzig 2–1 Pforzheim at Nuremberg

Mexico

Club Unión founded (8 May).

Portugal

Sporting Clube de Portugal founded (14 April).

Scotland

Scottish Football League – Celtic
Scottish Cup final – Hearts 1–0 Third Lanark at Ibrox Park

Australian rules football [edit]

VFL Premiership

Carlton wins the 10th VFL Premiership – Carlton 15.4 (94) d Fitzroy 6.9 (45) at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)

Baseball [edit]

World Series

9–14 October — Chicago White Sox (AL) defeats Chicago Cubs (NL) in the 1906 World Series by 4 games to 2.

Boxing [edit]

Events

23 February — Marvin Hart loses his World Heavyweight Championship to Tommy Burns over 20 rounds in Los Angeles. Burns holds the title until December 1908 and successfully defends it 11 times until he is defeated by Jack Johnson.

Lineal world champions^[1]

World Heavyweight Championship – Marvin Hart → Tommy Burns
World Light Heavyweight Championship – vacant
World Middleweight Championship – Tommy Ryan → vacant
World Welterweight Championship – Barbados Joe Walcott → Billy "Honey" Mellody
World Lightweight Championship – Battling Nelson → Joe Gans
World Featherweight Championship – Abe Attell
World Bantamweight Championship – Jimmy Walsh

Cricket [edit]

Events

George Hirst of Yorkshire and England creates a unique record as the only player to score 2000 runs and take 200 wickets in the same season: 2385 runs and 208 wickets.
The Plunket Shield competition is introduced in New Zealand ahead of the 1906–07 season. The shield is donated by William Plunket, 5th Baron Plunket, the Governor-general of New Zealand. In its early years, until 1920–21 when a league system is started, the competition is decided by a series of challenge matches between five provincial Cricket Association sides, Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, Otago and, briefly, Hawke's Bay.

England

County Championship – Kent
Minor Counties Championship – Staffordshire
Most runs – Tom Hayward 3518 @ 66.37 (HS 219)
Most wickets – George Hirst 208 @ 16.50 (BB 7–18)
Wisden Cricketers of the Year – Jack Crawford, Arthur Fielder, Ernie Hayes, Kenneth Hutchings, Neville Knox

Australia

Sheffield Shield – New South Wales
Most runs – Jim Mackay 902 @ 112.75 (HS 203)
Most wickets – Leonard Garnsey 36 @ 21.44 (BB 6–48)

India

Bombay Presidency – Hindus shared with Parsees

South Africa

Currie Cup – not contested

West Indies

Inter-Colonial Tournament – Barbados

Cycling [edit]

Tour de France

René Pottier (France) wins the 4th Tour de France

Figure skating [edit]

Events

Inaugural ISU World Championships for women is held at Davos, Switzerland

World Figure Skating Championships

World Men's Champion – Gilbert Fuchs (Germany)
World Women's Champion – Madge Syers-Cave (Great Britain)

Golf [edit]

Events

As scoring improves, Alex Smith becomes the first golfer in US Open history to break 300 for 72 holes when he posts 295

Major tournaments

British Open – James Braid
US Open – Alex Smith

Other tournaments

British Amateur – James Robb
US Amateur – Eben Byers

Horse racing [edit]

England

Grand National – Ascetic's Silver
1,000 Guineas Stakes – Flair
2,000 Guineas Stakes – Gorgos
Epsom Derby – Spearmint
Epsom Oaks – Keystone II
St. Leger Stakes – Troutbeck

Australia

Melbourne Cup – Poseidon

Canada

Queen's Plate – Slaughter

Ireland

Irish Grand National – Brown Bess
Irish Derby Stakes – Killeagh

USA

Kentucky Derby – Sir Huon
Preakness Stakes – Whimsical
Belmont Stakes – Burgomaster

Ice hockey [edit]

Stanley Cup

February — Ottawa Hockey Club defeats Queen's College of Kingston, Ontario in a Stanley Cup challenge
March — Ottawa defeats Smiths Falls, Ontario two games to none in another Stanley Cup challenge.
March — Ottawa and Montreal Wanderers tie for first place in the ECAHA league's regular season with 9–1 records. The two clubs hold a playoff to determine the ECAHA and Stanley Cup champion. The Wanderers win the series for their first Stanley Cup win, defeating the Silver Seven in a two-game total-goals series.

Other events

3 January — the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA) begins its inaugural season
Berlin, Ontario defeats the Toronto Argonaut Rowing Club to win the Ontario Hockey Association title.

Motor racing [edit]

French Grand Prix

26 June — official Grand Prix motor racing begins with the inaugural French Grand Prix, organised by the Automobile Club de France (ACF) on the Circuit de la Sarthe at Le Mans. The winner is Ferenc Szisz of Hungary driving a Renault AK 90CV. Although this is in fact the inaugural Grand Prix race organised by the ACF, it is in retrospect sometimes known as the IX Grand Prix de l'A.C.F.^[2]
The inauguration of Grand Prix racing supersedes the Gordon Bennett Cup, which is withdrawn.

Ardennes Circuit

The fifth Circuit des Ardennes is run on 13 August over 961.18 km (137.31 km × 7 laps) in the vicinity of Bastogne. The winner is Arthur Duray (France) driving a Lorraine-Dietrich 130 hp in a time of 5:38:39.

Vanderbilt Cup

The third Vanderbilt Cup is run on 6 October over 769.91 km (76.991 km × 10 laps) on Long Island. The winner is Louis Wagner (France) driving a Darracq 120 hp in a time of 4:50:10.