1927 in sports

1927 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

American football

New York Giants win National Football League title
Rose Bowl (1926 season):
- The Stanford Indians tie 7-7 with the Alabama Crimson Tide to split the national championship
College football national championship – Illinois Fighting Illini

Association football

England

The Football League – Newcastle United 56 points, Huddersfield Town 51, Sunderland 49, Bolton Wanderers 48, Burnley 47, West Ham United 46
FA Cup final – Cardiff City 1–0 Arsenal at Empire Stadium, Wembley, London
Cardiff City's FA Cup victory remains the only time the competition has been won by a club outside England.

Germany

National Championship – 1. FC Nuremberg 2–0 Hertha BSC at Berlin. It is the first match to be broadcast in full on German radio.

Italy

AS Roma is founded by Italo Foschi, who initiates the merger of three older Italian Football Championship clubs from the city of Rome: Roman FC, SS Alba-Audace and Fortitudo-Pro Roma SGS.

Mexico

Formation of the Mexican Football Federation (Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación or FMF). It is also known as Femexfut.

Australian rules football

VFL Premiership

Collingwood wins the 31st VFL Premiership, beating Richmond 2.13 (25) to 1.7 (13) in the 1927 VFL Grand Final
- The low scores, caused by a torrential fall of rain on the day before and during the match, set many records:

The lowest winning score since 1901 when Collingwood beat Fitzroy 3.6 (24) to 2.7 (19)^[1]
Richmond’s score is the equal fourth lowest since 1915 and their second lowest score ever, behind 0.8 (8) against St. Kilda in 1961.
The aggregate score of 3.20 (38) is the lowest since 1900
It is the only time since 1908 a team has won scoring only two goals

Brownlow Medal

The annual Brownlow Medal is awarded to Syd Coventry (Collingwood)

Bandy

Sweden

Championship final – IK Göta 5-1 Västerås SK

Baseball

World Series

5–8 October — New York Yankees (AL) defeats Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) to win the 1927 World Series by 4 games to 0

Major League Baseball

Babe Ruth hits 60 home runs, setting a major league record

Negro League Baseball

For the second straight year, the Chicago American Giants (NNL) defeats the Bacharach Giants of Atlantic City, New Jersey (ECL), 5 games to 3, in the Negro League World Series

Basketball

ABL Championship

Brooklyn Celtics win three games to none over the Cleveland Rosenblums

Boxing

Events

In one of the most famous fights in boxing history, Gene Tunney successfully defends his World Heavyweight Championship in a return bout with Jack Dempsey at Soldier Field, Chicago. Tunney wins in 10 rounds but the fight is remembered as The Battle Of The Long Count after Tunney was knocked down for 13 seconds in the 7th round, the count being delayed because Dempsey did not retire to a neutral corner.

Lineal world champions^[2]

World Heavyweight Championship – Gene Tunney
World Light Heavyweight Championship – Jack Delaney → vacant → Tommy Loughran
World Middleweight Championship – Mickey Walker
World Welterweight Championship – Pete Latzo → Joe Dundee
World Lightweight Championship – Sammy Mandell
World Featherweight Championship – vacant
World Bantamweight Championship – Charley Phil Rosenberg → vacant
World Flyweight Championship – vacant

Canadian football

Grey Cup

15th Grey Cup – Toronto Balmy Beach 9–6 Hamilton Tigers

Cricket

Events

New Zealand tours England with a team containing many players who will later play Test cricket for New Zealand. However, this tour does not include any Test matches and the 1927 English cricket season is the last, apart from the Second World War years and the cancelled South African tour of 1970, in which there has been no Test cricket in England.

England

County Championship – Lancashire
Minor Counties Championship – Staffordshire
Most runs – Wally Hammond 2969 @ 69.04 (HS 197)
Most wickets – Charlie Parker 193 @ 19.94 (BB 9–46)
Wisden Cricketers of the Year – Roger Blunt, Charlie Hallows, Wally Hammond, Douglas Jardine, Vallance Jupp

Australia

Sheffield Shield – South Australia
Most runs – Bill Ponsford 1229 @ 122.90 (HS 352)
Most wickets – Norman Williams 35 @ 32.02 (BB 6–88)

India

Bombay Quadrangular – Hindus

New Zealand

Plunket Shield – Auckland

South Africa

Currie Cup – Transvaal

West Indies

Inter-Colonial Tournament – Barbados

Cycling

Tour de France

Nicolas Frantz (Luxembourg) wins the 21st Tour de France

Figure skating

World Figure Skating Championships

World Women's Champion – Sonja Henie (Norway)
World Men's Champion – Willi Böckel (Austria)
World Pairs Champions – Herma Szabo and Ludwig Wrede (Austria)

Golf

Major tournaments

Ryder Cup

Inaugural Ryder Cup is held at Worcester, Massachusetts: United States defeats Great Britain by 9½ to 2½.

Other tournaments

British Amateur – William Tweddell
US Amateur – Bobby Jones

Horse racing

Events

The inaugural Champion Hurdle is run as part of the Cheltenham Festival.

England

Champion Hurdle – Blaris
Cheltenham Gold Cup – Thrown In
Grand National – Sprig
1,000 Guineas Stakes – Cresta Run
2,000 Guineas Stakes – Adam's Apple
Epsom Derby – Call Boy
Epsom Oaks – Beam
St. Leger Stakes – Book Law

Australia

Melbourne Cup – Trivalve

Canada

Queen's Plate – Troutlet

France

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe – Mon Talisman

Ireland

Irish Grand National – Jerpoint
Irish Derby Stakes – Knight of the Grail

USA

Ice hockey

Stanley Cup

4–13 April — Ottawa Senators defeats Boston Bruins in the 1927 Stanley Cup Finals by 2 games to 0

Events

Memorial Cup – Owen Sound Greys defeats Port Arthur West End Juniors
Allan Cup – University of Toronto Grads defeats Fort William Thundering Herd at Vancouver, British Columbia
14 February – Conn Smythe purchases the Toronto St. Patricks of the NHL and changes the name to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Motor racing

Grand Prix racing

3 July — the 13th French Grand Prix, organised by the Automobile Club de France (ACF), is run at Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry over 600.00 km (12.50 km x 48 laps). The winner is Robert Benoist (France) driving a Delage 15-S8 in 4:45:41.2. The race is retrospectively referred to as the XXI Grand Prix de l´ACF.
31 July — the 2nd Spanish Grand Prix is run at Circuito Lasarte over 692.600 km (17.315 km x 40 laps). The winner is Robert Benoist (France) driving a Delage 15-S8 in 5:20:45.
4 September — the 7th Italian Grand Prix is run at Autodromo Nazionale Monza over 500.00 km (10.00 km x 50 laps). The winner is Robert Benoist (France) driving a Delage 15-S8 in 3:26:59.7. The race is officially titled the VII Gran Premio d'Italia and is given the honorary designation of European Grand Prix.
1 October — the 2nd British Grand Prix is run at Brooklands over 526.25 km (4.21 km x 125 laps). The winner is Robert Benoist (France) driving a Delage 15-S8 in 3:49:14.6.

Indianapolis 500

30 May — 15th running of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is won by George Souders in a Duesenberg.

Le Mans 24 hours

The 5th Le Mans 24 hours race is won by Dudley Benjafield (Great Britain) and Sammy Davis (Great Britain) driving a Bentley 3 Litre Super Sport over 137 laps and 2369.807 km.