College championship
College football national championship – Penn Quakers
Brazil
25 March — Clube Atlético Mineiro founded
England
The Football League – Manchester United 52 points, Aston Villa 43, Manchester City 43, Newcastle United 42, The Wednesday 42, Middlesbrough 41
FA Cup final – Wolverhampton Wanderers 3–1 Newcastle United at Crystal Palace, London
Bradford Park Avenue (1908–70) and Tottenham Hotspur elected to the Football League after Lincoln City and Stoke FC are expelled. Stoke FC is not involved in the election process but goes into receivership soon afterwards and is replaced by Tottenham Hotspur, who have lost the election to Bradford Park Avenue.
Germany
National Championship – Viktoria Berlin 3–0 Stuttgarter Kickers at Berlin-Tempelhof
Greece
3 February — Panathinaikos, Greece's most successful sports club is founded in Athens, Greece by Georgios Kalafatis.
Italy
9 March — Internazionale Milan founded
Mexico
Club Union of Mexico becomes Club Deportivo Guadalajara
Netherlands
19 July — Feyenoord Rotterdam founded
Scotland
Scottish Football League – Celtic
Scottish Cup final – Celtic 5–1 St Mirren at Hampden Park
VFL Premiership
Carlton wins the 12th VFL Premiership: Carlton 5.5 (35) d Essendon 3.8 (26) at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)
Events
Richmond and University join the VFL
Bandy
Sweden
Championship final – Djurgårdens IF 3–1 Östergötlands BF
World Series
10–14 October — Chicago Cubs (NL) defeats Detroit Tigers (AL) to win the 1908 World Series by 4 games to 1
Events
23 September — the Merkle incident, which finally costs New York Giants the NL pennant
Major League Baseball's lowest scoring season including the current record for fewest runs scored in a season by one team: 372 by St. Louis Cardinals
Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) founded
Events
4 July — Battling Nelson recovers his World Lightweight Championship from Joe Gans with a 17th-round knockout at Colma, California
World Middleweight Champion Stanley Ketchel loses his title on 7 September to Billy Papke by a 12th-round technical knockout at Vernon, California, but regains it on 26 November at Colma, California, where he knocks out Papke in the 11th round
October – Mike "Twin" Sullivan vacates the World Welterweight Championship which remains unresolved until 1914
26 December — Jack Johnson becomes the first African American World Heavyweight Champion by defeating Tommy Burns at Sydney, Australia. Johnson holds the title until 1915.
Lineal world champions
World Heavyweight Championship – Tommy Burns → Jack Johnson
World Light Heavyweight Championship – vacant
World Middleweight Championship – Stanley Ketchel → Billy Papke → Stanley Ketchel
World Welterweight Championship – Mike "Twin" Sullivan → vacant
World Lightweight Championship – Joe Gans → Battling Nelson
World Featherweight Championship – Abe Attell
World Bantamweight Championship – Jimmy Walsh
England
County Championship – Yorkshire
Minor Counties Championship – Staffordshire
Most runs – Tom Hayward 2337 @ 45.82 (HS 175)
Most wickets – Colin Blythe 197 @ 16.88 (BB 8–83)
Wisden Cricketers of the Year – Walter Brearley, Lord Hawke, Jack Hobbs, Alan Marshal, John Newstead
Australia
Sheffield Shield – Victoria
Most runs – Joe Hardstaff senior 1360 @ 52.30 (HS 135)
Most wickets – Jack Saunders and Jack Crawford 66 apiece
India
Bombay Triangular – Parsees
New Zealand
Plunket Shield – Auckland
South Africa
Currie Cup – not contested
West Indies
Inter-Colonial Tournament – not contested
Tour de France
Lucien Petit-Breton (France) wins the 6th Tour de France
Olympic Games (Men's Competition)
Gold Medal – England
Silver Medal – Ireland
Bronze Medals – Scotland & Wales
Events
Inaugural International Skating Union (ISU) Championships for pair skating is held at Saint Petersburg
Figure skating is held at the 1908 Summer Olympics and is the first winter sport to feature at the Olympics — 16 years before the inaugural Winter Games is held
World Figure Skating Championships
World Men's Champion – Ulrich Salchow (Sweden)
World Women's Champion – Lily Kronberger (Hungary)
World Pairs Champions – Anna Hübler and Heinrich Burger (Germany)
1908 Summer Olympics
Men's individual – Ulrich Salchow (Sweden)
Men's special figures – Nikolai Panin (Russia)
Women's individual – Madge Syers (Great Britain)
Pairs – Anna Hübler and Heinrich Burger (Germany)
Major tournaments
British Open – James Braid
US Open – Fred McLeod
Other tournaments
British Amateur – Edward Lassen
US Amateur – Jerome Travers
England
Grand National – Rubio
1,000 Guineas Stakes – Rhodora
2,000 Guineas Stakes – Norman III
Epsom Derby – Signorinetta
Epsom Oaks – Signorinetta
St. Leger Stakes – Your Majesty
Australia
Melbourne Cup – Lord Nolan
Canada
Queen's Plate – Seismic
Ireland
Irish Grand National – Lord Rivers
Irish Derby Stakes – Wild Bouquet
USA
Kentucky Derby – Stone Street
Preakness Stakes – Royal Tourist
Belmont Stakes – Colin
Events
January 2 — The first All-Star game in ice hockey history is held at Montreal to benefit the widow of Hod Stuart, killed in an off-season swimming accident.
Stanley Cup
January 9–13 – Montreal Wanderers defeat the Ottawa Victorias 9–3, 13–1 (22–4) in a two-game challenge to retain the Stanley Cup.
March 7 — Montreal Wanderers win the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA) championship for the third year in a row and successfully defend the Stanley Cup.
March 10–12 – Montreal Wanderers defeat Winnipeg Maple Leafs 11–5, 9–3 (20–8) in a two-game challenge.
March 14 – Montreal Wanderers defeat Toronto Professionals 6–4 in a one-game challenge to retain the Stanley Cup.
Events
Lacrosse is played as an Olympic sport for the second and last time (the first having been in 1904). Canada defeats Great Britain: they are the only two teams to compete.
French Grand Prix
7 July — the third French Grand Prix, organised by the Automobile Club de France (ACF), is run at Dieppe over 477.48 miles (47.74 miles x 10 laps). The winner is Christian Lautenschlager of Germany driving a Mercedes GP in 6:46:33.0 at an average speed of 69.05 mph. The race is retrospectively referred to as the XI Grand Prix de l'A.C.F.
Vanderbilt Cup
Not having been contested in 1907, the Vanderbilt Cup is revived for its 4th running at Long Island over 258.06 miles (23.460 miles x 11 laps). The winner is George Robertson (USA) driving a Locomobile in 4:00:48.2.
American Grand Prize
Billed as the I Grand Prize Race of the Automobile Club of America, the inaugural American Grand Prize takes place at Savannah, Georgia over 402.080 miles (25.130 miles x 16 laps) and is won by Louis Wagner driving a FIAT in 6:10:31.4 at an average speed of 65.111 mph.
1908 Summer Olympics
The 1908 Summer Olympics takes place in London
Great Britain wins the most medals (145) and the most gold medals (56)
The Boat Race
4 April — Cambridge wins the 65th Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race
Events
Hunslet becomes the first team to achieve the celebrated "All Four Cups" feat
England
Championship – Hunslet
Challenge Cup final – Hunslet 14–0 Hull at Fartown Ground, Huddersfield
Lancashire League Championship – Oldham
Yorkshire League Championship – Hunslet
Lancashire Cup – Oldham 16–9 Broughton Rangers
Yorkshire Cup – Hunslet 17–0 Halifax
Australia
Professional rugby league begins in Australia with the formation of the New South Wales Rugby League
South Sydney wins the first Australian championship, defeating Eastern Suburbs 14–12 in the final
First Australian national rugby league team embarks on the inaugural 1908–09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain
Home Nations Championship
26th Home Nations Championship series is won by Wales
As Wales also defeats France in a 1908 non-championship match, its team is retrospectively regarded as a Grand Slam winner
Speed Skating World Championships
Men's All-round Champion – Oscar Mathisen (Norway)
Australia
Australian Men's Singles Championship – Fred Alexander (USA) defeats Alfred Dunlop (Australia) 3–6 3–6 6–0 6–2 6–3
England
Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Arthur Gore (GB) defeats Herbert Barrett (GB) 6–3 6–2 4–6 3–6 6–4
Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Charlotte Cooper Sterry defeats Agnes Morton 6–4 6–4
France
French Men's Singles Championship – Max Decugis defeats Maurice Germot: details unknown
French Women's Singles Championship – Kate Gillou-Fenwick defeats Pean: details unknown
USA
American Men's Singles Championship – William Larned defeats Beals Wright 6–1 6–2 8–6
American Women's Singles Championship – Maud Barger-Wallach defeats Evelyn Sears 6–3 1–6 6–3
Davis Cup
1908 International Lawn Tennis Challenge – Australasia 3–2 United States at Albert Ground (grass) Melbourne, Australia
