Neha Patil (Editor)

1971 in sports

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Years in sports
  
1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974

1971 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

Contents

Alpine skiing

  • Alpine Skiing World Cup
  • Men's overall season champion: Gustav Thöni, Italy
  • Women's overall season champion: Annemarie Pröll, Austria

    • American football

  • 24 October – death of Chuck Hughes, Detroit Lions wide receiver
  • Super Bowl V – Baltimore Colts won 16–13 over the Dallas Cowboys
  • 25 December – The Miami Dolphins defeat the Kansas City Chiefs in a divisional playoff game. The double-overtime contest is the longest game in NFL history, and the Chiefs' last-ever home game at Municipal Stadium.
  • Orange Bowl (1970 season):
  • The Nebraska Cornhuskers won 17-12 over the Louisiana State Tigers to win the AP Poll national championship after the previous #1 Texas Longhorns lost in the Cotton Bowl and the #2 Ohio State Buckeyes lost in the Rose Bowl.

    • Association football

  • 2 January – At the end of a Rangers–Celtic match at Ibrox Park in Glasgow, barriers at Stairway 13 give way under a mass of fans, killing 66 and injuring over 200 others.
  • 30 June – death of Georgi Asparuhov (28), Bulgarian international
  • Atlético Mineiro wins the first Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
  • Arsenal are the English First Division champions
  • England – FA Cup – Arsenal won 2–1 over Liverpool to win The Double
  • European Championship Cup Final: Ajax – Panathinaikos 2–0

    • Athletics

  • August – Athletics at the 1971 Pan American Games held in Cali, Colombia
  • August – 1971 European Championships in Athletics held at Helsinki

    • Australian rules football

  • Victorian Football League
  • Hawthorn wins the 75th VFL Premiership (Hawthorn 12.10 (82) d St Kilda 11.9 (75))
  • Brownlow Medal awarded to Ian Stewart (Richmond)
  • SANFL
  • North Adelaide 10.19 (79) defeated Port Adelaide 9.5 (59)

    • Bandy

  • 1971 Bandy World Championship is held in Sweden and won by  Soviet Union.

    • Baseball

  • World Series – Pittsburgh Pirates won 4 games to 3 over the Baltimore Orioles. Game four, played on 13 October at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, was the first night game in World Series history.

    • Basketball

  • NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship –
  • UCLA wins 68–02 over Villanova
  • Indiana University Hires Robert Montgomery "Bob" Knight as their head basketball coach.
  • NBA Finals –
  • Milwaukee Bucks win 4 games to 0 over the Baltimore Bullets
  • 1971 ABA Finals –
  • Utah Stars defeat Kentucky Colonels 4 games to 3; Stars defeat Indiana Pacers in division finals while Colonels defeat Virginia Squires.

    • Boxing

  • 8 March – Joe Frazier defeats Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden, in the first of three epic bouts between the two, to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.

    • Canadian football

  • Grey Cup – Calgary Stampeders won 14–11 over the Toronto Argonauts
  • Vanier Cup – Western Ontario Mustangs won 15–14 over the Alberta Golden Bears

    • Cricket

  • 5 January, Melbourne – first-ever One Day International is played after a Test match is abandoned because of rain, Australia beating England by 5 wickets.

    • Cycling

  • Giro d'Italia won by Gösta Pettersson of Sweden
  • Tour de France – Eddy Merckx of Belgium
  • UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race – Eddy Merckx of Belgium

    • Field hockey

  • Men's World Cup in Barcelona, Spain
  • Gold Medal: Pakistan
  • Silver Medal: Spain
  • Bronze Medal: India
  • Pan American Games (Men's Competition) in Cali, Colombia
  • Gold Medal: Argentina
  • Silver Medal: Mexico
  • Bronze Medal: Canada

    • Figure skating

  • World Figure Skating Championships –
  • Men's champion: Ondrej Nepela, Czechoslovakia
  • Ladies' champion: Trixi Schuba, Austria
  • Pair skating champions: Irina Rodnina & Alexei Ulyanov, Soviet Union
  • Ice dancing champions: Lyudmila Pakhomova & Alexandr Gorshkov, Soviet Union

    • Golf

    Men's professional

  • PGA Championship – Jack Nicklaus
  • Masters Tournament – Charles Coody
  • U.S. Open – Lee Trevino
  • British Open – Lee Trevino
  • PGA Tour money leader – Jack Nicklaus – $244,491
  • Ryder Cup – United States won 18½ to 13½ over Britain in team golf

    • Men's amateur

  • British Amateur – Steve Melnyk
  • U.S. Amateur – Gary Cowan

    • Women's professional

  • LPGA Championship – Kathy Whitworth
  • U.S. Women's Open – JoAnne Carner – this win made her the first person ever to win three different USGA individual championship events.
  • Titleholders Championship – not played
  • LPGA Tour money leader – Kathy Whitworth – $41,181

    • Harness racing

  • United States Pacing Triple Crown races –
    1. Cane Pace – Albatross
    2. Little Brown Jug – Nansemond
    3. Messenger Stakes – Albatross
  • United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
    1. Hambletonian – Speedy Crown
    2. Yonkers Trot – Quick Pride
    3. Kentucky Futurity – Savoir
  • Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
  • Pacers: Stella Frost
  • Trotters: Geffini

    • Horse racing

    Steeplechases

  • Cheltenham Gold Cup – L'Escargot
  • Grand National – Specify

    • Flat races

  • Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Silver Knight
  • Canada – Queen's Plate won by Kennedy Road
  • France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Mill Reef
  • Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Irish Ball
  • English Triple Crown Races:
    1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Brigadier Gerard
    2. Epsom Derby – Mill Reef
    3. St. Leger Stakes – Athens Wood
  • United States Triple Crown Races:
    1. Kentucky Derby – Canonero II
    2. Preakness Stakes – Canonero II
    3. Belmont Stakes – Pass Catcher

    • Ice hockey

  • 13 April – death of Michel Brière (21), Canadian player with Pittsburgh Penguins
  • Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins
  • Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins
  • Stanley Cup – Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 3 over the Chicago Black Hawks
  • World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated Czechoslovakia
  • NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship – Boston University Terriers defeat University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Golden Gophers 4–2 in Syracuse, New York
  • World Hockey Association (WHA) is formed as an alternative North American professional hockey league to the NHL

    • Lacrosse

  • Cornell beats Maryland 12–6 to win the first NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship.
  • The Brantford Warriors win the Mann Cup.
  • The Richmond Roadrunners win the Minto Cup.
  • The Victoria McDonalds win the Castrol Cup.

    • Motor racing

  • 11 July – death of Pedro Rodríguez, Mexican F1 driver
  • Stock car racing –
  • 14 February – Richard Petty won the Daytona 500 in the #43 Plymouth for Petty Enterprises
  • 22 February – Bobby Allison wins the World 500 in the #29 Mercury for Holman Moody
  • NASCAR Championship – Richard Petty in the #43 Plymouth for Petty Enterprises
  • USAC Racing
  • 29 May – Al Unser, Sr. wins the 55th running of the Indianapolis 500 in the Johnny Lightning Special Colt–Ford. It is Unser's second of four victories.
  • Joe Leonard wins the season drivers' championship
  • Formula One – John Y. Stewart (Scotland) wins World Drivers' Champion, driving a Tyrrell 001–Cosworth.
  • 24 Hours of Le Mans – Helmut Marko / Gijs van Lennep win, sharing a Porsche 917
  • Rally racing – the team of Ove Andersson / David Stone won the Monte Carlo Rally driving an Alpine-Renault A110
  • Drag racing –
  • NHRA announces the first Grandnationals, at Sanair, near Montreal, Quebec.
  • Hank Johnson wins Top Fuel at the Supernats.

    • Radiosport

  • Sixth Amateur Radio Direction Finding European Championship held in Duisburg, Federal Republic of Germany.

    • Rugby league

  • 18 September – the 1971 NSWRFL season culminates in a Grand Final victory for South Sydney, defeating St George 16–10
  • 1971 New Zealand rugby league season
  • 1970–71 Northern Rugby Football League season / 1971–72 Northern Rugby Football League season

    • Rugby union

  • 77th Five Nations Championship series is won by Wales who complete the Grand Slam

    • Snooker

  • World Snooker Championship – John Spencer beats Warren Simpson 37–29

    • Swimming

  • 27 August – US swimmer Mark Spitz recaptures the world record in the men's 200m butterfly (long course), clocking 2:03.9 at a meet in Houston, Texas.
  • 31 August – Four days after Mark Spitz broke the world record in the men's 200m butterfly (long course), West Germany's Hans-Joachim Fassnacht betters the time to 2:03.3 at a meet in Landskrona, Sweden.

    • Tennis

  • Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
    1. Australian Open – Ken Rosewall
    2. French Open – Jan Kodeš
    3. Wimbledon championships – John Newcombe
    4. US Open – Stan Smith
  • Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
    1. Australian Open – Margaret Court
    2. French Open – Evonne Goolagong
    3. Wimbledon championships – Evonne Goolagong
    4. US Open – Billie Jean King
  • Davis Cup – United States wins 3–2 over Romania in world tennis.
  • Sixteen-year-old Chris Evert makes her US Open debut reaching the semifinals where she is defeated by eventual champion Billie Jean King.
  • First time in 16 years that Americans won both the men's and women's title at the US Open.

    • Volleyball

  • Men and Women's European Volleyball Championship held in Italy
  • 1971 Men's European Volleyball Championship won by the USSR
  • 1971 Women's European Volleyball Championship won by the USSR
  • Volleyball at the 1971 Pan American Games held in Cali, Colombia
  • Men's and women's tournaments both won by Cuba

    • Multi-sport events

  • Sixth Pan American Games held in Cali, Colombia
  • Sixth Mediterranean Games held in Izmir, Turkey

    • Awards

  • ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year: Lee Trevino, Golf
  • Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Lee Trevino, PGA golf
  • Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Evonne Goolagong, Tennis

    • References

    1971 in sports Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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