title: 1971 in sports
text: # 1971 in sports
  
  1971 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
  
  ## Alpine skiing
  
  * Alpine Skiing World Cup
     * Men's overall season champion: Gustav Thöni, Italy
     * Women's overall season champion: Annemarie Pröll, Austria
  
  ## American football
  
  * 17 January − Super Bowl V: the Baltimore Colts (AFC) won 16–13 over the Dallas Cowboys (NFC)
     * Location: Miami Orange Bowl
     * Attendance: 79,204
     * MVP: Chuck Howley, LB (Dallas)
  * 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 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.
  * 24 October – death of Chuck Hughes, Detroit Lions wide receiver
  
  ## 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 Athletics Championships 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 Division I Men's Basketball Championship –
     * UCLA wins 68–62 over Villanova
     * Indiana University Hires 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 –
     * Cane Pace – Albatross
     * Little Brown Jug – Nansemond
     * Messenger Stakes – Albatross
  * United States Trotting Triple Crown races –
     * Hambletonian – Speedy Crown
     * Yonkers Trot – Quick Pride
     * 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:
     * 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Brigadier Gerard
     * The Derby – Mill Reef
     * St. Leger Stakes – Athens Wood
  * United States Triple Crown Races:
     * Kentucky Derby – Canonero II
     * Preakness Stakes – Canonero II
     * Belmont Stakes – Pass Catcher
  
  ## Ice hockey
  
  * 13 April – death of Michel Brière (21), Canadian player with Pittsburgh Penguins
  * Art Ross 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 Division I 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.
  
  ## 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:
     * Australian Open – Ken Rosewall
     * French Open – Jan Kodeš
     * Wimbledon championships – John Newcombe
     * U.S. Open – Stan Smith
  * Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
     * Australian Open – Margaret Court
     * French Open – Evonne Goolagong
     * Wimbledon championships – Evonne Goolagong
     * U.S. 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 İzmir, Turkey
  
  ## Awards
  
  * ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year: Lee Trevino, PGA Golf
  * Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Lee Trevino, PGA golf
  * Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Evonne Goolagong, Tennis
  * Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year - Lee Trevino, PGA golf
  