1898 in sports

1898 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

American football

College championship

College football national championship – Harvard Crimson

Professional championships

Western Pennsylvania champions – Duquesne Country and Athletic Club

Events

The Morgan Athletic Club, which will eventually become Arizona Cardinals, is founded in Chicago and is the sport's oldest professional team.
3 December — the Western Pennsylvania All-Stars are defeated by the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club, 16–0, in the very first all-star game for professional football.

Association football

Belgium

Standard Liège was founded.^[1]

England

The Football League – Sheffield United 42 points, Sunderland 37, Wolves 35, Everton 35, Sheffield Wednesday 33, Aston Villa 33
FA Cup final – Nottingham Forest 3–1 Derby County at Crystal Palace, London.
Both the Football League First and Second Divisions are expanded from 16 to 18 teams in 1898, bringing the total number of League sides to 36. Additionally, the test match system is abandoned in favour of automatic relegation and promotion. There is no relegation from the First Division in 1898, Burnley and Newcastle United being promoted to increase the number of teams to 18. To increase the size of the Second Division, Burslem Port Vale is restored to the League; Barnsley, Glossop (1898–1915) and New Brighton Tower (1898–1901) are elected for the first time.

Italy

Formation of the Italian Football Federation (Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio or FIGC) in Turin. It is also known as Federcalcio.

Scotland

Scottish Football League – Celtic
Scottish Cup – Rangers 2–0 Kilmarnock at Hampden Park^[2]

Athletics

USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
Ronald J. MacDonald wins the second running of the Boston Marathon.^[3]

Australian rules football

VFL Premiership

Fitzroy wins the 2nd VFL Premiership: Fitzroy 5.8 (38) d Essendon 3.5 (23) at Junction Oval

Baseball

National championship

National League championship – Boston Beaneaters. This is Boston's fifth championship in eight years under manager Frank Selee.

Events

22 April — multiple no-hitters are thrown on the same day by two players: Ted Breitenstein and Jay Hughes.

Basketball

USA

23 April – The 23rd Street YMCA of New York City wins the first national basketball championship tournament, organized by the U.S. Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).^[4]

Boxing

Lineal world champions^[5]

World Heavyweight Championship – Bob Fitzsimmons
World Middleweight Championship – vacant → Tommy Ryan
World Welterweight Championship – Tommy Ryan → Ryan vacates title → "Mysterious" Billy Smith
World Lightweight Championship – George "Kid" Lavigne
World Featherweight Championship – Solly Smith → Dave Sullivan → George Dixon
World Bantamweight Championship – Jimmy Barry

Cricket

England

County Championship – Yorkshire
Minor Counties Championship – Worcestershire
Most runs – Bobby Abel 2053 @ 48.88 (HS 219)
Most wickets – Jack Hearne 222 @ 14.05 (BB 9–68)
Wisden Five Cricketers of the Year – Wilfred Rhodes, Bill Storer, Charlie Townsend, Albert Trott, William Lockwood

Australia

Sheffield Shield – Victoria
Most runs – Clem Hill 1196 @ 66.44 (HS 200)
Most wickets – Ernie Jones 76 @ 21.75 (BB 7–80)

India

Bombay Presidency – Parsees

South Africa

Currie Cup – Griqualand West

West Indies

Inter-Colonial Tournament – not contested

Figure skating

World Figure Skating Championships

World Men's Champion – Henning Grenander (Sweden)

Golf

Major tournaments

British Open – Harry Vardon
U.S. Open – Fred Herd

Other tournaments

British Amateur – Freddie Tait
US Amateur – Findlay S. Douglas

Horse racing

Events

11 June — Willie Simms becomes the only African-American jockey to win all three races of the United States Triple Crown Races when he rides Sly Fox to victory in the Preakness Stakes.

England

Australia

Melbourne Cup – The Grafter

Canada

Queen's Plate – Bon Ino

Ireland

Irish Grand National – Porridge
Irish Derby Stakes – Noble Howard

USA

Kentucky Derby – Plaudit
Preakness Stakes – Sly Fox
Belmont Stakes – Bowling Brook

Ice hockey

Stanley Cup

5 March — Montreal Victorias wins the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC) championship and the Stanley Cup. It is the club's fourth AHAC championship in a row and second straight Cup title.

Events

10 December — first championship ice hockey league, the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC) disbands over a dispute to allow a new member in its senior league. The Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL) is formed to replace it, from the clubs seceding from AHAC.

Motor racing

Paris-Amsterdam-Paris Trail

The 1898 Paris–Amsterdam–Paris Trail is run on 7–13 July over 1431 km and won by Fernand Charron driving a Panhard-Levassor in a time of 33:04:34. The race is in retrospect sometimes referred to as the III Grand Prix de l'ACF.^[7]