1953 in sports

[American football]

• NFL Championship: the Detroit Lions won 17–16 over the Cleveland Browns at Briggs Stadium

[Association football]

• First Division – Arsenal win the 1952–53 title.
• FA Cup – Blackpool beat Bolton Wanderers 4–3 in what is known as "The Matthews Final", although it is Stan Mortensen who scores a winning hat-trick for Blackpool.
• England lose 6–3 to Hungary at Wembley Stadium their first ever loss to a team from Continental Europe at home.

• Coronation Cup (football) – Celtic beat Hibernian 2–0 at Hampden Park.

• La Liga won by Barcelona F.C.

• Serie A won by F.C. Internazionale Milano

• German football championship won by 1. FC Kaiserslautern

• French Division 1 won by Stade de Reims

• Primeira Liga won by Sporting C.P.

[Australian rules football]

• Victorian Football League
• * 23 May: Fitzroy, against a brilliant Footscray defence, kick the lowest VFL/AFL score since 1899, 1.0 to 10.6. Fitzroy seemed doomed to the first 0.0 score in VFL history until Allan Ruthven scored a goal with ten minutes to go.
• * 4 July: Geelong beats Collingwood’s previous record of 20 consecutive wins, beating 12.14 to 13.7.
• * 1 August: Collingwood ends a run of 26 unbeaten games by Geelong, beating them 10.15 to 7.13
• * 26 September: Collingwood wins the 57th VFL Premiership, beating Geelong 11.11 to 8.17
• * Brownlow Medal awarded to Bill Hutchison
• South Australian National Football League:
• * 3 October: West Torrens wins the last of its four SANFL premierships, beating Port Adelaide 9.13 to 8.12
• * Magarey Medal won by Jim Deane
• Western Australian National Football League:
• * 8 August: Bernie Naylor kicks a WANFL record 23 goals against, including twelve in one quarter.
• * 10 October: win their second consecutive premiership and seventh overall, beating 18.12 to 8.13
• * Sandover Medal awarded to Merv McIntosh

[Baseball]

• World Series – New York Yankees won 4 games to 2 over the Brooklyn Dodgers
• The Boston Braves of the National League moved to Milwaukee, becoming the first MLB franchise to relocate in 50 years.

[Basketball]

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship –
• * Indiana wins 69–68 over Kansas
• NBA Finals –
• * Minneapolis Lakers won 4 games to 1 over the New York Knicks
• The eighth European basketball championship, Eurobasket 1953, is won by the Soviet Union.
• The fifteenth South American Basketball Championship in Montevideo is won by Uruguay.

[Boxing]

• September 24 in New York City – Rocky Marciano retains his World Heavyweight title with a TKO over Roland La Starza in the 11th round.
• October in New York City – Bobo Olson scored a 15-round decision over Randy Turpin to win the World Middleweight Championship

[Bowling]

• Nine-pin bowling World Championships –
• * Men's champion: Alfred Beierl, Austria
• * Women's champion: Jelena Šincek, Yugoslavia
• * Men's team champion: Yugoslavia
• * Women's team champion: Austria

[Canadian football]

• Grey Cup – Hamilton Tiger-Cats win 12–6 over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers

[Cricket]

• County Championship – Surrey
• Minor Counties Championship – Berkshire
• Most runs – Bill Edrich 2557 @ 47.35
• Most wickets – Bruce Dooland 172 @ 16.58
• Wisden Cricketers of the Year – Keith Miller, Neil Harvey, Johnny Wardle, Willie Watson, Tony Lock

• Sheffield Shield – South Australia
• Most runs – Neil Harvey 1659 @ 63.80
• Most wickets – Hugh Tayfield 70 @ 27.91
• South Africa make their first tour of Australia since 1931–32, and tie the five-Test series two-all with one draw

• Ranji Trophy – Holkar

• Plunket Shield – Otago
• Following their Australian tour, South Africa tour New Zealand, winning a two-Test series one-nil with one draw

• Currie Cup – not contested

• India make their first tour of the West Indies, losing a five-test series 0–1 with four draws.

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• Giro d'Italia won by Fausto Coppi of Italy
• Tour de France – Louison Bobet of France
• UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race – Fausto Coppi of Italy

[Figure skating]

• World Figure Skating Championships –
• * Men's champion: Hayes Alan Jenkins, United States
• * Ladies’ champion: Tenley Albright, United States
• * Pair skating champions: Jennifer Nicks & John Nicks, Great Britain
• * Ice dancing champions: Jean Westwood & Lawrence Demmy, Great Britain

[Golf]

• Masters Tournament – Ben Hogan
• U.S. Open – Ben Hogan
• PGA Championship – Walter Burkemo
• British Open – Ben Hogan
• PGA Tour money leader – Lew Worsham – $34,002
• Ryder Cup – United States wins 6½ to 5½ over the British team.

• British Amateur – Joe Carr
• U.S. Amateur – Gene Littler

• Women's Western Open – Louise Suggs
• U.S. Women's Open – Betsy Rawls
• Titleholders Championship – Patty Berg
• LPGA Tour money leader – Louise Suggs – $19,816

[Harness racing]

• Little Brown Jug for pacers won by Keystoner
• Hambletonian for trotters won by Helicopter
• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
• * Pacers: Captain Sandy

[Horse racing]

• Cheltenham Gold Cup – Knock Hard
• Grand National – Early Mist

• Champion Hurdle – Sir Ken

• Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Wodalla
• Canada – Queen's Plate won by Canadiana
• France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by La Sorellina
• Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Chamier
• English Triple Crown Races:
• # 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Nearula
• # The Derby – Pinza
• # St. Leger Stakes – Premonition
• United States Triple Crown Races:
• # Kentucky Derby – Dark Star
• # Preakness Stakes – Native Dancer
• # Belmont Stakes – Native Dancer

[Ice hockey]

• World Hockey Championship
• * Men's champion: Sweden defeated West Germany and Switzerland.
• * Canada did not participate in the World Hockey Championship, the government claiming it was not worth the expense.
• Stanley Cup – Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 1 over the Boston Bruins
• Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
• NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship – University of Michigan Wolverines defeat University of Minnesota Golden Gophers 7–3 in Colorado Springs, CO
• HC Kometa Brno was founded in South Moravian Region, Czechoslovakia, present day of Czech Republic.

[Rugby league]

• 1952–53 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France
• 1952–53 European Rugby League Championship / 1953–54 European Rugby League Championship
• 1953 Kangaroo tour of New Zealand
• 1953 New Zealand rugby league season
• 1953 NSWRFL season
• 1952–53 Northern Rugby Football League season / 1953–54 Northern Rugby Football League season

[Rugby union]

• 59th Five Nations Championship series is won by England

[Snooker]

• World Snooker Championship – Fred Davis beats Walter Donaldson 37–34

[Tennis]

• Australian Men's Singles Championship – Ken Rosewall defeats Mervyn Rose 6–0, 6–3, 6–4
• Australian Women's Singles Championship – Maureen Connolly Brinker defeats Julia Sampson Hayward 6–3, 6–2

• Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Vic Seixas defeats Kurt Nielsen 9–7, 6–3, 6–4
• Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Maureen Connolly Brinker defeats Doris Hart 8–6, 7–5

• French Men's Singles Championship – Ken Rosewall defeats Vic Seixas 6–3, 6–4, 1–6, 6–2
• French Women's Singles Championship – Maureen Connolly defeats Doris Hart 6–2, 6–4

• American Men's Singles Championship – Tony Trabert defeats Vic Seixas 6–3, 6–2, 6–3
• American Women's Singles Championship – Maureen Connolly defeats Doris Hart 6–2, 6–4

• Maureen Connolly becomes the first woman to win the Grand Slam in tennis.

• 1953 Davis Cup – 3–2 at Kooyong Stadium Melbourne, Australia

[Multi-sport event]s

• Pan Arab Games held in Alexandria, Egypt

Awards

• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Ben Hogan, PGA golf
• Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Maureen Connolly, Tennis