1981 in Sport

Events in Sport

Events 1 - 100 of 191

• Jan 1 67th Rose Bowl: #5 Michigan beats #16 Washington, 23-6
• Jan 1 47th Sugar Bowl: #1 Georgia beats #7 Notre Dame, 17-10
• Jan 1 47th Orange Bowl: #4 Oklahoma beats #2 Florida State, 18-17
• Jan 3 Cleveland Cavaliers retire jersey # 34, Austin Carr

• Jan 4 Australian Open Men's Tennis: American Brian Teacher wins his first and only Grand Slam event; beats home favourite Kim Warwick 7-5, 7-6, 6-3
• Jan 11 AFC Championship, Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego: Oakland Raiders beat San Diego Chargers, 34-27
• Jan 11 NFC Championship, Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia: Philadelphia Eagles beat Dallas Cowboys, 20-7

• Jan 15 Pitcher Bob Gibson is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility; after a stellar 17 year career, polls 337 votes from Baseball Writers Association of America

• Jan 22 O A "Bum" Phillips becomes head coach of New Orleans Saints
• Jan 23 Mike Bossy becomes 1st in NHL to score 50 goals in 50 games
• Jan 23 Red Sox trade Fred Lynn to Angels for Frank Tanana and Joe Rudi


• Jan 24 Islanders scored 5 power play goals against Nordiques
• Jan 25 Super Bowl XV, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA: Oakland Raiders beat Philadelphia Eagles, 27-10; MVP: Jim Plunkett, Oakland, QB
• Jan 29 AL approves sale of White Sox to Jerry Reinsdorf & Eddie Einhorn for $20 million, & 80% of Mariners to George Argyros for $104 million
• Feb 1 NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: NFC beats AFC, 21-7; MVP: Eddie Murray, Detroit Lions, PK
• Feb 1 Australian cricket captain Greg Chappell sensationally instructs younger brother Trevor to bowl underarm to Brian McKechnie with NZ needing 6 from last ball to tie 3rd World Series ODI in Melbourne; Australia wins by 6

• Feb 3 Australia beats NZ 3-1 to win cricket's World Series Cup
• Feb 10 33rd NHL All-Star Game, The Forum, Inglewood: Campbell Conference beats Wales Conference, 4-1; MVP: Mike Liut, St. Louis Blues, G
• Feb 10 Dennis Lillee becomes Australian Cricket's top wicket-taker with 249
• Feb 12 Arbitrator Goetz declares Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk a free agent
• Feb 15 23rd Daytona 500: Richard Petty wins record 7th title at Daytona, beating Bobby Allison to the line by 3.5 seconds

• Feb 20 Quebec's Czech rookie brothers Peter and Anton Stastny each score first career NHL hat-tricks in Nordiques' 9-3 win at Vancouver; Peter adds 3 assists and Anton 2
• Feb 25 NHL most penalized game; Bruins vs Northstars, 84 penalties (392 mins)
• Feb 25 NY Islanders give up their most goals (11) vs Calgary Flames
• Feb 25 Exec Board of Baseball Players' Association votes unanimously to strike on May 29 if the issue of free-agent compensation remains unresolved
• Feb 26 84 penalties (406 mins) assessed for a brawl between NHL Minn & Bost
• Feb 28 Calvin Murphy (Hou), sets NBA record with 78 consecutive free throws
• Mar 1 Houston Rockets guard Calvin Murphy misses a free throw in a 102-86 loss in San Antonio, ending his NBA record consecutive free throw streak at 78
• Mar 3 Isle's Mike Bossy 9th & final hat trick of season-4 goals
• Mar 3 NY Islanders & Edmonton Oilers play to an 8-8 tie
• Mar 5 Ice Dance Championship at Hartford won by Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean (GRB)
• Mar 6 Worlds Ladies' Figure Skating Champ in Hartford won by Denise Biellmann
• Mar 7 28th ACC Men's Basketball Tournament: North Carolina beats Maryland, 61-60
• Mar 7 22nd SEC Men's Basketball Tournament: Ole Miss beats Georgia, 66-62


• Mar 11 Johnny Mize and Rube Foster are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
• Mar 14 NCAA St Joseph's upsets top seed DePaul 49-48
• Mar 17 FC Lisse, Dutch soccer team forms
• Mar 18 Buffalo Sabres sets NHL record of 9 goals in 1 period (vs Toronto)
• Mar 19 Buffalo Sabres beat Toronto Maple Leafs 14-4
• Mar 21 France beats England 16-12 at Twickenham, London for it's 7th outright Five Nations Rugby Championship and 3rd Grand Slam title

• Mar 24 Bombay beat Delhi by innings & 46 to win Ranji Cricket Trophy

• Mar 29 Tiina Lehtola ski jumps female record 110m
• Mar 29 AIAW Women's Basketball Championship, Louisiana Tech beat Tennessee 79-59 in Eugene

• Apr 4 135th Grand National: Bob Champion aboard 10/1 hope Aldaniti wins by 4 lengths from 8/1 favourite Spartan Missile
• Apr 5 Philadelphia Flyers amass a record 2,621 penalty minutes
• Apr 8 Islanders scored 9 goals against Toronto in playoffs
• Apr 9 LA Dodgers Fernando Valenzuela's 1st start, beats Astros 2-0

• Apr 17 Isle Potvin's 3 playoff power-play goals tie NHL record vs Oilers
• Apr 17 Ranger's Anders Hedberg is 2nd to score on a Stanley Cup penalty shot
• Apr 18 Longest game in Professional Baseball: Pawtucket Red Sox tie Rochester Red Wings 2-2 in 32 innings (game resumed 23rd June)
• Apr 19 Oakland A's runs record to 11-0
• Apr 20 85th Boston Marathon: Toshihiko Seko of Japan wins men's race in 2:09:26; Allison Roe of New Zealand takes women's title in 2:26:46
• Apr 22 Dodgers rookie Fernando Valenzuela tosses his 3rd shutout in 4 starts
• Apr 24 Bill Shoemaker wins his 8,000th race, 2000 more than any other jockey
• Apr 24 San Antonio blocks 20 Golden State shots to set NBA reg game record
• Apr 27 1st female soccer official is hired by NASL
• Apr 29 Phillie Steve Carlton is 1st lefty to strike out 3,000 batters
• Apr 29 NFL Draft: South Carolina running back George Rogers first pick by New Orleans Saints

• May 2 107th Kentucky Derby: Jorge Velásquez on Pleasant Colony wins in 2:02
• May 10 Montreal Expo Charlie Lee no-hits SF Giants, 4-0
• May 12 NY Islanders tie own record with two shorthanded playoff goals in a pd vs Minn
• May 13 Dinamo Tbilisi wins 21st European Cup Winner's Cup against Carl Zeiss Jena of East Germany 2-1 in Düsseldorf
• May 14 35th NBA Championship: Bost Celtics beat Houston Rockets, 4 games to 2
• May 15 "Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island" airs
• May 16 106th Preakness: Jorge Velásquez aboard Pleasant Colony wins in 1:54.6
• May 16 Houston Astro Craig Reynolds hits 3 triples beating Cubs 6-1
• May 17 Islanders score 5 power play goals against Flyers in a playoff
• May 21 Stanley Cup Final, Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY: NY Islanders win back-to-back titles; beat Minnesota North Stars, 5-1 for 4 games to 1 series win
• May 23 Puerto Rican boxer Wilfred Benítez (22) becomes the youngest 3-division world champion in history by knocking out WBC World Super Welterweight champion Maurice Hope in 12 rounds in Las Vegas
• May 24 Bobby Unser wins, loses, & wins a controversial Indy 500
• May 25 Bobby Unser becomes 1st Indy 500 winner to be disqualified

• May 27 Lenny Randle tries to blow a slow roller foul but umpire says no
• May 27 25th European Cup: Liverpool beats Real Madrid 1-0 at Paris
• May 30 LA Dodgers are quickest to get 1,000,000 attendence (22 games)

• Jun 6 113th Belmont: George Martens aboard Summing wins in 2:29
• Jun 6 French Open Women's Tennis: Czech teenager Hana Mandlíková beats Sylvia Hanika of Germany 6-2, 6-4 for her only French singles crown
• Jun 7 French Open Men's Tennis: Björn Borg of Sweden wins 11th and final career Grand Slam title; Open era record 6th French title; beats Ivan Lendl 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
• Jun 8 Seattle Mariners draft Mike Moore #1

• Jun 11 Mariners beat Orioles 8-2 at Kingdome, then players go on strike
• Jun 12 Baseball players begin a 50 day strike, their 3rd strike
• Jun 12 Larry Holmes TKOs Leon Spinks in 3 for WBC heavyweight boxing title

• Jun 18 Test cricket debut of Terry Alderman, v England at Trent Bridge
• Jun 21 US Open Men's Golf, Merion GC: David Graham wins his second major title and becomes the first Australian to win the US Open, 3 strokes ahead of runners-up George Burns and Bill Rogers

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Birthdays in Sport

Birthdays 1 - 100 of 417

• Jan 1 Zsolt Baumgartner, Hungarian race car driver
• Jan 1 Abdülkadir Koçak, Turkish boxer
• Jan 2 Hanno Balitsch, German footballer
• Jan 2 Maxi Rodríguez, Argentine footballer
• Jan 2 Ryan Garko, American baseball player
• Jan 2 Kirk Hinrich, American basketball player
• Jan 3 Eli [Elisha] Manning, American football quarterback (NY Giants - MVP Super Bowls XLII, XLVI), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
• Jan 3 Chris Blais, California racecar driver
• Jan 5 Corey Flynn, New Zealand rugby union footballer, born in Invercargill, New Zealand
• Jan 6 Asante Samuel, National Football League Defensive Back, born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• Jan 7 Alex Auld, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Cold Lake, Canada
• Jan 7 Marquis Daniels, American basketball player, born in Jasper, Florida
• Jan 8 Jeff Francis, Canadian baseball player, born in Vancouver, Canada
• Jan 8 Xie Xingfang, Chinese badminton player, born in Guangzhou, China
• Jan 9 Euzebiusz Smolarek, Polish footballer, born in Łódź, Poland
• Jan 12 Dan Klecko, American football player, born in Chester, Pennsylvania
• Jan 13 Reggie Brown, American football player
• Jan 13 Darrell Rasner, American baseball player
• Jan 15 El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese footballer, born in Dakar, Senegal
• Jan 15 Sean Lamont, Scottish rugby union footballer, born in Perth, United Kingdom
• Jan 16 Bobby Zamora, English footballer
• Jan 17 Warren Feeney, Northern Irish footballer
• Jan 18 Khari Stephenson, Jamaican footballer, born in Kingston, Jamaica
• Jan 18 Olivier Rochus, Belgian tennis player, born in Namur, Belgium
• Jan 19 Asier Del Horno, Spanish footballer, born in Barakaldo, Spain
• Jan 19 Lucho González, Argentine footballer, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Jan 20 Freddy Guzmán, Dominican baseball player, born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
• Jan 20 Owen Hargreaves, English football player & television pundit, born in Calgary, Canada
• Jan 21 Ivan Ergić, Serbian footballer
• Jan 21 Jamie Dalrymple, English cricketer
• Jan 21 Dany Heatley, Canadian ice hockey player
• Jan 22 Ibrahima Sonko, French footballer, born in Bignona, Senegal
• Jan 23 Rob Friend, Canadian football player, born in Rosetown, Canada
• Jan 24 Travis Hanson, American baseball player
• Jan 25 Francis Jeffers, English footballer, born in Liverpool, United Kingdom
• Jan 26 Juan Jose Haedo, Argentinian Cyclist
• Jan 27 Alicia Molik, Australian tennis player
• Jan 28 Rick Razzano, American football player
• Jan 30 Dimitar Berbatov, Bulgarian footballer, born in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
• Jan 30 Mathias Lauda, Austrian racing driver, born in Salzburg, Austria
• Jan 30 Peter Crouch, English footballer, born in Macclesfield, United Kingdom
• Jan 31 Julio Arca, Argentinian football player, born in Quilmes, Argentina
• Feb 1 Luis Lamá, Angolan footballer, born in Luanda, Angola
• Feb 1 Graeme Smith, South African cricketer, born in Johannesburg, South Africa
• Feb 1 Rob Austin, British racing driver, born in Evesham, United Kingdom
• Feb 2 Jason Kapono, American basketball player
• Feb 3 Maurice Ross, Scottish footballer
• Feb 4 Tom Mastny, Indonesian baseball player
• Feb 4 Johan Van Summeren, Belgian cyclist
• Feb 4 Ben Hendrickson, American baseball player
• Feb 4 Jason Kapono, America professional basketball player
• Feb 5 Loukas Vyntra, Greek football player, born in Město Albrechtice, Czechia
• Feb 6 Ty Warren, American football defensive lineman, born in Bryan, Texas
• Feb 9 Joël Camathias, Swiss racing driver
• Feb 10 Andrew Johnson, English footballer, born in Bedford, United Kingdom
• Feb 11 Scot Thompson, US soccer player, born in NYC, New York
• Feb 13 Luisão [Ânderson Luís da Silva], Brazilian footballer, born in São Paulo, Brazil
• Feb 13 Liam Miller, Irish footballer, born in Cork, Republic of Ireland
• Feb 13 Luke Ridnour, US basketball player, born in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
• Feb 15 Diego Martínez, Mexican footballer, born in Mexico City, Mexico
• Feb 16 Jay Howard, British racing driver
• Feb 16 Jerry Owens, American baseball player
• Feb 16 Qyntel Woods, American basketball player
• Feb 17 Donielle Thompson, Wheatridge CO, gymnast (World-bronze-95, Olympics 1996)
• Feb 17 Lisa Skinner, Queensland Australia, gymnast (Olympics 1996)
• Feb 18 Andrei Kirilenko, Russian basketball player
• Feb 18 Ivan Sproule, Irish footballer
• Feb 18 Alex Rios, American baseball player
• Feb 19 Gil Reyes, American boxer
• Feb 19 Nicky Shorey, English footballer
• Feb 20 Tony Hibbert, English footballer
• Feb 22 Fredson Camara, Brazilian footballer, born in Monção, Brazil
• Feb 23 Gareth Barry, English footballer (West Bromwich Albion F.C.), born in Hastings, United Kingdom
• Feb 23 Charles Tillman, American football cornerback, born in Chicago, Illinois
• Feb 24 Lleyton Hewitt, Australian tennis player (US Open 2001, Wimbledon 2002), born in Adelaide, Australia
• Feb 24 Mohammad Sami, Pakistani cricketer
• Feb 25 Park Ji-Sung, South Korean footballer
• Feb 26 Kertus Davis, American NASCAR driver, born in Gaffney, South Carolina
• Feb 27 Elodie Ouédraogo, Belgian athlete, born in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Belgium
• Feb 28 Brian Bannister, American baseball player, born in Scottsdale, Arizona
• Feb 28 Florent Serra, French tennis player, born in Bordeaux, France
• Mar 1 Will Power, Australian auto racer (Indianapolis 500 2018), born in Toowoomba, Queensland
• Mar 1 Brad Winchester, American ice hockey player
• Mar 3 Dusty Dvoracek, American football player
• Mar 3 Emmanuel Pappoe, Ghanaian footballer
• Mar 5 Andreas Wiig, Norwegian snowboarder
• Mar 5 Paul Martin, American ice hockey player
• Mar 8 Michael Beauchamp, Australian footballer
• Mar 9 Antonio Bryant, American football player, born in Miami, Florida
• Mar 9 Anders Nøhr, Danish footballer, born in Ikast, Denmark
• Mar 9 Clay Rapada, American baseball player, born in Chesapeake, Virginia
• Mar 10 Samuel Eto'o, Cameroonian footballer
• Mar 10 Efthimios Kouloucheris, Greek footballer
• Mar 10 Steven Reid, English-born footballer
• Mar 11 Lee Evans, American football player
• Mar 13 Stephen Maguire, Scottish snooker player, born in Glasgow, Scotland
• Mar 14 Bobby Jenks, American baseball player
• Mar 15 Mikael Forssell, Finnish footballer
• Mar 16 Curtis Granderson, American baseball player
• Mar 16 Yoav Ziv, Israeli footballer

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Weddings in Sport

Deaths in Sport

• Jan 17 Loukas Panourgias, Greek footballer (b. 1899)
• Feb 5 Barend Barendse, Dutch sports reporter and actor (Zeskamp, Oebele), dies at 73
• Feb 15 Jack Crapp, English cricketer (7 Tests for England 1948-49, 319 runs), dies at 68
• Mar 6 George Geary, English cricketer (14 Tests for England, 46 wickets), dies at 87
• Mar 7 Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling, German tennis player (runner-up Wimbledon 1931, 1936), dies at 72
• Mar 14 Ken Barrington, cricketer (82 Tests for England, 6806 runs), dies
• Mar 17 Paul Dean, American baseball player (b. 1913)
• Mar 26 Tim Wall, cricketer (SA v NSW 1933 is Sheffield Shield record), dies
• Mar 30 Noel Harford, New Zealand cricketer (8 Tests for NZ 1955-58), dies at 50
• Apr 2 Delfo Cabrera, Argentine distance runner (Olympic gold marathon 1948), dies in a car accident at 62

• Apr 16 Eric Hollies, English cricketer (13 Tests for England, 44 wickets), dies at 68
• Apr 21 Harry Lee, cricketer (scored 18 & 1 in only Test for England), dies
• Apr 28 Mickey "Toy Bulldog" Walker, welterweight champ (1922-26) dies at 79
• Apr 28 Cliff Battles, Pro/College Football Halls of Fame halfback (Boston Braves/Redskins, Washington Redskins), dies at 70
• May 8 Maurice Fernandes, cricket captain (WI in 1st Test win, 1930 v Eng), dies
• May 9 C E "Nip" Pellew, cricketer (10 Tests 484 runs at 37), dies
• May 9 Ralph Allen, English footballer (b. 1906)
• May 25 Roy Brown, American boxer/rocker, dies of a heart attack at 55
• May 30 Don Ashby, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1955)
• Jun 3 Eric Dalton, South African cricketer (698 runs for South Africa at 31 72), dies at 74
• Jun 28 Terry Fox, Canadian one-legged marathoner, dies of cancer at 22
• Aug 14 Dudley Nourse, South African cricketer (34 Tests for South Africa, 2960 runs), dies at 70
• Aug 27 Valery Kharlamov, Soviet ice hockey player (b. 1948)
• Aug 28 Béla Guttmann, Hungarian footballer and coach (Benfica, 100 year curse), dies at 82
• Aug 31 Victor Trumper Jr, Australian cricketer (7 games for NSW, 74 runs 12 wkts), dies at 67
• Sep 9 Phiroz Edulji Palia, cricket (2 Tests for India, 29 runs & 0-13), dies
• Sep 29 Bill Shankly, Scottish football manager (b. 1913)
• Oct 4 Freddie Lindstrom, Major League Baseball Hall of famer (b. 1905)
• Oct 15 Philip Fotheringham-Parker, British racing driver (b. 1907)
• Nov 14 Robert Bradford, Northern Irish footballer (b. 1941)
• Nov 22 Jack Fingleton, Australian cricketer (18 Tests for Australia, 1189 runs), dies at 73
• Nov 25 Morris Kirksey, American 4 X 100m (Olympic gold 1920), dies at 86
• Nov 26 Max Euwe, Dutch world chess champion (1935-37), dies at 80

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