1839 in sports

Centuries:	18th century · 19th century · 20th century
Decades:	1800–1809 1810s 1820s 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s
Years:	1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842

1839 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

[edit] Boxing

12 February – William "Bendigo" Thompson defeats James Burke, who is disqualified for head butting
Jem Ward finally relinquishes his claim to the English Championship title and awards a championship belt to Bendigo
Bendigo suffers a serious knee injury while doing somersaults during a celebration and cannot fight again for several years
The English title is again disputed and claims to it are made by Burke, Ben Caunt and Nicholas Ward, brother of Jem Ward

Events

1 March – formation of Sussex CCC out of the Sussex Cricket Fund organisation that had been set up in 1836; Sussex is the oldest county club
10-11 June – Sussex CCC plays its inaugural first-class match v. MCC at Lord's

Honours – England

A former Rugby School pupil, Albert Pell, begins organising football matches at Cambridge University. Because of the different school variations, a compromise set of rules has to be found and this is the origin of the famous Cambridge Rules that will be published in 1863.
It is claimed that Barnes RFC is founded in 1839 but there is no actual evidence. If the claim is true, Barnes is the world’s oldest football club (all codes).

The 1839 Grand National is acknowledged to be the first official running of the race, the three earlier races being termed the Great Liverpool Steeplechase

Steeplechases

Flat races

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Centuries:	18th century · 19th century · 20th century
Decades:	1800–1809 1810s 1820s 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s
Years:	1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842