Plenty of Nothing

The Temple of Olympian Zeus

"Remains of the Temple of Olympian Jove with a view of Ortygia, Syracuse" by Henry Tresham. Source.

Old Spring Garden Road

Source.

Dogizaka

Dogizaka FC wear red, black and white. Source.

UCD 1 - 2 Cobh Ramblers (June 11)

Faroes: Toftir [1 - 3] B36

RoPS [0 - 1] TPS

[TPS are midtable.]

Largs Thistle 2 - 1 Androssan Winton Rovers (friendly) (yesterday)

Euro 2020: Scotland [0 - 2] Czech Republic at Hampden (tomorrow)

J2: Mito HollyHock [2 - 0] Sagamihara

JFL: FC Kariya 1 - 4 FC Tiamo Hirakata (yesterday)

Tohoku Div 1: Dogizaka [2 - 2] Morioka Zebra

Tohoku Div 2 N: Gonohe vs Tono Club [postponed]

Watch a video about the seven prefectures that don't have a J League team.

Mortonalia:

Cameron Blues and Robbie Muirhead have signed on for another year.

Stephen McGinn, who played eight games for Morton this spring, has signed with Killie.

Michael Doyle (Morton 2016-18) is League Two Player of the Year.

Chris Millar has signed with East Kilbride. He'll be up against Morton July 13th in the League Cup group stage.

Kalvin Orsi has signed with Dumbarton. Gregor Buchanan and Sam Ramsbottom have signed again. Dumbarton and Ayr United are in competition to see who can build the best Morton squad.

Craig McGuffie has signed with Falkirk.

Canadian League:

The schedule for The Kickoff Presented by Volkswagen came out Wednesday.

The league unveiled its 2021 home kits Monday. The 2020 Barrett's Privateers shirt is now a collector's item but surely it must come around again as a retro design.

Wanderers have signed Stefan Karajovanovic, Kareem Sow and Marcello Polisi.

Honda FC versus Sony Sendai in the JFL:

Honda and Sony Sendai are the two biggest corporation soccer department teams left in Japan. Honda have won the JFL ten times, Sony once. How have they fared against each other?

2020/8/19      Sony Sendai 0 - 4 Honda FC       

2019/9/14      Honda FC 2 - 0 Sony Sendai       

2019/6/15      Sony Sendai 1 - 4 Honda FC       

2018/9/9        Sony Sendai 1 - 3 Honda FC       

2018/4/7        Honda FC 2 - 2 Sony Sendai       

2017/7/22      Honda FC 2 - 1 Sony Sendai       

2017/5/21      Sony Sendai 3 - 2 Honda FC      

2016/9/18      Honda FC 1 - 2 Sony Sendai      

2016/5/29      Sony Sendai 1 - 2 Honda FC       

2015/10/24    Sony Sendai 1 - 1 Honda FC       

2015/5/24      Honda FC 2 - 1 Sony Sendai       

2014/10/5      Honda FC 2 - 3 Sony Sendai      

2014/5/31      Sony Sendai 3 - 5 Honda FC       

2013              Honda FC 0 - 1 Sony Sendai      

2013              Sony Sendai 3 - 1 Honda FC      

2012              Honda FC 2 - 0 Sony Sendai       

2012              Sony Sendai 0 - 1 Honda FC       

2011              Honda FC 0 - 0 Sony Sendai       

2011              Sony Sendai 1 - 1 Honda FC       

2010              Honda FC 0 - 0 Sony Sendai       

2010              Sony Sendai 0 - 3 Honda FC       

2009              Honda FC 1 - 1 Sony Sendai       

2009              Sony Sendai 2 - 2 Honda FC       

2008              Honda FC 1 - 0 Sony Sendai       

2008              Sony Sendai 0 - 2 Honda FC       

2007              Honda FC 2 - 2 Sony Sendai       

2007              Sony Sendai 1 - 0 Honda FC      

2006              Honda FC 0 - 0 Sony Sendai       

2006              Sony Sendai 2 - 3 Honda FC       

2005              Honda FC 1 - 1 Sony Sendai       

2005              Sony Sendai 0 - 1 Honda FC       

2004              Honda FC 3 - 1 Sony Sendai       

2004              Sony Sendai 1 - 1 Honda FC       

2003              Honda FC 2 - 0 Sony Sendai       

2003              Sony Sendai 0 - 4 Honda FC       

2002              Sony Sendai 0 - 3 Honda FC       

2001              Honda Motors 3 - 0 Sony Sendai   

2001              Sony Sendai 1 - 1 Honda Motors   

2000              Honda Motors 5 - 1 Sony Sendai   

2000              Sony Sendai 2 - 3 Honda Motors   

1999              Honda Motors 1 - 2 Sony Sendai  

1999              Honda Motors 4 - 1 Sony Sendai   

1999              Sony Sendai 0 - 1 Honda Motors   

1998              Honda Motors 3 - 4 Sony Sendai  

1998              Sony Sendai 2 - 1 Honda Motors  

Bring Me the Head of Egerton Ryerson

Source.

Very Hungry IOC

Source.

Lady Elgin

Lady Elgin in the Lord Elgin Hotel. Source.

101st Emperor's Cup, Round Two

Remarkably, J2 side SC Sagamihara have never been in the Emperor's Cup until now. Whenever they had to qualify via the Kanagawa Prefecture championship here was always some Yokohama club in there ahead of them. Source.

Match No. 27: Kawasaki Frontale (J1) [1 - 1] AC Nagano Parceiro (J3) [Frontale win on PK.]

Match No. 28: JEF United Chiba (J2) [1 - 0] Omiya Ardija (J2)

Match No. 29: Shimizu S-Pulse (J1) [1 - 0] Fukuyama City (Hiroshima 1)

Match No. 30: Vegalta Sendai (J1) [0 - 1] Iwate Grulla Morioka (J3) Upset!

Match No. 31: Sanfrecce Hiroshima (J1) vs Ocacias Kyoto (Kansai 1) (June 16)

Match No. 32: Montedio Yamagata (J2) [1 - 2] Verspah Oita (JFL) Upset!

Match No. 33: Yokohama F. Marinos (J1) [2 - 2] Honda FC (JFL) [Honda win on PK.] Upset!

Match No. 34: Júbilo Iwata (J2) [3 - 0] Hokkaido Tokachi Sky Earth (Hokkaido)

Match No. 35: Cerezo Osaka (J1) [2 - 0] Gainare Tottori (J3)

Match No. 36: Albirex Niigata (J2) [4 - 1] Zweigen Kanazawa (J2)

Match No. 37: Sagan Tosu (J1) [1 - 0] Roasso Kumamoto (J3)

Match No. 38: Avispa Fukuoka (J1) [6 - 0] Kagoshima United (J3)

Match No. 39: Kashima Antlers (J1) vs YSCC (J3) (June 16)

Match No. 40: Tochigi SC (J2) [2 - 0] Machida Zelvia (J2)

Match No. 41: Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo (J1) [5 - 3] Sony Sendai (JFL)

Match No. 42: V-Varen Nagasaki (J2) [2 - 0] Okinawa SV (Kyushu)

Match No. 43: Gamba Osaka (J1) vs Kwansei Gakuin University (Kansai Univ) (June 16)

Match No. 44: Matsumoto Yamaga (J2) [1 - 0] FC Ryukyu (J2)

Match No. 45: Yokohama FC (J1) vs Vanraure Hachinohe (J3) (June 16)

Match No. 46: Shonen Bellmare (J1) [0 - 0] FC Osaka (JFL) [Shonen win on PK.]

Match No. 47: Kashiwa Reysol (J1) [3 - 0] Tochigi City (Kanto 1)

Match No. 48: Kyoto Sanga (J2) [3 - 1] FC Imabari (J3)

Match No. 49: Urawa Red Diamonds (J1) [1 - 0] Kataller Toyama (J3)

Match No. 50: Giravanz Kitakyushu (J2) [0 - 1] SC Sagamihara (J2)

Match No. 51: Nagoya Grampus (J1) [5 - 0] Mitsubishi Mizushima (Chugoku)

Match No. 52: Tokyo Verdy (J2) vs Fagiano Okayama (J2) (June 16)

Match No. 53: Vissel Kobe (J1) vs Suzuka Point Getters (JFL) (June 16)

Match No. 54: Tokushima Vortis (J1) [2 - 1] Kochi United (JFL)

Match No. 55: FC Tokyo (J1) [1 - 2] Juntendo University (Kanto Univ 1) Upset!

Match No. 56: Mito HollyHock (J2) [0 - 3] Thespakusatsu Gunma (J2)

Match No. 57: Oita Trinita (J1) [3 - 2] Honda Lock (J3)

Match No. 58: Ventforet Kofu (J2) [1 - 2] Fukui United (Hokushinetsu 1) Upset!

Ongoing consecutive-year streaks in the Emperor's Cup:

41    Gamba Osaka (30) + Matsushita Electric (11)

31    Tokushima Vortis (17) + Otsuka Pharmaceutical (14)

27    Kawasaki Frontale (25) + Fujitsu SC (2)

19    Blaublitz Akita (11) + TDK (8)

13    Arterivo Wakayama

  7    Matsue City FC

  6    Honda FC

  6    Niigata University of Health and Welfare

  6    FC Tokushima

  6    Kōchi United

  5    Iwaki FC

  5    Verspah Oita

  3    Tochigi City FC

  3    Yamanashi Gakuin University Pegasus

  3    Fukui United

  3    MD Nagasaki

  3    Okinawa SV

  2    Sony Sendai

  2    Saruta Kogyo

  2    Oyama SC

  2    Tonan Maebashi

  2    Suzuka Point Getters

  2    Ococias Kyoto

  2    Mitsubishi Mizushima

  2    Fukuyama City

  2    Baleine Shimonoseki

  2    Fukuoka University

Erasmus the Sailor Man

This wooden carving of Desiderius Erasmus was a stern figure on the Dutch galleon De Liefde, which was stranded in Kyushu in 1600. Source.

Lucien Métivet

Source.

Shakōkidogū

This earthenware figure or dogū from the Jōmon period of Japanese prehistory (14,000 to 300 BC), was found in Tsugaru, Aomori Prefecture in 1886 and held up by Erich von Däniken in 1968 as evidence of extraterrestrial contact. Its snow-goggle eyes give it the name Shakōkidogū in Japanese. You only have to look at photos of Aomori in wintertime to see why snow-googles would be a thing. Today the figure is emblematic of Tsugaru, and Dogizaka FC have it on their crest.

Matches:

J2: Thespakusatsu Gunma 2 - 1 Mito HollyHock (June 4)

JFL: Nara Club 0 - 0 FC Kariya (yesterday)

Tohoku Div 1: Nippon Steel Kamaishi [0 - 2] Dogizaka

Dogizaka FC is written 筒木坂FC, which Google Translate insists is Tsutsugizaka FC.

Tohoku Div 2 N: Gonohe SC (五戸SC) vs Akita Cambiare [postponed]

[Gonohe did manage to get a game played in May, losing 6 - 0 to New Pearl Hiraizumi Maezawa.]

How can a person follow Dogizaka FC or Gonohe SC?  Both have pages at Transfermarkt. Aomori Goal magazine, which has a Twitter account in Japanese, covers both clubs.

PK-35 [0 - 0] TPS

The SWF Championship was supposed to begin this weekend, but so far nothing. [2020-21 is null and void, and the new season will start in August. The messaging on this has not been very clear.]

Developments:

Shaun Rodgers, Justin Johnson, Rabin Omar and James Wallace have been released by Morton. Chris Millar, Kalvin Orsi and Craig McGuffie are also not returning. Aidan Nesbitt has signed with Falkirk.

Morton have signed defender Alan Lithgow, formerly of Hearts, Stirling Albion, Clyde, Dumbarton, Ayr United, Stenhousemuir, Airdrieonians and Livingston. Gary Oliver has signed a one-year extension.

Stephen Farrell has left Stranraer to take on the managerial role at Dumbarton. Billy Dodds is the new manager at ICT.

Jim Duffy is joining the backroom staff at Ayr United.

Queen's Park will groundshare at Partick Thistle's Firhill Stadium this season.

[The Canadian league will start June 26th with the first 32 games being played in Winnipeg.]

How do things stand in the Japanese leagues?

J1:    After 20 games Kawasaki Frontale are tops, followed by Nagoya Grampus and Yokohama F Marinos.

J2:    Albirex Niigata lead, followed by Kyoto Sanga and FC Ryukyu. Our guys Mito HollyHock are tenth, as always.

J3:    After 9 games Kataller Toyama and Roasso Kumamoto lead.

JFL:    After ten games our guys Iwaki FC are tops, followed by Honda FC and FC Osaka.

Hokkaido:    This league is just starting.

Tohoku:    This league is just starting.

Kanto:    After seven games Briobecca Urayasu are tops.

Hokushinetsu:    After four games Niigata University of Health and Welfare and Fukui United are undefeated.

Tokai:    This league is just a game or two into its season.

Kansai:    Ococias Kyoto lead after four games.

Chugoku:    Fujifilm lead after three games.

Shikoku:    FC Tokushima and Tadostu FC are undefeated after four games.

Kyushu:    Okinawa SV are tops as usual.

WE League:    The new women's pro league hasn't started yet, but Nadeshiko 1 and 2 are well under way with Iga FC Kunoichi Mie on top of division 1.

Mito HollyHock in the 1990s:

Mito FC:

1994                                                                                 Ibaraki Div 4

1995                                                                                 Ibaraki Div 3

1996                                                                           1st, Ibaraki Div 2

Prima Ham Tsuchiura:

1994    18    10    2            6    36    25    +11    22     3rd, KSL

1995    18    14    3            1    48    13    +35    45     1st, KSL

1996    18    12    4            2    58    15    +43    40    2nd, KSL    P

Mito HollyHock:

1997    30      3    0    1    26    24    69     -45    10    16th, JFL

1998    30      7    1    0    22    37    69     -32    23    14th, JFL

1999    24    13    3    0      8    48    32    +16    45      3rd, JFL    P

Sources: Japanese Wikipedia, RSSSF.

Seasons of Gonohe SC:

2020      4    1    0      3      3    16    -13      3    5th, T2N

2019    18    6    1    11    30    71    -41    19    9th, T2N

2018    18    3    4    11    27    66    -39    13    8th, T2N

2017      9    8    1      0    35      9   +26    25    1st, AP1

2016      8    3    1      4    13    16      -3    10    5th, AP1

2015      8    5    1      2    18    11     +7    16    2nd, AP1

2014      7    4    3      0    12      6     +6    15    2nd, AP1

2013

2012

2011

2010      9    2    0      7      9    24    -15      6    9th, AP1

2009    11    5    1      5    23    24      -1    16    7th, AP1

T2N = Tohoku Member of Society Soccer League, Division Two North

AP1 = Aomori Prefecture Member of Society Soccer League, Division 1

I haven't yet found a source for the Aomori league, Division 2.

(Sources: Wikipedia, RSSSF.)