Plenty of Nothing

Yellow Kid Chewing Gum Card

One of 25 cards published in 1896. Source.

Semiramis

Semiramis, legendary Queen of Babylon. Source.

Ibrox as a Cake

Source.

Morton host Ayr United. Morton enter today's game in eighth place with 19 points. Ayr are ninth with 17, but with a game in hand. Morton are nine games without a win (six draws and three losses). Ayr have lost three in a row. Neither team has a permanent manager.

Rangers are closing in on their first league title since 2011. If they beat St Mirren today and Celtic drop a point against Dundee United tomorrow, Rangers are champions. [Rangers beat St Mirren, and Celtic play to a scoreless draw. Rangers win the title in game 32.]

On Tuesday Leagues One and Two and the SWPL1 were cleared to resume training. The Scottish Cup can also resume, along with the six Highland League clubs that are still alive in it. The revised Scottish Cup schedule came out Wednesday.

The League 1 and 2 clubs have put forward a proposal that would have them restart on March 20th and play 22 games, including a four-game split. What this means for Morton is that there will be relegation this season, and that the relegation playoffs might stretch into June.

Morton's final match of 2019-20 took place on March 7th, 2020.

[Morton 0 - 2 Ayr.]

Other Championship matches:

Dundee 2 - 1 Inverness CT (March 2)

Raith Rovers vs Dunfermline (last night) (postponed -- Covid, Pars)

Alloa [1 - 1] Inverness CT

Arbroath [2 - 4] QoS

Hearts [2 - 1] Dundee*

*This is the last meeting between Hearts and Dundee for 2020-21, meaning that unless the Plenty of Nothing Championship League Cup comes down to Hearts and Dunfermline in the final, the cup again will have no winner.

Fewest goals allowed in a season, top Scottish division (min. 30 games):

  9    Rangers       2020-21    31 games (in progress)

14    Celtic           1913-14    38 games

16    Rangers      1918-19    34 games

17    Celtic           1916-17    38 games

17    Celtic           2014-15    38 games

18    Celtic           2001-02    38 games

18    Aberdeen    1970-71    34 games

First and last place Championship teams (2 of 3):

Week 10            Hearts            Arbroath

Week 11            Hearts            Arbroath

Week 12            Hearts            Arbroath

Week 13            Hearts            Arbroath

Week 14            Hearts            Alloa

Week 15            Hearts            Alloa

Week 16            Hearts            Alloa

Week 17            Hearts            Alloa

Week 18            Hearts            Alloa

League matches in which Morton beat the top team in their division, 1940s and 1950s:

1941/11/1      Morton 2 - 1 Rangers    (Southern League)

1943/10/30    Dumbarton 1 - 4 Morton    (Southern League)

1944/12/2      Hibs 0 - 1 Morton    (Southern League)

1948/11/13    Hibs 3 - 4 Morton    (Division One)

1950/9/23      St Mirren 1 - 3 Morton    (Division One)

1954/9/18      Brechin 3 - 5 Morton    (Division Two)

1954/11/6      Morton 2 - 1 Hamilton    (Division Two)

1955/4/30      Morton 3 - 2 Airdrieonians    (Division Two)

1955/9/10      Morton 3 - 0 Stenhousemuir    (Division Two)

1958/9/13      Morton 2 - 1 East Stirlingshire    (Division Two)

(I relied on the Glasgow Herald at Google News Archive for wartime league tables.)

Over the past ten years four clubs have won their first League Cup:

2011-12    Kilmarnock

2012-13    St Mirren

2015-16    Ross County

2020-21    St Johnstone

Other matches:

Ross County [3 - 2] Kilmarnock

Giravanz Kitakyushu [1 - 2] Mito HollyHock

Luxembourg: Progrès Niederkorn 1 - 0 Mondorf (March 3)

3.Liga: 1.FC Saarbrücken [2 - 2] KFC Uerding.

Swiss Challenge League: Winterthur 1 - 1 Wil (March 2)

Grasshoppers 0 - 1 Winterthur (yesterday) (That's an upset.)

Icelandic League Cup: Throttur vs IBV (postponed)

[Kariya Mayor's Cup final: FC Kariya 7 - 0 Toyota Industries]

2021 Copa Libertadores 1QS, second leg (March 3):

Guaraní 1 - 1 Royal Pari

Royal Pari advance.

The Faroe Islands league starts this weekend:

07 Vestur Sorvagur [0 - 2] B36 (tomorrow)

Gangwon [1 - 3] Pohang Steelers

Developments:

HFX Wanderers' manager Stephen Hart has signed a three-year contract extension.

Tristan Borges has been loaned back to Forge FC by OH Leuven. He led the CPL in scoring in 2019.

Postponed matches:

Today was to have been the South Challenge Cup, Round Four.

SWF Championship South: Morton vs Edinburgh City

Historical matches:

March 6, 1915. Morton hosted St Mirren and played to a 3 - 3 draw.

March 6, 1993. Morton visited Raith Rovers and lost 2 - 0.

SFL Division Three results, March 7, 1925:

Solway Star 0 - 0 Vale of Leven

Queen of the South 2 - 0 Clackmannan

Royal Albert 1 - 4 Nithsdale Wanderers

Dykehead 2 - 2 Beith

Helensburgh 3 - 1 Peebles Rovers

Leith Athletic 1 - 1 Brechin City

Montrose 2 - 1 Mid Annandale

Lochgelly United 6 - 0 Galston

Source: Glasgow Herald, March 9, 1925, p. 6.

EHC Winterthur

Keep track of Wintherthur on their webcam.

EHC Winterthur was founded in 1929. In 1963 they merged with EHC Veltheim to form Rot-Weiss Winterthur, but in 1980 they reverted to their original name.

Winterthur take their red and white colours from the city's coat of arms, like EHC Visp, and have a lion on their crest, like most of the league.

Both EHC Winterthur and FC Winterthur play in the second tier of their respective sports.

[Ajoie 5 - 2 Winterthur.]

Winterthur in the NLB/Swiss League:

2019-20    44    10    0    0    33    1    0    101    207    -106    31    11th, SL

2018-19    44      7    0    2    31    2    2      99    153      -54    29    10th, SL

2017-18    46      7    1    0    27    8    3    109    194      -85    34    10th, SL

2016-17    48    14    1    0    31    1    1    121    195      -74    46      9th, NLB

2015-16    45      6    1    0    34    2    2      99    196      -97    24    10th, NLB

1969-70    14      3    1          10                  48      91      -43      7      7th, NLB East

1962-63    14      2    0          12                  23      86      -63      4      8th, NLB East

1961-62    14      2    0          12                  32    101      -69      4      8th, NLB East

Sources: Wikipedia, Hockey Archive

EHC Winterthur in the Swiss Cup:

1957/11/17    R1    Veltheim 3 - 5 Petit-Huningue

1958/11/16    R1    Bienne 6 - 1 Winterthur

1958/11/23    R1    Gottéron 7 - 0 Veltheim

1959/11/?      R1    Veltheim 0 - 5 Bassersdorf

1959/11/14    R2    Winterthur 3 - 8 Gottéron

1960/11/12    R1    Kloten 8 - 4 Veltheim

1960/11/13    R1    Winterthur 20 - 3 Aarau

1960/11/18    R2    Winterthur 1 - 12 Bern

1961/10/28    R1    Veltheim 0 - 11 Illnau

1961/11/4      R1    Lugano 3 - 2 Winterthur

1962/11/3      R2    Lucerne 7 - 2 Winterthur

1963/10/26    R1    Rot-Weiss Winterthur 8 - 3 Petit-Huningue

1963/10/30    R2    Rot-Weiss Winterthur 1 - 5 Dübendorf

1964/10/24    R2    Dübendorf 1 - 4 Rot-Weiss Winterthur

1964/10/31    R3    Rot-Weiss Wintherthur 3 - 5 Uzwil

2014/10/1      R1    Winterthur 1 - 7 Zug

2015/9/30      R1    Winterthur 1 - 2 Lugano

2016/9/27      R1    Winterthur 2 - 5 Rapperswil-Jona Lakers

2017/9/19      R1    Winterthur 0 - 2 Rapperswil-Jona Lakers

2018/9/19      R1    Winterthur 1 - 4 Zug

2019/9/10      R1    Winterthur 0 - 9 ZSC Lions

Source: French Wikipedia

A Knight's Grave, Skeabost

Source.

Teatro Amazonas, Manaus

The Amazon Theatre was opened in Manaus in 1896, a testament to the wealth being spun off by the Amazonian rubber trade at the time, and it is still in use today. The opera house appears in Marcio Souza's 1976 novel The Emperor of the Amazon. Source.

Heike Monogatari Wax Museum

Visit the Takamatsu Heike Monogatari Wax Museum with Amanda and Jim.

Visp

EHC Visp in the Sixties. Source.

Ajoie visit the shiny new Lonza Arena in Visp for a game against EHC Visp.

EHC Visp was founded in 1939, was Swiss champion in 1962 and won the Swiss Cup in 1964. They have been in the NLB/Swiss League since 1999.

Visp is a town in German-speaking half of the southern Swiss canton of Valais. The club takes its colours from the town's coat of arms: red and white with lions. Reminder: lions are not native to Switzerland. The French name of the town is Viège.

Sepp Blatter is from Visp.

[Visp 3 - 2 Ajoie.]

2020-21 Swiss Cup results:

2021/2/7        Bern 3 - 2 Genève-Servette        semi-final

2021/2/28      ZSC Lions [2 - 5] Bern                     final

Visp in the Swiss Cup:

1956/11/21    PR    Visp 31 - 1 Blue Stars Lausanne

1956/11/24    R1    Visp 9 - 6 Bern

1957/1/9        R2    Servette 3 - 2 Visp

1957/11/24    R1    Lugano 4 - 5 Visp

1957/11/28    R2    Visp 4 - 3 Ambrì-Piotta

1958/1/14      QF    Visp 2 - 3 ZSC Lions

1958/11/16    R2    Visp 6 - 3 Bern

1959/1/13      QF    ZSC Lions 6 - 2 Visp

1959/11/14    R2    Visp 11 - 0 Urania Genève Sport

1959/12/29    QF    Visp 6 - 2 La Chaux-de-Fonds

1960/2/2        SF    Visp 8 - 2 Lausanne

1960/3/12        F    Visp 2 - 5 ZSC Lions

1960/11/24    R2    Visp 4 - 3 Servette

1960/11/30    R3    Sierre 0 - 7 Visp

1961/1/12      QF    La Chaux-de-Fonds 1 - 8 Visp

1961/1/26      SF    Visp 6 - 1 Villars

1961/2/23        F    ZSC Lions 5 - 3 Visp

1961/11/5      R2    Breitlachen 1 - 10 Visp

1961/11/12    R3    Crans-Montana 3 - 7 Visp

1961/11/28    QF    Villars 6 - 2 Visp

1963/1/2        R4    Langnau 4 - 5 Visp

1963/1/7        QF    Visp 6 - 4 Bern

1963/2/5        SF    Young Sprinters 6 - 4 Visp

1963/11/13    R3    Genève-Servette 2 - 3 Visp

1963/12/26    QF    Ambrì-Piotta 4 - 5 Visp

1964/1/6        SF    Lugano 0 - 4 Visp

1964/3/4          F    Visp 5 - 2 ZSC Lions

1964/12/1      R4    Gottéron 4 - 6 Visp

1965/1/20      QF    Villars 2 - 0 Visp

1965/12/8      R4    Visp 7 - 4 Lugano

1965/12/26    QF    Villars 3 - 5 Visp

1966/1/18      SF    Visp 2 - 4 Grasshoppers

1972/2/5        R2    Villars-Champéry 4 - 2 Visp

1972/2/8        R2    Visp 6 - 7 Villars-Champéry

2014/10/1      R1    Visp 6 - 4 Red Ice

2014/10/29    R2    Visp 4 - 2 Davos

2014/12/15    QF    Visp 2 - 6 ZSC Lions

2015/9/30      R1    Brandis 1 - 4 Visp

2015/10/27    R2    Dübendorf 2 - 7 Visp

2015/11/25    QF    Visp 2 - 3 Bern

2016/9/27      R1    Visp 4 - 8 Langnau Tigers

2017/9/19      R1    Visp 3 - 2 La Chaux-de-Fonds

2017/10/22    R2    Visp 2 - 4 Davos

2018/9/19      R1    Visp 2 - 4 Genève-Servette

2019/9/10      R1    Visp 6 - 3 La Chaux-de-Fonds

2019/10/20    R2    Visp 1 - 4 Zug

2020/10/4      R1    Thun 3 - 6 Visp

2020/11/7      R2    Visp 1 - 4 Fribourg-Gottéron

(Source: French Wikipedia)

Gladys Robinson, Champion Skater

1926 cigarette card of Canadian speedskater, Gladys Robinson. Source.

 

Cruden Hall

Cruden Hall, at the corner of Ann and Tobago Streets, as a lecture hall, cinema and nightclub, has been a part of Greenock nightlife since 1888.

Morton host Dundee. Morton hold eighth place with 18 points, Dundee are fifth with 20. Dundee won the first meeting 1 - 0 on October 24th.

Morton are coming off a 1 - 1 draw with Hearts at Tynecastle. Dundee lost to Queen of the South last weekend. Dundee have not won a game since January 9th. But Morton have not won since December 19th.

Morton can end the day anywhere from fourth to ninth.

Someone has tested positive at Dundee.

Other Championship matches:

Dundee vs Ayr United (February 23) (postponed again)

Inverness CT 2 - 2 Alloa (February 23)

Inverness CT 1 - 1 Heart of Midlothian (last night)

The number of virtual tickets sold for this match exceeds Inverness CT's stadium capacity, making this the largest gate in club history.

Ayr United [0 - 1] Arbroath

[This led to Ayr releasing manager Mark Kerr.]

QoS [1 - 0] Dunfermline

Raith [3 - 1] Alloa

[Morton 2 - 2 Dundee. Morton goals by McGuffie and Colville.]

Developments:

Neil Lennon has resigned as Celtic manager.

Other matches:

This weekend the Premiership will surpass the number of games it played in 2019-20 when its season broke off about the 30 game mark.

Kilmarnock [1 - 1] Dundee United

Killie have lost eight in a row and have not scored a goal since January 30th.

Luxembourg: Progrès Niederkorn [1 - 1] Differdange (tomorrow)

3.Liga: SC Verl [1 - 3] 1.FC Saarbrücken

Swiss Challenge League: Winterthur 0 - 0 Aarau (yesterday)

J1 and J2 start this weekend

Mito HollyHock [1 - 2] Omiya Ardija (tomorrow)

Faroe Islands Super Cup: HB [3 - 1] NSI (tomorrow)

Icelandic League Cup: Breidablik 2 - 0 IBV (February 25)

Jorge Wilstermann 0 - 1 The Strongest (friendly #1) (February 24)

Jorge Wilstermann 0 - 1 The Strongest (friendly #2) (February 24)

This is how they train them to play 12 games in a month.

UCD 0 - 2 Bohemians (friendly) (last night)

Pohang Steelers [2 - 1] Incheon (tomorrow)

2021 Copa Libertadores, 1QS, first leg:

Royal Pari [1 - 4] Guaraní

Europa League, Round of 32, second leg (February 25):

Rangers 5 - 2 Royal Antwerp

Rangers advance to the Round of 16.

The League Cup final is tomorrow:

Livingston [0 - 1] St Johnstone

This final is a big deal because it could be the only 2020-21 cup that gets played to completion.

Livi won the 2003-04 cup. St Johnstone made the final in 1969-70 and 1998-99 but lost both times. This is the first time since 1957-58 that it has come down to a club that has won the cup once and a club that never has. If St Johnstone win they will join the very small group of clubs who have won the Scottish Cup, League Cup and Challenge Cup.

Clubs that have won the Scottish Cup, League Cup and Challenge Cup:

Dundee              SC 1909-10, LC 1951-52, CC 1990-91

St Mirren            SC 1925-26, CC 2005-06, LC 2012-13

Rangers             SC 1893-94, LC 1946-47, CC 2015-16

Dundee Utd        LC 1979-80, SC 1993-94, CC 2016-17

[St Johnstone     CC 2007-08, SC 2013-14, LC 2020-21]

Most League Cups in a row:

5    Celtic    (1965-66 to 1969-70)

4    Celtic    (2016-17 to 2019-20)

3    Rangers (1986-87 to 1988-89)

2    Dundee (1951-52, 1952-53)

2    Celtic (1956-57, 1957-58)

2    Hearts (1958-59, 1959-60)

2    Rangers (1960-61, 1961-62)

2    Rangers (1963-64, 1964-65)

2    Rangers (1977-78, 1978-79)

2    Dundee United (1979-80, 1980-81)

2    Rangers (1983-84, 1984-85)

2    Ranger (1992-93, 1993-94)

2    Celtic (1999-00, 2000-01)

2    Rangers (2001-02, 2002-03)

2    Rangers (2009-10, 2010-11)

League matches in which Morton beat the top team in their division, 1920s and 1930s:

1929/2/23      Morton 2 - 0 Dundee United    (Division Two)

1934/1/6        Arbroath 1 - 4 Morton    (Division Two)

1934/11/10    Morton 4 - 2 King's Park    (Division Two)

1935/1/19      Morton 1 - 0 Third Lanark    (Division Two)

1935/10/19    Morton 1 - 0 St Mirren    (Division Two)

1939/12/30    Morton 3 - 0 Rangers    (Emergency League Western Division)

Postponed:

Lowland League: Bonnyrigg Rose vs University of Stirling

Highland League: Clachnacuddin vs Formartine

SWF Championship South: St Mirren vs Morton

League Two members Cowdenbeath and Albion Rovers have not met in 2020-21, and they played each other only twice in 2019-20. That's two out of eight fixtures fulfilled.

Historical matches:

Feb 27, 1915. Morton visited Dumbarton and lost 3 - 2.

Feb 27, 1993. Hamilton Academical travelled to Cappielow and won 1 - 2. Rowan Alexander scored for Morton.

Feb 28, 2015. Hearts 10 - 0 Cowdenbeath.

SFL Division Three results, February 28, 1925:

Vale of Leven 1 - 0 Queen of the South

Brechin City 5 - 0 Beith

Lochgelly United 2 - 1 Peebles Rovers

Royal Albert 0 - 0 Clackmannan

Nithsdale Wanderers 3 - 1 Mid Annandale

Dykehead 2 - 1 Galston

Helensburgh 5  - 0 Montrose

Leith Athletic 2 - 3 Solway Star

Source: Glasgow Herald, March 2, 1925, p. 14.

Where were they between the war and the creation of SFL Division Three?

                                    1919-20    1920-21    1921-22    1922-23

Arthurlie                                                          WoSL       WoSL

Beith                              WoSL       WoSL       WoSL       WoSL

Brechin City                   EL/NL        EL           EL/AL        EL

Clackmannan                  CL            CL           SFL2         EL

Dumbarton Harp            WoSL       WoSL       WoSL        DC

Dykehead                      WoSL       WoSL       WoSL       WoSL

East Stirlingshire             CL            CL           SFL2        SFL2

Forfar Athletic                EL/NL      EL/SA        SFL2        SFL2

Galston                          WoSL       WoSL       WoSL       WoSL

Helensburgh                                                                    WoSL

Johnstone                      WoSL       WoSL       SFL2        SFL2

Leith Athletic                                                   WoSL        EL

Lochgelly United              EL            CL          SFL2        SFL2

Mid-Annandale                                                SCL          SCL

Montrose                       EL/NL        EL           EL/AL        EL

Nithsdale Wanderers                                                      WoSL

Peebles Rovers              BSL         BSL          BSL         WoSL

Queen of the South                                        WoSL       WoSL

Royal Albert                  WoSL       WoSL       WoSL       WoSL

Solway Star                                                     SCL        WoSL

Vale of Leven                WoSL       WoSL       SFL2        SFL2

AL = Aberdeenshire League

BSL = Border Senior League

CL = Central League

DC = Dumbartonshire Cup

EL = Eastern League

NL = Northern League

SA = Scottish Alliance

SCL = Southern Counties League

SFL2 = Scottish Football League Division Two

WoSL = West of Scotland League

(Source: SFHA, Wikipedia)