Plenty of Nothing

Kjøge Mini-By

Miniature towns are definitely a thing in Denmark. This is Kjøge Mini-By. Visit.

Hibarino Park Soccer Field, Gonohe

Hibarino Park Soccer Field is the home park of Gonohe SC (written 五戸町SC on the soccer ball). That very determined soccer coach is standing in front of the corner marked by the teacup on the map. Sources: Google Maps and Aomori Goal Twitter account.

Annan Ladies versus Morton Women

Morton Women, winners of the 2019 SWFL2 Cup. Source.

SWFL2 W/SW: Annan Athletic Ladies [0 - 22] Morton Women

The situation: Morton hold first place with 8 wins in 8 starts, 40 goals for and 4 against. Annan are bottom of the division with 9 losses in 9 starts, 6 goals for and 102 goals against.

Mortonalia: Morton have added midfielder Nicky Cadden, previously of Airdrieonians, Livingston and Ayr United.

Canadian Premier League:

York9 0 - 0 HFX Wanderers (yesterday)

York Lions Stadium is like many Japanese municipal stadiums, with eight lanes of track-and-field track separating the pitch from the stands. At the Wanderers Grounds the fans and players are much more cheek by jowl, like at Cappielow.

Cavalry 0 - 1 Forge (yesterday)

A loss for Cavalry!

Pacific [1 - 3] Edmonton (today)

The Yeggies have scored only 2 goals in league play prior to today.

Which players have scored on Cavalry?

Adjei              York9        May 4        league

Borges          Forge        May 12      league

Haber            Pacific       May 22      cup

Welshman     Forge        June 4       cup

Bekker           Forge        June 11     cup

Rampersad    HFX         June 19      league

Bekker           Forge       June 22      league

2019 Women's World Cup:

Round of 16:

Sweden [1 - 0] Canada (June 24)

Netherlands vs Japan (June 25)

Tohoku Soccer League: Fuji Club 2003 [0 - 6] Iwaki FC

Yesterday it was Iwaki FC 2 - 3 Chuo University in a training match.

What are the pro sports options in Toronto?

Autumn to spring:

Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL)

Toronto Marlies (AHL)

Toronto Raptors (NBA)

Toronto Rock (National Lacrosse League)

Toronto Arrows (Major League Rugby)

Spring to autumn:

Toronto Blue Jays (MLB)

Toronto Argonauts (CFL)

Toronto FC (MLS)

Toronto FC II (USL League One)

York 9 FC (Canadian Premier League)

Toronto Wolfpack (Rugby Football League)

Tohoku University's emblem would make a triffic soccer ball:

Midsummer in Sweden Hills

It's Midsummer in Sweden, and also in Sweden Hills, Hokkaido. Read.

Vintage Nintendo Hanafuda Cards

Source.

Telemachus and Nestor

An Apulian krater in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.  Source.

Scaring the Horses

The Halifax Junior Bengal Lancers in formation behind the Wanderers' main stand. Source.

The Canadian Premier League has more horses about it than you'd normally expect from a soccer organization. The league's spring training camp was held at Los Establos on a converted polo ground. There's Cavalry FC, who are owned and operated by the horse-breeding Southern family and whose pitch is a converted show jumping ring. And HFX Wanderers perform just across the fence from the Junior Bengal Lancers horse club.

Are soccer clubs and horses the best neighbours? How do the horses not bust out of their stalls whenever 5000 people leap to their feet and shout "GOOOOOAL!!!"?

Tonight it's:

HFX Wanderers vs Cavalry FC

The situation: If Cavalry win or draw this game then HFX cannot win the apertura.

The Calgary club are on an extended road trip while their home ground at Spruce Meadows is converted back to show jumping.

[Cavalry win 1 - 2. HFX goal by Rampersad. Only Cavalry or Forge can win the apertura.]

Also:

York 9 [0 - 0] Edmonton

Valour [1 - 2] Pacific (tomorrow)

Mortonalia: Morton have signed winger Aidan Nesbitt who previously played for the club in 2016-17 while on loan from Celtic. He has also played for Partick Thistle, MK Dons and Dundee United. Charlie Telfer has gone over to Falkirk.

AFC Champions League, Round of 16, first leg:

Kashima Antlers 1 - 0 Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Urawa Red Diamonds [1 - 2] Ulsan Hyundai

Women's World Cup:

Group D

Japan [0 - 2] England (today)

Scotland [3 - 3] Argentina (today)

Group E

Netherlands [2 - 1] Canada (tomorrow)

Canadian teams in American soccer leagues:

MLS:    Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps, Montreal Impact

USL Championship:    Ottawa Fury

USL League One: Toronto FC II

USL League Two: Thunder Bay Chill, WSA Winnipeg, Calgary Foothills, TSS FC Rovers, Victoria Highlanders

Fukushima United seasons:   

             G      W    D     L      F      A     GD   pts       pos            EC

2018    32      9    13    10    36    43      -7     40    12th, J3        no

2017    32    13      4    15    39    43      -4     43    10th, J3        no

2016    30      7      9    14    35    44      -9     30    14th, J3        R2

2015    36    13    10    13    42    48      -6     49      7th, J3        R1

2014    33      9      9    15    30    38      -8     36      7th, J3        R1

2013    34      8    10    16    35    42      -7     34    14th, JFL      R2

2012    12     11     0      1     61     6    +55    33      1st, Toh 1    R4

2011    12     11     0      1     53     6    +47    33      1st, Toh 1    R2

2010    14     12     1      1    46     9     +37    37    2nd, Toh 1     R1

2009    14     11     3      0     51    8     +43    36    2nd, Toh 1     R3

2008    14     14     0      0    76     8    +68     42    1st, Toh 2S    R1

2007    14     12     1      1    83     7    +76     37    2nd, Toh 2S   no

as Perada Fukushima:

2006    12       3     1      8    27    41    -14     10     6th, Toh 2S   no

Riko Ueki's sticker from the 2019 Women's World Cup Missing in Footy Album.

Ethiopian Taxis

Blue and white Ladas were the way to go in Addis Ababa for many years. Source.

Yawata Uma

In the feudal era the Nanbu clans had control of eastern Aomori Prefecture and most of Iwate Prefecture. The Nanbu were breeders of warhorses, and they constructed a series of fortified ranches where they could raise and protect their valuable animals. These fortified places are known collectively as the Nine Numbered Stockades, and each one was named sequentially according to the formula "number + nohe". Each "nohe" except for the fourth one has given its name to a modern town or city.

Why is there no Shinohe today? At first you might think there never was a Shinohe because Japanese culture is somewhat shy of the number four, which sounds the same as the word for death. But plenty of people have Shinohe as a family name, so that can't be it.

Within the boundaries of Hachinohe, which has grown into a large city, there's an outlying district called Yawata which has a shrine named Kushihiki Hachiman-gu. The shrine is associated with a local folk-art tradition: carved wooden horses called Yawata Uma. These wooden horses suggest that the area around Yawata might have been the missing Numbered Stockade Number Four. Source. Source.

Iwakitaira Castle

Not much remains of Iwakitairi Castle in downtown Iwaki, but this map shows where it used to be. The Iwaki clan lost power after fighting on the wrong side in the Battle of Sekigahara, and later on the Meiji government filled in the castle moat (shown in blue) for a railroad right-of-way. Source.

Iwaki FC [5 - 0] Saruta Kogyo

Saruta Kogyo is the company team for Saruta Kogyo KK, a manufacturer of industrial machinery headquartered in Akita City. They wear blue. They play at Soyu Stadium, the former home of Blaublitz Akita. This is their second spell in the Tohoku League Div 1. Website.

Tomorrow Iwaki FC have a training match against Machida Zelvia. [2 - 2.]

When did the 2019 Tohoku League Div 1 teams most recently join the division?

2019    Cobaltore Onagawa (from the JFL)

2019    Saruta Kogyo

2019    Iwaki FC

2018    Akita FC Cambiare

2017    Nippon Steel Kamaishi

2015    Blancdieu Hirosaki

2013    Ganju Iwate

2011    Fuji Club 2003

2009    Morioka Zebra

1999    FC Primeiro

Wikipedia has the annual standings of the Japanese Regional Soccer Leagues. The Tohoku League begins in 1977.

Around the Japanese leagues:

FC Tokyo are top of J1, and FC Tokyo U23 are bottom of J3. Vanraure Hachinohe are second-bottom. Montedio Yamagata are atop J2, having beaten Mito HollyHock yesterday.

Sony Sendai are atop the JFL. FC Imabari are in the top four and hold a J3 license, giving them hope for promotion at the end of the season.

Iwate FC are top of the Tohoku League. The other regional league leaders are: Sapporo FC (Hokkaido), Vonds (Kanto), Fukui United (Hokushinetsu), Tokai Gakuen University (Tokai), Ococias Kyoto (Kansai), Mitsubishi Motors Mizushima (Chugoku), Kochi United (Shikoku), Okinawa SV (Kyushu).

2019 Canadian Championship, Round Two, second leg:

Valour 0 - 2 HFX Wanderers (June 12)

HFX goals by Kourouma and Bona. Kourouma leads the tournament in scoring. Wanderers advance. They are now scheduled to play nine games in July.

Cavalry 2 - 1 Forge (June 11)

Cavalry advance.

Edmonton 1 - 0 York 9 (June 12)

York are 3 - 2 on aggregate and advance.

Valour, Forge and Edmonton, the three 'inaugural' clubs, are all eliminated after receiving a bye into this round. There is now no chance of one club winning both Canadian places in CONCACAF competition.

Canadian Premier League (yesterday):

York 9 (1 - 0) Pacific

It's York 9's first league win. On the other side, Pacific were the first CPL team knocked out of the Voyageurs Cup, and now they're the first team that cannot win the apertura.

Edmonton 0 - 3 Cavalry

With this loss Edmonton can't win the apertura either.

Forge 2 - 1 Valour

Forge qualify for the 2019 CONCACAF League.

Mortonalia: Morton have signed striker Robbie Muirhead, formerly of Kilmarnock, Dundee United, Partick, Hearts, Milton Keynes Dons and most recently Dunfermline. Michael Tidser and Gregor Buchanan have gone over to Falkirk.

Actor Martin Compston talks about his time at Cappielow.

SWFL2 W/SW: Morton Women [3 - 1] Kilwinning

Lowland League: East of Scotland League champions Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic have been granted an SFA license after all and will be promoted to the Lowland League for 2019-20, causing Whitehill Welfare to be relegated.

2019 Women's World Cup group stage:

Group D: Japan 2 - 1 Scotland (June 14)

Group E: Canada 2 - 0 New Zealand (June 15)

Which 2015 Women's World Cup matches were held in Moncton, New Brunswick?

2015/6/9        France 1 - 0 England

2015/6/9        Colombia 1 - 1 Mexico

2015/6/13      France 0 - 2 Colombia

2015/6/13      England 2 - 1 Mexico

2015/6/15      Ivory Coast 1 - 3 Norway

2015/6/17      Costa Rica 0 - 1 Brazil

2015/6/21      Brazil 0 - 1 Australia