Plenty of Nothing

Winkie Spaight

Irene "Winkie" Gartside-Spaight atop a demolished tank on the Western Front in 1916. Photo by Mairi Chisholm. Source.

New Sherwood Forest Asteroid

Source.

Snowshoes, High Park, 1926

Source.

The Manx Switzerland

In the 19th Century Sulby Glen began to be promoted as "the Manx Switzerland" because of its picturesque slopes. Switzerlands were in demand in the tour business; Luxembourg had one too. Source.

The Vampire Note

On this date in 1922 Germany issued it's largest denomination banknote till then, though as the year progressed they came out with greater and greater denominations, ultimately reaching billions of marks in face value as inflation ran rampant. This one included an engraving of a portrait by Albrecht Dürer, which some people took to be a picture of a vampire and symbolic of France, whose war reparation demands were blamed for the financial crisis. Read about it.

 

In Perth as it is in Heaven

St Johnstone played at Muirton Park from the 1920s to the 1980s. Source.

It's the 2019-20 Scottish Cup, Round Four. Morton visit McDiarmid Park in Perth to meet St Johnstone.

Morton and St Johnstone have met only three times in the past ten years, always in the League Cup, and St Johnstone won each time. Though these two teams were founded in 1874 and 1884 respectively they have only been drawn together in the Scottish Cup three times, in 1919-20, 1978-79 and 1988-89, and each time it went to a replay. So if you go by history a draw is called for today. Morton won the replay two out of those three times.

If there is a draw today the replay will take place at Cappielow Park, and that would be the first visit of a Premiership side to Morton's home ground since October 17th, 2015, when these same Saints came to Greenock for Round Three of the 2015-16 League Cup.

Morton have won their last two starts. St Johnstone are undefeated in their last five, but like the other Premiership clubs this is their first match of 2020, so there might be rust on them. Four of their last eight results have been draws.

In Round Four last year St Johnstone came back from the winter break to beat Hamilton 2 - 0. Two Premiership clubs were knocked off by Championship sides in that round: Motherwell and Dundee.

The Perth fans will be disappointed if they don't see Chris Millar. But he has started only 14 of Morton's 28 matches this season.

Morton won the Scottish Cup in 1921-22, St Johnstone in 2013-14. In the years since 2014 St Johnstone have been knocked out of the Cup in Round Five by Queen of the South, Partick Thistle, Hearts and Celtic, and in Round Four by Kilmarnock. Morton made it to the quarter-finals in 2016 and 2018 and were knocked out by Celtic both times.

Queen of the South and Dunfermline are the only Championship clubs not in this round.

Dylan Dykes has left the club. Reghan Tumilty is back from his loan to Dumbarton.

How have Morton fared at St Johnstone's home ground in the Scottish Cup?

1920/2/7        St Johnstone 1 - 1 Morton    Recreation Grounds

1979/2/26      St Johnstone 2 - 4 Morton   Muirton Park

1989/3/27      St Johnstone 3 - 2 Morton    Muirton Park

This was the final cup match at Muirton.

Morton's last ten wins against Premiership sides:

2016/8/9        Hamilton Accies 1 - 2 Morton        League Cup

2016/7/23      Kilmarnock 0 - 2 Morton                League Cup

2015/9/22      Morton 3 - 2 Motherwell                League Cup

2013/9/24      Celtic 0 - 1 Morton                        League Cup

2008/8/26      Hibs 3 - 4 Morton                          League Cup

2008/1/28      Gretna 0 - 3 Morton                      Scottish Cup

2007/1/6        Morton 3 - 1 Kilmarnock               Scottish Cup

1999/1/23      Morton 2 - 1 Dundee                    Scottish Cup

1993/8/10      Kilmarnock 1 - 2 Morton               League Cup

1988/4/2        Morton 3 - 2 Rangers                   Premier Division

[St Johnstone 3 - 0 Morton.]

Other fixtures:

Rangers 2 - 0 Stranraer (last night)

Rangers beat Stranraer 8 - 0 in 1989 but only 1 - 0 in 1948.

Dundee United [2 - 2] Hibs (tomorrow)

These two have been drawn together in the Scottish Cup ten times previously. Each side has advanced five times.

Dundee [0 - 3] Motherwell

These two have been drawn together nine times before. Motherwell lead five wins to four.

Ayr United [1 - 0] Ross County [Upset.]

These two met in the 1995-96 cup. Ross County won.

Arbroath [0 - 0] Falkirk

These two have never met in the Scottish Cup before. Bear in mind that Arbroath are currently one league higher than the Bairns. Their last match was in 2003.

Alloa [2 - 3] Inverness CT

These two Championship sides have never met in this cup before.

Partick Thistle [1 - 2] Celtic

Partick and Celtic have been drawn together eight times before and Celtic have always advanced.

Aberdeen [1 - 0] Dumbarton

These two have met six times before, Aberdeen winning five times.

Livingston [3 - 1] Raith Rovers

First Scottish Cup encounter between these two.

Kilmarnock [6 - 0] Queen's Park

These are the two oldest clubs in the SPFL, but they have met in this cup only five times before. Queen's Park are ahead three wins to two.

Hamilton [5 - 0] Edinburgh City

First Scottish Cup meeting for these two.

Hearts [5 - 0] Airdrieonians

This is the first Scottish Cup match between Hearts and New Airdrieonians. Hearts were Scottish Cup finalists last year, but now they're five points adrift at the bottom of the Premiership.

St Mirren [3 - 0] Broxburn Athletic

St Mirren played Broxburn Shamrock in the 1892-93 Scottish Cup, but never Broxburn Athletic. This is Broxburn's seventh match in this year's Scottish Cup.

Bonnyrigg Rose [0 - 1] Clyde

This is their first match ever.

East Kilbride [1 - 3] BSC Glasgow

Two Lowland League teams.

1907-08. Morton visited Clyde and won 1 - 2.

1963-64. On Jan 15th Morton were away to Central Park in Cowdenbeath for their Scottish Cup Round One replay. The Ton won 1 - 4. On Jan 18th Morton were at home and beat Clyde 3 - 0 in league play.

Reserve league (Jan 14): Kilmarnock 2 - 2 Morton

About Johnstone FC.

Johnstone FC existed between 1878 and 1927. They were located in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, a few miles to the west of Paisley, and are not to be confused with St Johnstone FC. Their ground was Newfield Park. They wore black and yellow stripes in the years around World War One. They were members of the SFL Division 2 from 1912 to 1915, and 1921 to 1925. They fell into Division 3 for the 1925-26 season, and when that division closed down they left the league, and were soon dissolved.

Johnstone in the Scottish Cup:

1879-80    R1    Arthurlie 2 - 0 Johnstone

1880-81    R1    Arthurlie 2 - 0 Johnstone

1881-82    R1    Johnstone 9 - 1 Greenock Southern

                 R2    bye

                 R3    Johnstone 3 - 0 Kilbarchan

                 R4    Queen's Park 3 - 2 Johnstone

1882-83    R1    Johnstone 6 - 2 Paisley Athletic

                 R2    Kilbarchan 0 - 7 Johnstone

                 R3    Johnstone 2 - 1 Morton

                 R4    Johnstone 1 - 3 Pollokshields Athletic

1883-84    R1    Johnstone 3 - 4 Thornliebank

1884-85    R1    Johnstone 9 - 1 Lyle Athletic

                 R2    St Mirren 3 - 0 Johnstone

1885-86    R1    Johnstone 5 - 1 Greenock Rangers

                 R2    Johnstone 1 - 2 Thornliebank

1886-87    R1    Johnstone 6 - 2 Cartvale

                 R2    Johnstone 4 - 0 Pollokshaws Athletic

                 R3    Johnstone 0 - 5 Hurlford

1901-02    R1    Rangers 6 - 1 Johnstone

1906-07    R1    Aberdeen 0 - 0 Johnstone

                         Johnstone 2 - 1 Aberdeen

                 R2    Hibs 1 - 1 Johnstone

                         Johnstone 0 - 5 Hibs

1910-11    R1    Inverness Thistle 0 - 1 Johnstone

                 R2    Hamilton 1 - 1 Johnstone

                         Johnstone 1 - 3 Hamilton

1920-21    R1    Johnstone 0 - 2 Stevenston United

1921-22    R1    Albion Rovers 6 - 0 Johnstone

1922-23    R1    Johnstone 2 - 0 Armadale

                 R2    Johnstone 0 - 1 Falkirk

1923-24    R1    Johnstone 1 - 3 East Fife

1924-25    R1    Dundee 5 - 0 Johnstone

1925-26    R1    Solway Star 2 - 2 Johnstone

                         Johnstone 0 - 3 Solway Star

1926-27    R1    Vale of Leven 6 - 2 Johnstone

1927-28    R1    Cowdenbeath 12 - 0 Johnstone

Morton versus Johnstone in the Renfrewshire Cup:

1881/10/15        Morton 3 - 4 Johnstone

1885/12/12        Morton 5 - 2 Johnstone

1895/10/19        Morton 6 - 0 Johnstone

1902/3/22          Morton 2 - 2 Johnstone

1902/3/29          Johnstone 1 - 1 Morton

1902/4/5            Johnstone 2 - 4 Morton

1903/3/21          Morton 2 - 0 Johnstone

1906/3/17          Morton 3 - 0 Johnstone

1907/5/4            Johnstone 0 - 2 Morton

1907/5/11          Morton 2 - 1 Johnstone (cup-winning game)

1908/4/11          Morton 2 - 0 Johnstone

1908/4/25          Johnsone 0 - 2 Morton (cup-winning game)

1909/1/1            Morton 2 - 0 Johnstone (protested)

1909/4/10          Morton 1 - 0 Johnstone

1911/4/10          Johnstone 3 - 1 Morton

(1912-13)          Morton 6 - 2 Johnstone

1915/4/16          Johnstone 3 - 0 Morton

1915/4/17          Morton 4 - 0 Johnstone (cup-winning game)

1919/4/19          Morton 1 - 1 Johnstone

(1919)                Johnstone L - W Morton

1924/2/9            Morton 6 - 2 Johnstone

1924/2/16          Johnstone 1 - 1 Morton (cup-winning game)

1926/8/18          Morton 5 - 2 Johnstone

(1928-29)          Morton wo - scr Johnstone

Morton met Johnstone in the Renfrewshire Cup final four times and won each time.

2020 AFC Champions League East, preliminary round one (Jan 14):

Ceres-Negros (Philippines) 3 - 2 Shan United (Myanmar)

Tampine Rovers (Singapore) 3 - 5 Bali United (Indonesia)

The Bolivian Primera División Apertura was supposed to start this weekend, but a wrangle broke out between the governing FBF and a block of clubs (Bolívar, Wilstermann, Blooming, Oriente Petrolero, Guabirá and Royal Pari) who don't like the way Destroyers were relegated. A last-minute compromise has the schedule starting January 22nd. Destroyers have been guaranteed promotion in 2021. See if you can make sense of it all.

Peruvian Juan Diego Gutiérrez, who played for HFX Wanderers last year, has signed with Oriente Petrolero.

HFX Wanderers have signed 20-year-old left-back Daniel Kinumbe, who has previously appeared for Montreal Impact and Ottawa Fury.

[Rumours of an Ottawa club in the CPL this year. Atletico Ottawa?]

Tomorrow is the final of the All Japan Women's University Football Tournament. See here for the bracket.

Semi-finals (Jan 17):

Teikyo Heisei University 0 - 2 Nippon Sport Science University

Osaka University of Health and Sport Science 1 - 2 Waseda University

Final (Jan 19):

Nippon Sport Science University [2 - 0] Waseda University

USS Enterprise Day

It's USS Enterprise Day (17/01). This is a picture of the builders with their model in 1965. Source.

Taishō Era Court Lady

Source.

Thanadelthur

Thanadelthur (c. 1697-1717) negotiated peace between the Cree and Chipewyan people, which allowed the Hudson Bay Company to expand its trade network westward from Fort Churchill. Today she's regarded as the founder of that town. Source.

Frölunda HC in the Champions Hockey League

Luleå and Frölunda are well acquainted. Source.

It's the return leg of the Champions Hockey League semi-finals. The games:

Mountfield [3 - 0] Djurgården

Luleå [1 - 3] Frölunda

Frölunda are the damned Yankees of this competition, have won three of the five finals. (Or three of six if you include 2008-09.) They were runners-up one other time. Liberec heroically knocked them out in the Round of 16 in 2017-18.

Frölunda are reigning champions of Sweden. Currently they sit in fourth place in the SHL. Luleå are top of the league.

[Mountfield and Frölunda advance to the final.]

Frölunda HC in the Champions Hockey League:

2014-15

GS    2014-8-21      Genève-Servette 4 - 3 Frölunda

GS    2014-8-23      Diables Rouges de Briançon 1 - 7 Frölunda

GS    2014/9/4        Frölunda 7 - 3 Genève-Servette

GS    2014/9/7        Frölunda 5 - 2 EC VSV

GS    2014/9/24      Frölunda 6 - 2 Diables Roude de Briançon

GS    2014/10/7      EC VSV 1 - 7 Frölunda

 16    2014/11/4      Tappara Tampere 1 - 5 Frölunda

 16    2014/11/11    Frölunda 4 - 2 Tappara Tampere

QF    2014/12/2      HIFK 2 - 1 Frölunda

QF    2014/12/9      Frölunda 5 - 3 HIFK

SF    2015/1/13      Frölunda 4 - 2 Kärpät

SF    2015/1/20      Kärpät 3 - 2 Frölunda

  F    2015/2/3        Luleå 4 - 2 Frölunda

2015-16

GS    2015/8/20      Frölunda 9 - 1 Sheffield Steelers

GS    2015/8/28      Frölunda 3 - 2 JYP

GS    2015/9/3        JYP 1 - 4 Frölunda

GS    2015/9/5        Sheffield Steelers 1 - 4 Frölunda

 32    2015/9/29      ERC Ingolstadt 4 - 2 Frölunda

 32    2015/10/6      Frölunda 4 - 1 ERC Ingolstadt

 16    2015/11/3      Litvínov 2 - 1 Frölunda

 16    2015/11/10    Frölunda 6 - 0 Litvínov

QF    2015/12/1      Luleå 3 - 2 Frölunda

QF    2015/12/8      Frölunda 5 - 4 Luleå (Frölunda won SO.)

SF    2016/1/12      Davos 0 - 5 Frölunda

SF    2016/1/19      Frölunda 1 - 1 Davos

  F    2016/2/9        Kärpät 1 - 2 Frölunda

2016-17

GS    2016/8/19      Grizzlys Wolfsburg 1 - 2 Frölunda

GS    2016/8/21      Pardubice 2 - 2 Frölunda (Pardubice won SO.)

GS    2016/8/27      Frölunda 5 - 2 Pardubice

GS    2016/9/9        Frölunda 2 - 3 Grizzlys Wolfsburg

 32    2016/10/4      Yunost Minsk 3 - 2 Frölunda

 32    2016/10/11    Frölunda 5 - 0 Yunost Minsk

 16    2016/11/1      Eisbären Berlin 1 - 6 Frölunda

 16    2016/11/8      Frölunda 4 - 1 Eisbären Berlin

QF    2016/12/6      Frölunda 4 - 0 Linköping

QF    2016/12/13    Linköping 2 - 5 Frölunda

SF    2017/1/10      Frölunda 5 - 1 Fribourg-Gottéron

SF    2017/1/17      Fribourg-Gottéron 0 - 4 Frölunda

  F    2017/2/7        Frölunda 4 - 3 Sparta Prague

2017-18

GS    2017/8/24      Frölunda 5 - 4 ZSC Lions

GS    2017/8/26      Frölunda 2 - 1 EC Klagenfurter

GS    2017/8/31      EC Klagenfurter 2 - 4 Frölunda

GS    2017/9/2        ZSC Lions 1 - 2 Frölunda

GS    2017/10/3      Frölunda 5 - 2 Rapaces de Gap

GS    2017/10/10    Rapaces de Gap 1 - 3 Frölunda

 16    2017/10/31    Liberec 2 - 3 Frölunda

 16    2017/11/7      Frölunda 4 - 6 Liberec

2018-19

GS    2018/8/30      Vienna Capitals 1 - 4 Frölunda

GS    2018/9/1        ZSC Lions 2 - 2 Frölunda (ZSC won SO.)

GS    2018/9/6        Frölunda 4 - 2 ZSC Lions

GS    2018/9/8        Frölunda 1 - 4 Vienna Capitals

GS    2018/10/9      Frölunda 6 - 0 Aalborg Pirates

GS    2018/10/16    Aalborg Pirates 1 - 5 Frölunda

 16    2018/11/6      Lugano 1 - 1 Frölunda

 16    2018/11/20    Frölunda 5 - 4 Lugano

QF    2018/12/4      Kometa Brno 1 - 4 Frölunda

QF    2018/12/11    Frölunda 6 - 1 Kometa Brno

SF    2019/1/8        Frölunda 6 - 3 Plzeň

SF    2019/1/15      Plzeň 1 - 3 Frölunda

  F    2019/2/5        Frölunda 3 - 1 Red Bull München

2019-20

GS    2019/8/30      Frölunda 5 - 5 Graz 99ers (99ers won SO.)

GS    2019/9/1        Frölunda 2 - 3 Mountfield

GS    2019/9/5        Graz 99er 1 - 5 Frölunda

GS    2019/9/7        Mountfield 3 - 4 Frölunda

GS    2019/10/8      Frölunda 9 - 2 Cardiff Devils

GS    2019/10/15    Cardiff Devils 2 - 9 Frölunda

 16    2019/11/12    Färjestad 6 - 3 Frölunda

 16    2019/11/19    Frölunda 8 - 2 Färjestad

QF    2019/12/3      Frölunda 2 - 3 Biel

QF    2019/12/10    Biel 3 - 5 Frölunda

SF    2019/1/7        Frölunda 2 - 3 Luleå