Plenty of Nothing

Chinese Cigarette Brands

Source.

William Young

William Young was born in Falkirk in 1799 and served as Premier of Nova Scotia from 1854 to 1860. He is not the only Bairn to become premier of a Canadian province: Tommy Douglas, Premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961, also started out in Falkirk.

Morton visit the Falkirk Stadium. This is a must-win game for both sides, as neither can expect many points in the last two weeks of the season: Morton have Dunfermline and Dundee United; Falkirk have Dundee United and Ross County.

If Morton beat Falkirk, and Partick beat Alloa, Morton will move up to sixth place.

If Falkirk beat Morton, and Partick and QoS both win, Morton will drop to tenth place.

Morton have not lost to Falkirk yet this season.

Falkirk have lost their appeal and have 28 days to fork over £40,000 to the SPFL as a result of the McKinnon affair. Story.

This is matchday 34 and fifth-place Dunfermline can still finish the season tenth. The relegation fight at the bottom of League One is nearly as close. [Ha ha. As soon as I say that Brechin and Stenny get locked into the relegation zone.]

Current winless streaks (league + cup):

7        Morton

5        Dunfermline

4        Queen of the South

2        Inverness CT

2        Partick Thistle

1        Ross County

1        Ayr United

0        Dundee United

0        Alloa

0        Falkirk

Other Championship matches:

Ayr United 1 - 3 Ross County (last night)

ICT [0 - 2] Dundee United

If the Tangerines fail to earn all available points from here on or if Ross County earn any more points then Ross County win the title.

Partick [2 - 1] Alloa

QoS [2 - 1] Dunfermline

If the Pars fail to earn all available points they are out of the Premiership playoffs.

[Morton win 0 - 2. Goals by Kiltie and Telfer. Ayr and Inverness make the Premiership playoffs. The bottom six clubs can all still be relegated, but Morton are in a good position at sixth with 40 points.]

How have Morton performed against Falkirk in league play this century?

2018-19        1 win, 2 draws so far.

2017-18        1 win, 3 losses; 4 gf, 5 ga; 3 points.

2016-17        1 win, 3 draws; 5 gf, 4 ga; 6 points.

2015-16        1 draw, 3 losses; 1 gf, 4 ga; 1 point.

2013-14        2 draws, 2 losses; 3 gf, 7 ga; 2 points.

2012-13        2 wins, 2 losses; 5 gf, 6 ga; 6 points.

2011-12        2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss; 5 gf, 3 ga; 7 points.

2010-11        2 draws, 2 losses; 3 gf, 5 ga; 2 points.

2000-01        2 wins, 2 losses; 5 gf, 7 ga; 6 points.

Most draws in a 36-game season, Morton (updated):

14            2001-02

13            2016-17 + 2018-19 after 33 games

12            3 times

11            4 times

10            5 times

  9            once

Most clean sheets, Morton:

25        1966-67        (38 league + 11 cup games)

22        1963-64        (36 league + 20 cup games)

20        2005-06        (36 league + 7 cup + 2 playoff games)

18        1995-96        (36 league + 4 cup games)

18        1988-89        (39 league + 7 cup games)

Fewest clean sheets, Morton:

  0        1902-03        (22 league + 1 cup game)

  0        1895-96        (18 league + 1 cup game)

  1        1937-38        (38 league + 4 cup games)

  1        1893-94        (18 league + 1 cup game)

  2        seven times

So far this season Morton have 11 clean sheets.

Stranraer's reserve team have won the South of Scotland League, but are ineligible for promotion to the Lowland League.

1928-29: On April 16th Morton travelled to Love Street to meet St Mirren in the second leg of their Renfrewshire Cup final. St Mirren won 6 - 1 and took the cup.

On April 20th Morton hosted Leith Athletic and won 4 - 1.

Cowlairs versus Kilmarnock. These two played in the 1892-93 Scottish Alliance. Cowlairs won 3 - 1 at home on October 1, 1892. They played to a 3 - 3 draw in Kilmarnock on April 29, 1893. They never met in the Scottish League or the Scottish Cup.

Celtic FC games on Easter Sunday in the 21st Century:

2018/4/21      Hibs vs Celtic

2017/4/16      Ross County 2 - 2 Celtic

2013/3/31      St Mirren 1 - 1 Celtic

2011/4/24      Rangers 0 - 0 Celtic

2010/4/4        Hibs 0 - 1 Celtic

2008/3/23      Gretna 0 - 3 Celtic

2006/4/16      Livingston 0 - 2 Celtic

2004/4/11      Livingston 1 - 3 Celtic

2001/4/15      Dundee United 1 - 3 Celtic

Celtic play on Easter Sunday, but always away.

SWFL2 W/SW: Morton Women vs Gleniffer Thistle (tomorrow)

Danish 1st Division: Fredericia vs Koge (April 22nd)

Swiss Challenge League: Winterthur [2 - 3] Servette

Regionalliga Südwest: 1. FC Saarbrücken [0 - 0] Astoria Walldorf

72nd Aomori Prefecture Football Championship semi-final:

Match No. 8: ReinMeer Aomori [0 - 1] Blancdieu Hirosaki

24th Fukushima Prefecture Football Championship:

Match No. 13: FC Primeiro vs Soma SC

Match No. 14: Nihon University Faculty of Eng'g AC SC vs FFC Matsushita

Match No. 15: Aizu Olympus vs Eastern Japan Int'l University SC

69th Iwate Prefecture Football Championship semi-final:

The first three rounds of this tournament were played late last year. Bracket.

Iwate University [0 - 4] Ganju Iwate

The winner will meet Grulla Morioka in the final.

This weekend Iwaki FC play training matches against Japan Soccer College (today) and a Tochigi SC XI (tomorrow). [Iwaki 1 - 0 Japan Soccer College.] [Iwaki 2 - 2 Tochigi.]

Kinya Ueki

Kinya Ueki is still drawing swordfight manga at 97. Story.

Vin de Suresnes

Suresnes, a wine-producing village that in modern times has been engulfed by the city of Paris, was in Brillat-Savarin's day synonymous with bad vintages. Yet it carries on in its tradition despite it all. Source.

At Swim-Two-Birds

2019 is the 80th anniversary of Flann O'Brien's At Swim-Two-Birds. There's a conference going on right now. This copy sold at auction for £8,125 in 2015. Source.

Old 56028

Engine No. 56028 of the Caledonian Railway at the Greenock Ladyburn Shed. Source.

Morton host Inverness Caledonian Thistle in a match postponed from April 13th due to ICT's involvement in the Scottish Cup semi-finals. Morton are seventh in the division, but only two points up on last place Partick. A win will restore them to sixth place. Inverness are fourth with 49 points and can guarantee themselves a place in the Premiership playoffs with a win.

You could divide the five clubs at the bottom of the Championship into two groups: those that are looking up (Alloa), and those that are looking down (Morton, QoS, Falkirk, Partick). Or those with four games left (Morton and Partick) and those with three (Alloa, QoS and Falkirk). Combine these factors and you get QoS and Falkirk getting demoted.

However, Morton have not won a game since Feb 26th, have not scored more than one goal in any game since Dec 29th, 2018, and have not beaten ICT since Feb 24th, 2018.

If Morton can cling to seventh place through to the end of the schedule it'll be a godsend, but Jonatan Johansson must be aware that finishing seventh was what got Jim Duffy fired last May.

[2 - 2. Morton goals scored by Lyon and Kiltie.]

How have Morton fared against ICT in league play over the years?

2018-19        1 draw, 2 losses so far.

2017-18        2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss; 4 gf, 4 ga; 7 points.

2009-10        4 losses; 1 gf, 10 ga; 0 points.

2000-01        1 win, 3 losses; 4 gf, 11 ga; 3 points.

1999-00        1 win, 1 draw, 2 losses; 8 gf, 10 ga; 4 points.

Matches at Cappielow April 2019:

April 1        Morton reserves 2 - 0 Dundee reserves

April 8        Morton reserves 0 - 0 Partick reserves

April 9        Morton 1 - 2 Alloa

April 16      Morton [2 - 2] Inverness CT

April 22      Morton reserves vs Aberdeen reserves

When did each 2018-19 Premiership club most recently enter the top tier?

2018    Livingston

2018    St Mirren

2017    Hibs

2016    Rangers

2015    Hearts

2014    Dundee

2014    Hamilton 

2009    St Johnstone

1993    Kilmarnock

1985    Motherwell

1919    Aberdeen

1890    Celtic

What clubs are in the Lowland League, when did they join and from where?

2013    Dalbeattie Star                South of Scotland League

2013    East Kilbride                    new club

2013    Gretna 2008                    East of Scotland League

2013    Gala Fairydean Rovers   East of Scotland League

2013    Spartans                         East of Scotland League

2013    Stirling University            East of Scotland League

2013    Vale of Leithen                East of Scotland League

2013    Whitehill Welfare             East of Scotland League

2014    Edinburgh University       East of Scotland League

2014    BSC Glasgow                 new club   

2015    Cumbernauld Colts        Caledonian Amateur League

2016    East Stirlingshire            SPFL League Two

2016    Civil Service Strollers     East of Scotland League

2017    Edusport Academy         South of Scotland League

2018    Kelty Hearts                    East of Scotland League

In effect the whole East of Scotland Premier Division went off to form the Lowland League in 2013. The East of Scotland League was forced to downsize to a single division. But they were able to pass the pain on last summer by absorbing 25 clubs from the junior ranks.

Which Lowland League clubs use their own park and which ones groundshare?

Use their own park:

Civil Service Strollers -- Christie Gillies Park, Edinburgh (1,569)

Dalbeattie Star -- Islecroft Stadium, Dalbeattie (4,000)

East Kilbride -- K-Park, East Kilbride (660)

Edinburgh University -- East Peffermill, Edinburgh (1,100)

Gala Fairydean Rovers -- Netherdale, Galashiels (5,500)

Gretna 2008 -- Raydale Park, Gretna (3,000)

Kelty Hearts -- New Central Park, Kelty (3,000)

Selkirk -- Yarrow Park, Selkirk (1,000)

Spartans -- Ainslie Park, Edinburgh (though Edinburgh City groundshare it) (3,000)

Vale of Leithen -- Victoria Park, Innerleithen (1,500)

Whitehill Welfare -- Ferguson Park, Rosewell (4,000)

Groundshare:

BSC Glasgow -- Recreation Park (Alloa Athletic)

Cumbernauld Colts -- Broadview (Clyde FC)

East Stirlingshire -- Falkirk Stadium (Falkirk FC)

Edusport Academy -- Galabank (Annan Athletic)

Stirling University -- Forthbank (Stirling Albion)

CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield final:

Robinhood [1 - 0] Club Franciscain

HFX Wanderers ultimately did get in their friendly against FC Edmonton in the Dominican Republic and won 1 - 0, Akeem Garcia scoring.

J2 watch: After 9 games, Mito HollyHock are at the top of the table with 5 wins and 4 draws for 19 points, with 11 goals for and only 4 against.

U-Boat 118

Submarine U-118 went adrift as it was being towed to France and washed up on Hastings Beach on this date in 1919. Source.

Expos Home Opener 1969

The Montreal Expos played their first home game on this date in 1969, beating the Cards 8 - 7. Source. Stats.

About Helensburgh FC

Helensburgh from Bank Street, Greenock. Source.

It's the Scottish Cup semi-finals, so Morton's game against Inverness CT has been rescheduled to Tuesday.

Hearts vs Inverness CT (today)

These two met in Round Four of the 2001-02 cup. Hearts won.

Inverness CT have won the Scottish Cup once, in 2014-15, beating Falkirk in the final. They made the semi-finals in 2002-03, losing to Dundee, and 2003-04, losing to Dunfermline. Hearts have won the cup 8 times. [Hearts 3 - 0 ICT.]

Aberdeen vs Celtic (tomorrow)

Celtic have won the Scottish Cup 38 times to Aberdeen's 7.

Which teams have Celtic beaten in the finals? Queen's Park (twice), Rangers (seven times), Hearts, St Mirren, Hamilton, Clyde, Hibs (five times), Dundee, East Fife, Motherwell (five times), Aberdeen (four times), Dunfermline (three times), Dundee United (four times), Airdrieonians (twice). [Aberdeen 0 - 3 Celtic.]

Which teams have Aberdeen beaten in the finals? Hibs, Celtic (three times), Rangers (twice), Hearts.

Have the four 2019 semi-finalists appeared together in the Scottish Cup semi-finals before? No.

Have the same four teams made the semi-finals of both the League Cup and Scottish Cup in the same year? No.

Have Morton made the semi-finals of the League Cup and Scottish Cup in the same year? Yes, in 1967-68.

Would an Aberdeen/Inverness cup final be awesome? Yes it would. Though Aberdeen/Hearts would also be good because it would chip away at Queen's Park's 19th-Century hold on third place in the all-time standings.

Championship matches:

Dundee United 2 - 1 Ayr United (yesterday)

Ross County cannot win the division today. But Ayr United cannot win it this year.

Alloa [1 - 0] Queen of the South

Both of these clubs enter today's game with 35 points, one behind Morton. Normally you want your rivals to play to a draw: that destroys the third point and is better for you in the long run. But it's the last month of the season, there is no long run.

If these two play to a draw today, they both leap over Morton. (QoS have a much better goal difference than Morton. Alloa have the same goal difference as Morton, but more goals for.)

Is it better to fall to eighth place and be even in points with Alloa and QoS, or fall to seventh and be behind one and ahead of the other? I think we want QoS to win.

Dunfermline [0 - 1] Falkirk

Ross County [0 - 0] Partick Thistle

Concerning the End Times. Morton are amongst a five-team pack all trying to avoid positions nine and ten in the divisional table. The Greenockians will be hoping for wins by the top-half teams today.

Morton must finish ninth and go to both the playoff semi-finals and finals to get to 48 matches on the season. Doing well in the Challenge Cup would have been a better way.

If Falkirk and Morton are both relegated it will simultaneously demonstrate Ray McKinnon's value and uselessness as a manager. And it should set up a killer hatefest between the two clubs for 2019-20, though probably neither McKinnon nor Johansson will be around to participate in it.

If Falkirk are relegated it will be their first visit to the third tier in forty years.

If Alloa stay up they will have been in the Championship for half this decade and can no longer be characterized as a seaside league club.

If Partick Thistle go down they will have suffered consecutive relegations, joining Dunfermline in the exclusive society of clubs that have done that twice.

If Morton and/or Queen of the South go down it will be their second trip to tier III in this decade.

Arbroath are sure to be promoted to the 2019-20 Championship, probably today. Morton have not played them since 2005, but if the Ton are relegated that estrangement will drag on, barring a cup tie.

1928-29: Morton and St Mirren played to a 1 - 1 draw in front of 10,000 at Cappielow in the first leg of the Renfrewshire Cup final.

1951-52: On April 12th, 1952 Morton lost to Motherwell 0 - 2 at Cappielow. This ends the 1951-52 SFL season. Morton finished 15th out of 16 with 9 wins, 6 draws and 15 losses, 49 goals for and 56 against, for a total of 24 points. They and Stirling Albion were relegated from Division A. Hibs won the league.

Cowlairs versus Morton. They played together in Division Two in 1893-94 and 1894-95. Morton won three games, Cowlairs one.

Angus: Brechin [1 - 1] Arbroath

[Cove Rangers have won the Highland League and will meet East Kilbride in the pyramid playoffs.]

SWFL2 W/SW: Morton Women vs Mid Annandale Ladies (tomorrow) [postponed]

West of Scotland Premiership: Largs [0 - 0] Beith

CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield:

Quarter-finals (April 11):

Moulien 0 - 3 Jong Holland

Santiago de Cuba 0 - 2 Weymouth Wales

Club Franciscain 1 - 0 Hoppers

Village Superstars 1 - 1 Robinhood (Robinhood win on PK.)

Semi-finals (today):

Weymouth Wales [0 - 3] Robinhood

Jong Holland [2 - 4] Club Franciscain

AFC Champions League group stage, matchday 3:

Group E: Gyeongnam FC 2 - 3 Kashima Antlers

Group F: Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2 - 0 Daegu FC

Group G: Urawa Red Diamonds 0 - 1 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

Group H: Ulsan Hyundai 1 - 0 Kawasaki Frontale

All four matches featured a Japanese club versus a South Korean club. Halfway through the group stage Kashima and Urawa are in the top half of their groups.

Danish 1st Division: Helsingor [0 - 0] Fredericia (tomorrow)

Swiss Challenge League: Aarau 2 - 2 Winterthur (yesterday)

Regionalliga Südwest: Elversberg (4 - 3) 1. FC Saarbrücken

Tōhoku Soccer League: Iwaki FC [1 - 0] Cobaltore Onagawa (tomorrow)

The new season begins. Cobaltore are from Onagawa in Miyagi Prefecture. They are newly relegated from the JFL, so their messaging this year is all about getting back to it. They wear blue, and their name is compounded from the Spanish words for cobalt and forest. Both Iwaki and Onagawa were inundated by the 2013 tsunami, and both these clubs are seen as part of the post-2013 reconstruction of Tohoku. As they only meet twice, I think this game will show which one is going to get promoted first.

72nd Aomori Prefecture Football Championship:

Match No. 7: Hachinohe Gakuin University SC [3 - 5] Blancdieu Hirosaki

24th Fukushima Prefecture Football Championship:

Match No. 7: FC Primeiro [2 - 1] Kawahigashi FC

Match No. 8: Kureha SC [0 - 2] Soma SC

Match No. 9: Nihon University Faculty of Eng'g AC SC [2 - 0] Violets 信夫 Dream

Match No. 10: FFC Matsushita [4 - 0] Glorys Fukushima

Match No. 11: Aizu Olympus [14 - 2] Adaro FC

Match No. 12: FC Sfidante [0 - 2] Eastern Japan Int'l University SC

Following this new Canadian Premier League online can be a little frustrating because there are few independent news sources following it. What news you do get is heavy on the self-promotion and often out of chronological order.

Tuesday HFX Wanderers signed striker Tomasz Skublak. Valour beat HFX Wanderers 1 - 0 in a 60-minute scrimmage. So far as the weather goes, training in the Dominican Republic was a good idea. There was still snow on the Wanderers Ground yesterday.

Inter RD beat Valour 1 - 0 on Wednesday. I'm still trying to work out what the deal is with Inter RD. They were members of the Dominican Serie A, but were kicked out for some breach, officially failure to submit paperwork, but probably failure to pay their players. During this training camp they seem to be acting in the role of Los Establos' house team. The player who scored on Valour, Jhon Edy Mena Perez, is a Colombian who was with Llaneros in Colombia last season, and has trained with York 9. So it looks like the CanPL teams have assigned their trialists to Inter RD for the duration of this camp.

[Yesterday: Inter RD 0 - 1 Wanderers. Goal by Vincent Lamy.]

About Helensburgh FC:

There have been several clubs named Helensburgh FC, but the one we're concerned about today is the one that existed from 1896 to 1928. They played at Ardencaple Park, and wore red jerseys and blue shorts and socks, and for three seasons they were in the Scottish Football League.

Read a history of Helensburgh FC here.

Helensburgh FC in the West of Scotland League, Scottish League Division Three, and the Scottish Alliance:

1922-23    West of Scotland League

1923-24    30      5    7    18    46    72    17   15th, SFL Div 3

1924-25    30    12    7    11    68    60    31    7th, SFL Div 3

1925-26    30    16    6      8    66    47    38    1st, SFL Div 3

1926-27    29    16    5      8    79    53    37    5th, Scottish Alliance, South

Helensburgh FC in the Scottish Cup:

1921-22    R1    Bathgate 3 - 2 Helensburgh

1924-25    R1    Bo'ness 1 - 1 Helensburgh

                          Helensburgh 0 - 0 Bo'ness

                          Bo'ness 2 - 0 Helensburgh

1926-17    R1    Aberdeen 4 - 2 Helensburgh

Helensburgh FC won the Dumbartonshire Cup in 1924-25, 1925-26 and 1926-27.

Helensburgh vs Queen of the South. These two were both members of Division Three in 1923-24 and 1924-25. QoS won three games, and there was a draw.

Helensburgh vs Montrose. These two played six league matches in Division Three from 1923 to 1926. Helensburgh won five, Montose one. Helensburgh were greater than Montrose.

Helensburgh vs Brechin City. These two played six league matches in Division Three. Helensburgh won three, Brechin one, with two draws. Helensburgh were greater than Brechin.

Helensburgh vs Forfar. They played two league matches in 1925-26. Each won once, Forfar scoring 4 to Helensburgh's 3.

Helensburgh vs Aberdeen. Aberdeen knocked Helensburgh out of the first round of the 1926-27 Scottish Cup.

Helensburgh vs Dumbarton:

1922/4/1          Dumbarton 4 - 2 Helensburgh        Dumbartonshire Cup

1923/2/10        Dumbarton 3 - 1 Helensburgh        friendly

1923/4/14        Helensburgh 0 - 3 Dumbarton        Dumbartonshire Cup

1924/5/3          Helensburgh 3 - 1 Dumbarton      friendly

1925/4/29        Dumbarton 0 - 1 Helensburgh      Dumbartonshire Cup 

1925/5/9          Dumbarton 1 - 0 Helensburgh        Dumbartonshire Charity Cup

1926/4/28        Helensburgh 3 - 1 Dumbarton      Dumbartonshire Cup

1926/5/9          Helensburgh 0 - 1 Dumbarton        Dumbartonshire Charity Cup

1927/4/28        Helensburgh 6 - 0 Dumbarton      Dumbartonshire Cup

(There's a wealth of Dumbarton data available on Wikipedia.)

I wrote 1600 words and the Morton men aren't even playing.

Scribe

Source.