Albert Harbour, Greenock, 1904. Source.
Morton host Brechin City.
Of the five clubs relegated out of the SPFL via the pyramid playoffs Brechin is the only one to have made a serious effort to get back up. In their three Highland League seasons they have finished third, first and second. If they keep up that level of play they will eventually get their hedge back into the SPFL. As for Albion Rovers, Cowdenbeath, Berwick and East Stirlingshire, the question is which one will be in the East of Scotland League first.
Morton last played Brechin in the 2017-18 Championship, the year that Brechin earned one win in league play. The last Morton player to score on the Hedgemen was John Baird.
Several of the Brechin players have SPFL experience, but none played for Morton. Cameron Blues played for Brechin in 2018-19. Brechin's manager Patrick Cregg made one appearance for Morton in 2010.
It's hard to see Morton advancing to Round Two after Saturday's loss to East Fife, especially as seven second place clubs already have 3 points. But it's not mathematically impossible yet.
[Morton win 1 - 0 on a goal by Cammy Ballantyne.]
Also:
Alloa [0 - 0] East Fife [Alloa win on PK]
St Johnstone are off.
Group F standings after today's matches:
East Fife 2 1 0 1 0 3 0 +3 4
St Johnstone 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 +1 3
Morton 2 1 0 0 1 1 3 -2 3
Alloa 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
Brechin 2 0 0 0 2 1 3 -2 0
Other matches:
Carluke Rovers 0 - 1 Lanark United (Clydesdale Cup SF) (July 15)
HFX Wanderers U21 [1 - 1] Ipswich Town U21 (at CBU) (tomorrow) [Wanderers win on PK.]
UEFA Champions League, 1QR, second leg:
Shamrock Rovers [2 - 1] Vikingur (Iceland)
FK Dečić (Montenegro) [1 - 1] The New Saints
Larne [0 - 4] FC RFS (Latvia) (tomorrow)
[Shamrock Rovers and The New Saints advance. Larne drop into the Conference League.]
The 2024-25 Plenty of Nothing Championship League Cup:
This is the sixth year for this made-up cup which uses actual Championship results to fabricate a knock-out competition. The teams are seeded based on last year's Premiership, Championship and League One standings:
Livingston (12th in the Premiership)
Raith Rovers (2nd in the Championship)
Partick Thistle (3rd)
Airdrieonians (4th)
Morton (5th)
Dunfermline (6th)
Ayr United (7th)
Queen's Park (8th)
Falkirk (1st in League One)
Hamilton Accies (2nd in League One)
Top seed plays bottom seed, second seed plays second bottom seed, etc. Round One involves only the bottom four teams. Each known fixture is played as soon as it comes up, even if the previous round is not finished. Reverse fixtures are acceptable. All actual league games, cup matches and playoffs are eligible, but our tournament's tie-breakers take precedence. Those are, in order: 1) fewer red cards; 2) fewer yellow cards; 3) more corner kicks; 4) visitor.
Matches:
R1 Falkirk vs Queen's Park (August 2)
R1 Hamilton Accies vs Ayr United (August 3)
R2 Partick Thistle vs Dunfermline (September 21)
R2 Morton vs Airdrieonians (September 21)
R2 Livingston vs R1x
R2 Raith Rovers vs R1y
SF
SF
F
Once the finalists are known, the other eight teams embark on the Consolation Cup which has three rounds.