The sailing ship Comte de Smet de Naeyer lies capsized in the James Watt Dock, October, 1904. Source.
It's the final 16 of the Challenge Cup. Morton are out. Dumbarton and Raith are out. All the U20 teams, and the Highland and Lowland League clubs are out. Now two representatives each from the Northern Ireland Football League Premiership (Crusaders, Linfield) and the Welsh Premier Division (The New Saints, Bala Town) join in. Two of them (The New Saints and Crusaders) participated in the 2016-17 Champions League, the other two (Linfield, Bala Town) the 2016-17 Europa League. The Challenge Cup now becomes an experiment to see how the Scottish lower leagues (who never get invited anywhere) measure up against the top leagues of Europe's little countries.
Forfar vs The New Saints
The New Saints finished 2015-16 atop the Welsh Premier League, and in fact have won the league five years in a row. They are unique (or at least uniquish) in the football world for being an amalgamation of two border clubs, one Welsh (Llansantffraid, founded 1959) and one English (Oswestry Town, founded 1860). They play at Park Hall in Oswestry, which has a capacity of 2,000. They wear green and white. They have won the Welsh league 10 times, the Welsh Cup 6, and the Welsh League Cup 7. They have participated in European competition 18 of the past 20 years, though they have beaten only four opponents: Bohemians, Cliftonville, B36 and Tre Penne. UEFA ranks them 223rd in Europe. [Forfar 1 - 3 The New Saints]
Bala Town vs Alloa
Bala Town's achievements are more modest. They were founded in 1880, and have never won the top league or the big cups. They have been to the Europa League three times but have never advanced past the first qualifying round. They play at Maes Tegid which holds 3,000. They wear black and white. UEFA ranks them 412th. [Bala Town 2 - 4 Alloa]
Crusaders vs Livingston
Crusaders play at Seaview (capacity 3,383) in Belfast. They were founded in 1898 and joined the league in 1949. They are 6-time league winners (including last year), 3-time Cup winners, and 2-time League Cup winners. They have been to Europe 16 times but have only advanced twice, beating Ekranas of Lithuania and Levadia Tallinn of Estonia. They wear red and black. UEFA ranks them 326th. [Crusaders 1 - 2 Livingston]
Queen of the South vs Linfield
Linfield are also from Belfast. They have 51 league championships, 42 Irish Cups, 9 League Cups, and to top it off they dress like Rangers FC. Their arena, Windsor Park, holds 18,167. Last season they finished second in the NIFL Premiership. They've played in European competition a gazillion times. Brest showing: the quarter-finals of the European Cup in 1966-67. This year they were knocked out of the first qualifying round of the Europa League by Cork City. UEFA ranks them 309th. [QoS 2 - 0 Linfield]
Ayr United vs Falkirk
Falkirk are the most successful club in Challenge Cup history. They won the cup in 1993-94, 1997-98, 2004-05 and 2011-12. Ayr United have been runners-up twice. [Ayr 1 - 0 Falkirk.]
Winners this round: Ayr, Livingston, Alloa, Dundee United, Dunfermline, The New Saints, St Mirren, QoS.
Resources: Welsh Football Data Archives, Irish Football Club Project.
There's no SPFL league play this weekend, except for Edinburgh City [1 - 2] Elgin City, both of whom are out of the Challenge Cup. But the Highland and Lowland leagues, and junior football are on.
Strathspey Thistle [1 - 2] Lossiemouth
Troon [3 - 1] Largs Thistle
1898-99. On this date in 1898 Morton were at home to Airdrieonians and won 3 - 1.
How is the Kazakhstani First Division like the Scottish Championship?
Not very much. Average stadium capacity is 9,053. There are no reserve clubs, but Bayterek is an academy club. The Khazakhstani First Division is a summer league. Kazakhstan itself is a country of North American proportions: the distance from Aktau to Ekibastuz is 2010 km. The average age of the ten clubs is only 23 years. The four eldest were founded in the 1960s, the other six in the 21st century. They play an 18-game schedule. There is a promotion playoff.
The Allsvenskan, J3, and Effo-deildin are all off this weekend.
Yesterday: UCD 3 - 2 Shelbourne. UCD are close securing a playoff spot. Cobh Ramblers must win their last two to have a chance of overtaking them.
Read about Crusaders FC in the Daily Express.
The UEFA Women's Champions League is going on. The group stage Qualifying Round was played in August, but no Scottish clubs were involved. Scotland is ranked eleventh in Europe for women's football, so they enjoy a bye through that round. This week the Round of 32 got going. Games involving Scottish clubs were:
Eskilstuna United DFF (of Sweden) 1 - 0 Glasgow City
Hibs 0 - 6 Bayern Munich
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