In Falkirk the big house is Callendar House. Source.
Morton visit Falkirk. On the back of four straight wins Morton have climbed to fourth place in the table. Falkirk, who have lost their last two, are in sixth. Morton can finish the day as high as second, or as low as sixth.
Morton went through 2013-14 and 2015-16 without a win against Falkirk, and have not beaten the Bairns since March 9th, 2013.
A win today would be Morton's fifth in a row in league play. The last time they did that was September 1st to October 6th, 2012.
[Falkirk 1 - 1 Morton. Goal by Forbes. Morton remain in fourth place. Match report.]
First and last place in the 2016-17 Scottish Championship, week by week (Part 1/3):
Week 1 Raith Ayr
Week 2 Raith Ayr
Week 3 Raith Ayr
Week 4 Hibs Ayr
Week 5 Hibs St Mirren
Week 6 QoS St Mirren
Week 7 QoS St Mirren
Week 8 QoS St Mirren
Week 9 Hibs St Mirren
Week 10 Hibs St Mirren
Week 11 Hibs St Mirren
[Week 12 Hibs St Mirren]
It's tempting just to fill in Week 12 before play starts, but a high-scoring win against Dumbarton could lift St Mirren out of last place, and a total defensive meltdown against Ayr could knock Hibs out of first.
Three point wins. Because a win is worth three points, and a draw is worth only one point, the ideal weekend is the one in which your team wins while every other match in the division ends in a draw. When did this last happen in the Scottish Championship? The weekend of October 1st and 2nd. Which team was the happy beneficiary? Morton.
It's way too early to talk about May, but there is a distinct possibility of a Dundee vs Dundee United playoff.
1898-99. Morton were at home to Motherwell on this date in 1898, and lost 2 - 4.
From The Glasgow Herald, November 7, 1898 (page 10):
MORTON V. MOTHERWELL.--These clubs met at Greenock in their second encounter under League auspices before 1500 spectators. Teams: Morton--M'Pherson; Anderson and Orr; Colligan, Henderson, and Lynn; Kennedy, Hunter, Walker; Newlands, and Reid. Motherwell--Watt, Grant and Keir; Cowan, Smith, and Russell; Gourlay, Duflin, Smith, Wales, and Mount. In the first half the visitors had easily the best of matters and scored three goals, Duflin and Wales being responsible for one each, and the third was obtained through a penalty kick for handling. In the next half the homesters showed up better and Reid scored, this being followed up by a point after a scrimmage. Towards the end Motherwell rallied and scored a fluky goal, winning by 4 goals to 2. Motherwell were in fine fettle and deserved their win.
Which other league in the UEFA zone is most like the Scottish Championship?
Method: Only second-tier leagues of ten teams were considered. That produced a short list of seven leagues: the Austrian Erste Liga, Estonian Esiliiga, Finnish Ykkönen, Kazakhstani First Division, Macedonian 2. MFL, Slovenian 2. SNL, and the Swiss Challenge League.
1) If a league plays in winter it receives a point. 2) If a league plays a 36-game schedule it receives a point. 3) If a league contains no reserve or youth teams it receives a point. 4) If a league employs promotion playoffs it receives a point.
5) If a league's average stadium capacity puts it closest to the Scottish Championship's average stadium capacity (10,425) it gets a point. 6) If a league's longest travel distance as the crow flies puts it closest to the Scottish Championship's longest travel distance as the crow flies (173 km, Dundee to Dumfries) it receives a point. 7) If a league's average club longevity puts it closest to the Scottish Championship's average club longevity (127 years) it receives a point.
The leagues are measured as they are configured for the 2016-17 season if they are winter leagues, or 2016 if they are summer leagues.
Results:
Austria 3 1) 2) 5)
Estonia 3 2) 4) 6)
Finland 2 3) 4)
Kazakhstan 1 4)
Macedonia 2 1) 4)
Slovenia 3 1) 3) 4)
Switzerland 4 1) 2) 3) 7)
The Swiss Challenge League is most like the Scottish Championship. It is a ten-team second-division winter league full of venerable clubs and no reserve squads that play a 36-game schedule.
What is a tie? In British football a tie is an scheduled encounter between two teams. It means nearly the same thing as a game, a match, or a fixture, except that if the teams are playing two games, one at each home ground, with the higher scoring team winning, then those together are considered a tie. In Canada we used to use the word tie in this way (125 years ago), but since then it has come to mean a final score in which no winner has emerged. Probably because when the tie has yet to be played both teams are still tied 0 - 0.
Tomorrow is the final of the Scottish Women's Cup: Glasgow City vs Hibs at Hamilton's Superseal Stadium. [Hibs win on PKs.]
The AFC Cup final is today: Al-Quwa Al-Jiwaya (Air Force Club) of Iraq [1 - 0] Bengaluru FC of India
UEFA Champions League Group C: Borussia Moenchengladbach 1 - 1 Celtic
Banks O'Dee [1 - 0] Kilbirnie Ladeside
Strathspey Thistle [0 - 5] Brora Rangers
Tomorrow in Sweden: Östersund [2 - 4] Gefle. End of Allsvenskan schedule. [ÖFK finish eighth. Not bad!]
Tomorrow in Japan: Blaublitz Akita [2 - 1] Sagami.
Tomorrow in Ireland it's the final of the FAI Cup: Cork City vs Dundalk. Dundalk have won it ten times already, Cork City twice. [Cork win 1 - 0.]
Empress's Cup Round Three:
Match No. 35, Albirex Niigata [5 - 1] Chifure AS Elfen Saitama
Match No. 37, Vegalta Sendai [1 - 0] Sfida Setagaya
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