General De Gaulle reviews the men at Greenock, December 24, 1942. Source.
Morton host Queen of the South.
On the strength of a five-game winning streak Queen of the South held first place for three weeks in September, but by early November they had fallen to sixth and became the second Championship club since the opening weekend to ax their manager. From mid-October to early December they compiled a seven-game losing streak. Their worst losing streak of 2011-12, the year they were last relegated, was four losses. Currently they sit in sixth place with 20 points.
The last time these two teams met, Morton won 0 - 5, starting QoS on their spiral.
What was Morton's best ever result against Queen of the South? They beat them by the score of 7 - 1 twice in 1945-46, once in the Southern League and once again in the Southern League Cup. What was Queen of the South's best result against Morton? 4 - 0 (April 27, 2002, in Dumfries) and 0 - 4 (Feb 19, 2011, at Cappielow). What was their wackiest score? 6 - 5 for QoS, Feb 26, 2002, at Palmerston.
Queen of the South's Stephen Dobbie leads all Championship scorers with ten goals.
Today's match has a 1:00 pm GMT start, because of Christmas, but there's a chance it could get postponed or abandoned thanks to Storm Patricia. [But it's game on, and Morton win 1 - 0. Goal by O'Ware.]
How often have Morton played on Christmas Eve? 13 times before today. They have earned 4 wins, 5 draws, and 4 losses. The most recently match was in 1988, when Morton played Forfar to a 1 - 1 draw at Cappielow. The first time was in --
1898-99. December 24th, 1898, Hamilton Academical visited Cappielow and lost 6 - 1 to Morton.
From The Glasgow Herald, December 26, 1898 (page 8):
GREENOCK MORTON V. HAMILTON ACADEMICALS.--This match was played at Greenock before a good attendance, on soft ground. Teams:--Morton--M'Pherson; Anderson and Orr; Colligan, Henderson, and Blair; Dale, Hunter, M'Culloch, Newlands, and Reid. Hamilton--Henderson, Allan, and Buchan; Douglas, King, and Thomson, M'Ewan, M'Donald, Eglinton, Clark, and Caldwell. The visitors scored after four minutes play, but for the remainder of the half were confined to their own quarters, and Morton crossed over with a lead of five goals to one. The second half was a repetition of the first as far as play went, but Morton had [hard lines?] all through, and only scored just before time. The result was:--Morton, 6; Hamilton Academicals, 1. The home forward line was much strengthened by the inclusion of M'Culloch, late of Crosshill Athletic, who is a decided acquisition to the team, and he led the others in excellent style. The Academicals were weak in the forward line, but their halves and their backs and goalkeeper fair.
How many Scottish League matches have Queen of the South played against the other 2016-17 Championship clubs?
Raith Rovers 105
Dumbarton 93
Falkirk 92
St Mirren 76
Morton 74
Dunfermline 70
Ayr United 70
Hibs 56
Dundee United 18
Queen of the South vs Raith Rovers is a rivalry I've never thought about. They've played together in the same division (always the second tier) nine years since the four-division format came in. In that time Raith have 15 wins, QoS 14, with 5 draws, in league play.
What if the SPFL went to one division?
The Scottish League could go to one division of 42 teams. Each team would play 41 games and see each other team once, plus cup games. The schedule would be unbalanced, as the home crowd would only see half of the opposition in any given year, which might improve attendance by visiting supporters. The only playoff would be at the bottom.
Current drawless streaks:
0 QoS, Dunfermline, Raith, Dundee Utd, St Mirren, Ayr Utd, Morton, Hibs
1 Falkirk
3 Dumbarton
At this points all the Championship clubs have between four and six draws. Hamilton Accies lead the SPFL with ten.
How is Schaffhausen like Greenock Morton?
Schaffhausen is on the north bank of the Rhine, in an area that would be part of Bavaria if the borders weren't so medieval. The Rhine is even mightier than the Clyde, but Schaffhausen's stretch of it is above the Rhine Falls, making its location more like Lanark's than Greenock's.
FC Schaffhausen is a 19th-century foundation (1896), and has spent many many years in the Swiss second tier without a Swiss title or Swiss Cup. Team colours are black and gold. Stadion Briete is a little bit like Ochilview.
It's the quarter-finals of the Emperor's Cup. The eight remaining clubs are all from J1.
Yokohama F. Marinos [2 - 1] Gamba Osaka
Kashima Antlers [1 - 0] Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Omiya Ardija [4 - 2 aet] Shonen Bellmare
FC Tokyo [1 - 2] Kawasaki Frontale
Marinos have won the cup 7 times, Gamba 6, Antlers 4, Sanfrecce 3, Bellmare 3, FC Tokyo once, and the other two never.
Empress's Cup semi-finals and final:
Match No. 45, Nippon TV Beleza 0 - 1 Albirex Niigata Ladies
Match No. 46, Vegalta Sendai Ladies 1 - 3 INAC Kobe Leonessa
Final tomorrow: Albirex Niigata Ladies [0 - 0] INAC Kobe Leonessa [Kobe win on penalty kicks, and win the cup.]
Leonessa have won the Empress's Cup five times previously, and Albirex have been runners-up three [now four] times.
Genk or Gent? I don't know much about Belgian football, but I do know that there ought to be a Belgian comic with a pair of characters named Genk and Gent in it.
Matricule number. The more venerable Belgian clubs are numbered according to when they first registered with the RBFA (aka KVBV, aka l'URBSFA). Gent is 7. Genk is 322. Also, if a Belgian club is 50 years or older it can add the word Royale or Koninklijke to its name. Both Gent and Genk are Koninklijke. Both clubs are in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium.
The holders of the top 8 matricule numbers in Scotland would be Queen's Park, Clydesdale, Vale of Leven, Dumbreck, Third Lanark, Eastern, Granville, and Kilmarnock.
On Boxing Day Tuesday KRC Genk [2 - 0] KAA Gent.
Wick Academy vs Strathspey Thistle [postponed]
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