The present-day Leipziger Zentralstadion (capacity 43,000) is built inside the Soviet-era original which could hold 120,000. Source.
It's some distance from The Haughs, where Morton are playing a pre-season friendly against Turriff United today.
You'll remember that Morton and Turriff met in the fourth round of the 2012-13 Scottish Cup. The first game, at The Haughs, was a 1 - 1 draw. The replay at Cappielow resulted in a 6 - 0 victory for the Ton.
Turriff United FC was founded in 1954. They played junior football up to 2009 when they were admitted to the Highland League. They have participated in the Scottish Cup since 2012. Last year they played Hibs in the Challenge Cup. Tuesday they played Aberdeen's youth squad to a 3 - 3 draw.
[Morton win 1 - 6. Morton goals by Thomson, McHugh (3), Tidser, Tiffoney.]
More friendlies: Thursday in Hungary it was MTE 1904 0 - 1 Falkirk.
Morton played a bounce game against Ayr United Tuesday. Ayr won 4 - 1.
Yesterday Queen of the South visited Fleetwood Town in Lancashire. Fleetwood Town 1 - 0 QoS.
Montrose [0 - 2] Brechin
Alloa [0 - 0] St Mirren
Elgin [2 - 0] Inverness CT
Kilmarnock [1 - 0] Livingston
Stranraer [0 - 5] FC Twente
The question of stripping Rangers of titles gained during the period of illicit EBT payments is back. If those honours were transferred to the runners-up, who would benefit?
League title:
2002-03 Celtic
2004-05 Celtic
2008-09 Celtic
2009-10 Celtic
League Cup:
2001-02 Ayr United
2002-03 Celtic
2004-05 Motherwell
2007-08 Dundee United
2009-10 St Mirren
Scottish Cup:
2001-02 Celtic
2002-03 Dundee
2007-08 Queen of the South
2008-09 Falkirk
League of Ireland: Read the sorry tale of Athlone Town AFC.
UEFA Champions League 1QR, second leg:
Europa 1 - 3 The New Saints
The New Saints advance.
La Fiorita 0 - 0 Linfield
Linfield advance to face Celtic in the second round.
UEFA Europa League 1QR, second leg:
Progrès Niederkorn 2 - 0 Rangers
Oh my god, Rangers are knocked out by Niederkorn, Luxembourg. Niederkorn, with its population of 3,044. (You can find population figures ranging from below 2,000 to above 4,000, so I'll stick with the middle one.)
Vaduz 3 - 0 Bala Town
Bala Town are out.
Trakai 1 - 0 St Johnstone
St Johnstone are out.
Liepāja 2 - 0 Crusaders
Liepāja advance on the away goal rule.
HJK 3 - 0 Connah's Quay Nomads
Connah's Quay are out.
B36 1 - 2 Nõmme Kalju
B36 are out.
Rabotnički 6 - 0 Tre Penne
Tre Penne are out.
Copa Libertadores, Round of 16, first leg:
The Strongest 1 - 1 Lanús (Argentina)
There are six Brazilian clubs in the final 16, four Argentine, two Bolivian, two Ecuadorian, and one each from Paraguay and Uruguay.
The Japan Football League clausura begins today:
ReinMeer Aomori [0 - 0] Vierteen Mie
Briobecca Urayasu [1 - 3] Vanraure Hachinohe
They're also halfway through the Tohoku League season, though it's not formally divided into stages. Let's follow Blancdieu Hirosaki and Morioka Zebra as they play the remaining nine games of their schedule. Tomorrow it's:
Merry [0 - 2] Blancdieu Hirosaki
Bandits Iwaki [2 - 2] Morioka Zebra
About Blancdieu Hirosaki. The third of Aomori Prefecture's three J-League hopefuls is Blancdieu Hirosaki. "White god" is probably not a name that would go down well in North America, nor the stylized swaztika on the right side of badge. Both have local meanings. The swaztika is a Buddhist manji, emblem of the feudal Tsugaru clan who once ruled the area. "White god" refers to the Shirakami-Sanchi ("white god mountain area") located between Aomori and Akita, and a UNESCO heritage site. Team colours are pink and blue. They play at Hirosaki Sports Park, which seats 6,500.
Last season Blancdieu finished second in the Tohoku League Division One, and stand a good chance of moving up to the JFL whenever Vanraure Hachinohe make it into J3. Official web site.
When will they create J4? Implicit in the 100 Year Plan is the vision of a league of 100 professional teams sorted into five divisions of twenty. So far there are 54 teams in three divisions. J1 was founded in 1993 with 10 clubs. It took only five years to grow it to 18. Then the league relegated two from J1 and recruited eight to form J2. By 2012 these two divisions had grown to 18 and 22 teams. J3 came into being in 2012 and now has 14 clubs (plus three colt teams). At this rate J3 should reach full size around 2025. So look for a 10-team J4 to be calved off in 2026 or 2027.
Japan Football League ins and outs:
1999 In: Yokohama FC, Honda Motor, Mito HollyHock, Denso SC, Sony Sendai, Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, Jatco SC, Yokogawa Electric, Kokushikan University. (9 teams)
2000 Out: Mito HollyHock (to J2). In: ALO's Hokuriku, FC Kyoken, Shizuoka Sangyo University, Tochigi SC. (12 teams)
2001 Out: Yokohama FC (to J2). In: Sagawa Express Tokyo, YKK FC, NTT West Kumamoto, Ehime FC, SC Tottori. New Name: FC Kyoken becomes Kyoken Kyoto. (16 teams)
2002 In: Sagawa Express Osaka, Profesor Miyazaki. New Name: Kyoken Kyoto becomes Kyoto Bamb 1993, NTT West Kumamoto becomes Alouette Kumamoto. (18 teams)
2003 Out: Shizuoka Sangyo University, Alouette Kumamoto, Profesor Miyazaki (all relegated). In: SP Kyoto. New Name: Yokogawa Electric becomes Yokogawa Musashino. (16 teams)
2004 Out: Jatco SC (folded), Kyoto Bamb 1993 (relegated). In: Thespa Kusatsu, Gunma Horikoshi. (16 teams)
2005 Out: Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, Thespa Kusatsu (both to J2); Kokushikan University (expelled). In: Ryutsu Keizai University, Honda Lock, Mitsubishi Motors Mizushima. (16 teams)
2006 Out: Ehime FC (to J2). In: Rosso Kumamoto, FC Ryukyu, JEF Reserves. New Name: Denso SC becomes FC Kariya; Gunma Hirosaki becomes Arte Takasaki. (18 teams)
2007 Out: Honda Lock (relegated). Merged: Sagawa Express Tokyo and Sagawa Express Osaka merge to form Sagawa Express. In: FC Gifu, TDK SC. New Name: SC Tottori becomes Gainare Tottori. (18 teams)
2008 Out: Rosso Kumamoto, FC Gifu (both to J2). Merged: ALO's Hokuriku and YKK merge to form Kataller Toyama. In: New Wave Kitakyushu, Fagiano Okayama, MIO Biwako Shiga. New Name: Sagawa Express becomes Sagawa Shiga. (18 teams)
2009 Out: Tochigi SC, Kataller Toyama, Fagiano Okayama (all to J2). In: Machida Zelvia, V-Varen Nagasaki, Honda Lock. (18 teams)
2010 Out: New Wave Kitakyushu (to J2); Mitsubishi Motors Mizushima, FC Kariya (both relegated). In: Tochigi Uva, Zweigen Kanazawa, Matsumoto Yamaga. New Name: TDK SC becomes Blaublitz Akita. (18 teams)
2011 Out: Gainare Tottori (to J2); Ryutsu Keizai University (relegated). In: Nagano Parciero, Kamatamare Sanuki. (18 teams)
2012 Out: Machida Zelvia, Matsumoto Yamaga (both to J2); Arte Takasaki (folded), JEF Reserves (withdrawn). In: YSCC Yokohama, Fujieda MYFC, Hoyo Oita. (17 teams)
2013 Out: Sagawa Shiga (folded). In: Fukushima United, SC Sagamihara. (18 teams)
2014 Out: Kamatamare Sanuki (to J2); Nagano Parciero, SC Sagamihara, Machida Zelvia, Zweigen Kanazawa, Blaublitz Akita, FC Ryukyu, YSCC Yokohama, Fujieda MYFC, Fukushima United (to J3). In: Kagoshima United, Renofa Yamaguchi, Azul Claro Numazu, Vanraure Hachinohe, Fagiano Okayama Next, Maruyasu Okazaki. New Name: Hoyo Oita becomes Verspah Oita. (14 teams)
2015 Out: Renofa Yamaguchi (to J3). In: FC Osaka, Nara Club, Ryutsu Keizai Dragons. (16 teams)
2016 Out: Kagoshima United (to J3); SP Kyoto (folded). In: Briobecca Urayasu, ReinMeer Aomori. (16 teams)
2017 Out: Azul Claro Numazu (to J3); Fagiano Okayama Next (folded). In: FC Imabari, Veertien Mie. (16 teams)
Teams of the Tohoku University Soccer League, Division One:
Hachinohe Gakuin University
Iwate University
Fuji University
Tohoku University
Tohoku Gakuin University
Sendai University
Fukushima University
North Asia University
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