A snail discovered in a bottle of Stevenson Ginger Beer in Paisley in 1928 was the foundation of modern tort law. Donoghue v Stevenson.
Morton visit Paisley.
The situation: Morton are in sixth place with 50 points, and are still in contention for the final playoff spot -- just. In order for Morton to finish fourth they must beat St Mirren and Inverness; Dunfermline must lose to Inverness and Dumbarton; and Morton must pull ahead of Inverness on goal difference if Inverness also beat Livi and they both end up with 56 points. I think the chances of all this happening are 1 in 162.
There's also this: if Morton lose to St Mirren and ICT, and Queen of the South beat Dundee United and Brechin, Morton will finish seventh.
So in short if Morton lose or play to a draw today they are out of the playoffs and in the 2018-19 Championship.
St Mirren won the division title last weekend, but they have yet to defeat Morton. A win for the Buddies will even up the season series which currently stands at 1 win for Morton with 2 draws. They receive their league trophy today.
Morton have not won a competitive match in St Mirren's park since April 10th, 1999. Is that their longest run of futility in Paisley? No. They did not win at Love Street from Oct 25th, 1919 till April 23rd, 1940, though, to be fair, in those days there was usually only one opportunity per annum.
Morton did win the Renfrewshire Cup in Paisley on July 20th, 2013.
If Morton play to a draw today and again next week they will duplicate their cumulative result of 2016-17: 13 wins, 13 draws and 10 losses. But it'll be worth much less because the presence of Brechin in the division has lifted all the other teams by about 3 points.
[St Mirren win 2 - 1. Morton goal by Doyle.]
Today's other games: Dumbarton [2 - 5] Falkirk; Inverness CT [2 - 2] Dunfermline; Livi [3 - 0] Brechin; QoS [3 - 0] Dundee United.
[The upshot: Morton do not make the playoffs.]
Will St Mirren's promotion mean a return of the Renfrewshire Cup, which has not been played since 2014? Maybe not. The expansion of the League Cup into July has shortened the window for pre-season friendlies to about two weeks. Also, after the 2018-19 League Cup (in which the seeding will be based on 2017-18 table positions) St Mirren will be in Pot One South, giving them a one-in-four chance of playing in Morton's group each year. Plus as perennial finishers below the split St Mirren are due back in the Championship in six years.
On the other hand, a Renfrewshire Derby draws crowds:
Attendances at Cappielow for the Renfrewshire Derby this decade:
4959 2011/8/23 Morton 3 - 4 St Mirren League Cup
3277 2012/7/21 Morton 0 - 1 St Mirren Renfrew. Cup
2811 2014/7/19 Morton 0 - 1 St Mirren Renfrew. Cup
5343 2015/8/21 Morton 0 - 0 St Mirren league
4736 2016/1/2 Morton 0 - 1 St Mirren league
3378 2016/11/1 Morton 3 - 1 St Mirren league
4609 2017/4/11 Morton 1 - 4 St Mirren league
4661 2017/8/12 Morton 4 - 1 St Mirren league
4126 2018/1/2 Morton 1 - 1 St Mirren league
Longest stretch without a game. Excluding the Renfrewshire Cup Morton and St Mirren did not play a competitive match between Jan 1st, 1952 and May 6th, 1964.
When did St Mirren last have a winning season in the Premiership? 1984-85. Good luck!
1978-79. April 18th Morton hosted Hibernian for the second time in four days and beat them 3 - 0. Russell, McNeil, Ritchie. This was Morton's final home fixture of the season.
April 21st Morton visited Partick Thistle and lost 1 - 2. Ritchie scored on a penalty kick.
1933-34. April 21st Morton visited Dumbarton and lost 3 - 1. That ends the 1933-34 season. Morton finished fifth in Division Two with 15 wins, 5 draws and 12 loses, and a goal difference of +3. Not bad I guess, but in those days they were expected to be in the top division, and not lose 10 - 1 to St Bernard's.
Today in 1934 the Scottish Cup final between Rangers and St Mirren was played. Well, one team showed up: Rangers won 5 - 0.
Goal difference and relegation. Since 1994, what has been the worst goal difference by a second tier club? Dumbarton were -71 in 1995-96. They finished tenth and were relegated.
What was the best goal difference by a club that still got relegated anyway? Dunfermline were +3 in 2012-13, finished ninth and lost in the playoffs.
What was the worst goal difference by a club that avoided relegation? In 1999-00 Airdrieonians were -40.
What was the best goal difference by a club that finished in the last safe spot? Morton were +1 in 1996-97 and finished eighth. But they were 17 points above ninth-place Clydebank so no sleep was lost in Greenock.
Since 1994, what are the greatest teams of the First Division/Championship?
Hearts 2014-15 91 pts
Hibs 1998-99 89 pts
Falkirk 2002-03 81 pts
Rangers 2015-16 81 pts
St Johnstone 1996-97 80 pts
The best St Mirren can do this year is 77 points.
When did each 2017-18 Championship club last play in the top tier?
2016-17 Inverness CT
2015-16 Dundee United
2014-15 St Mirren
2011-12 Dunfermline
2009-10 Falkirk
2005-06 Livingston
1987-88 Morton
1984-85 Dumbarton
1963-64 Queen of the South
not ever Brechin
Years in which neither Celtic nor Rangers finished first or second, and who did:
1896-97 Hearts and Hibs
1902-03 Hibs and Dundee
1903-04 Third Lanark and Hearts
1959-60 Hearts and Kilmarnock
1964-65 Kilmarnock and Hearts
Read about the troubles of Fort William FC.
Scottish Junior Cup, semi-finals, second leg:
Hurlford [1 - 1] Wishaw
Lochee [0 -2] Auchinleck Talbot
[Hurlford and Auchinleck advance to the final.]
2018 CONCACAF Champions League, final, first leg:
Toronto FC 1 - 2 Guadalajara
2018 AFC Champions League, Group Stage, matchday 6:
Group E: Tianjin Quanjian 3 - 2 Kashiwa Reysol
Group F: Kawasaki Frontale 2 - 2 Ulsan Hyundai
Group G: Guangzhou Evergrande 3 - 1 Cerezo Osaka
Group H: Kashima Antlers 0 - 1 Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Kashima Antlers are the only Japanese club to advance to the Round of 16.
USL: Ottawa Fury [1 - 1] North Carolina FC
This is Ottawa's home opener.
Abruzzo: L'Aquilo [1 - 3] Pineto
Allsvenskan:
Djurgårdens IF 3 - 0 Malmö FF (April 18th)
Malmö FF [3 - 1] IF Brommapojkarna (April 23rd)
J2: Tokyo Verdy [3 - 0] Mito HollyHock
23rd Tokyo Metropolitan Football Tournament, semi-finals:
Tokyo United [1 - 0] Toyo University
Tokyo Musashino FC [0 - 2] Komazawa University
71st Aomori Prefecture Soccer Championship, semi-finals:
Vanraure Hachinohe [3 - 5] Blancdieu Hirosaki
ReinMeer Aomori [5 - 1] Hachinohe Gakuin University
Regionalliga Südwest: 1. FC Saarbrücken [2 - 0] Offenbach
League of Ireland, First Division: Longford Town [0 - 2] UCD
Comments