Bovril with bits. See here for an epicure's guide to the soccer stadiums of Miyagi.
Morton watch. The club advertised for a new manager April 30th, and on the same day new chairman Crawford Rae issued a statement calling for promotion in Douglas Rae's lifetime. Rae père will be 87 next month.
Names that have been kicked around in connection with the managerial job are Lee McCulloch, Ally McCoist, David Hopkin, Stevie Aitken, Danny Lennon, Stewart Petrie, Jim McIntyre. Might I add Arsène Wenger?
Add Billy Stark, who has just left East Kilbride because "an opportunity has arisen which I cannot dismiss." Stark managed Morton in the late Nineties. [No, he's going to be in charge of Scotland's U-19 squad.]
Morton played their final league fixture of 1978-79 at Tynecastle on May 7th, a rare Monday game, and beat Hearts 0 - 1. Bobby Thomson scored.
The Greenock men finished that season in seventh place with 12 wins, 12 draws and 12 losses for 36 points, and a goal difference of -1. Andy Ritchie was the league's leading scorer with 22 goals.
Worst points total by a club in the three-point-win era:
4 Brechin 2017-18 Championship
8 East Stirlingshire 2003-04 3rd Division
10 Clydebank 1999-00 1st Division
11 Dumbarton 1994-95 1st Division
13 East Stirlingshire 2002-03 3rd Division
13 Gretna 2007-08 Premier League
14 East Fife 1996-97 1st Division
15 Arbroath 2000-01 1st Division
Playoffs:
Premiership playoffs, quarter-finals:
First leg (Tuesday):
Dunfermline 0 - 0 Dundee United
Second leg (yesterday):
Dundee United 2 - 1 Dunfermline
Tangerines advance.
The Premiership playoffs began in 2013. They're weighted in favour of the Premiership's Team 11, who get a bye into the final round. How has that played out?
2013-14 3 > 4; 2 > 3; 2 > 11
2014-15 3 > 4; 3 > 2; 11 > 3
2015-16 3 > 4; 2 > 3; 11 > 2
2016-17 3 > 4; 3 > 2; 11 > 3
Team 11 wins three times out of four.
The League One playoffs and the Championship playoffs have been in place since 2005-06. In both of them the ninth team from the higher division plays the fourth team from the lower division in one semifinal, the second and third teams of the lower division play each other in the other semifinal, and then the two semifinal winners play. Each team has an equal chance, but the second team from the lower division has tended to outperform the others, advancing 8 times as opposed to 6 times for the ninth team and 5 times each for the other two.
Championship playoffs, semi-finals:
First leg (Wednesday)
Arbroath 1 - 2 Dumbarton
Alloa 2 - 0 Raith Rovers
Second leg (today)
Dumbarton [1 - 1] Arbroath
Raith Rovers [1 - 2] Alloa
Dumbarton defeated Arbroath in just such a playoff on their way up to tier II in 2012. Alloa and Raith have never met in the playoffs before. [Raith and Arbroath are out.]
League One playoffs, semifinals:
First leg (midweek)
Stenhousemuir 1 - 1 Queen's Park
Stirling Albion 0 - 1 Peterhead
Second leg (today)
Queen's Park [1 - 2] Stenhousemuir
Peterhead [3 - 0] Stirling Albion
[Queen's Park and Stirling Albion are out.]
Pyramid playoffs, second leg (midweek):
The Spartans 2 - 1 Cove Rangers
Cove Rangers win on aggregate to advance to:
League Two playoffs, first leg:
Cove Rangers [0 - 0] Cowdenbeath
Lowland League promotion playoffs, first leg:
Threave Rovers [0 - 4] Kelty Hearts
Fort William FC have decided to carry on as a Highland League club.
Friendlies. Queen of the South have already announced their pre-season schedule. They'll visit Annan June 30th and East Fife July 3rd, then host Stranraer July 6th and Hearts July 11th.
And Falkirk visit Newport County on June 27th, Cefn Druid FC on June 29th and Aberdeen on the 4th of July. Then they host Airdrieonians on July 7th and visit Alloa on July 10th.
Details of the 2018-19 Challenge Cup probably won't be announced for another month, but if they follow the same format as last year the two League of Ireland entrants should be Bray Wanderers and Bohemians. It would be grand if Morton played Bohemians.
Soccer elsewhere:
Abruzzo: L'Aquila [3 - 3] Vastese
League of Ireland, First Division: Shelbourne [1 - 1] UCD
SWFL Division 1 South: Morton [2 - 3] Cumbernauld Colts
Regionalliga Südwest: 1. FC Saarbrücken [1 - 1] Hoffenheim II
JFL: Sony Sendai 3 - 0 ReinMeer Aomori (May 3rd)
ReinMeer Aomori [0 - 2] Vanraure Hachinohe (May 6th)
Cobaltore Onagawa [0 - 2] Sony Sendai (May 6th)
J2: Matsumoto Yamaga 2 - 0 Mito HollyHock (May 3rd)
Mito HollyHock [0 - 1] Tokushima Vortis (May 6th)
Kanto Soccer League: Briobecca Urayasu [1 - 2] Tokyo 23 FC
Kanto University Soccer League: Tsukuba 2 - 0 Hosei (May 3rd)
Tsukuba [2 - 1] Kokushikan (May 6th)
USL: Ottawa Fury 0 - 0 New York Red Bull II (May 2nd)
Penn FC [0 - 1] Ottawa Fury (May 7th)
Allsvenskan: Malmö FF 1 - 0 Djurgårdens IF (May 3rd)
Malmö FF [1 - 2] IFK Göteborg (May 7th)
Comments