Plenty of Nothing

Residenzschloss Darmstadt 1866

By Ernst August Schnittspahn. Source.

Douglas Rae Road

The new access road running beside the Sugar Sheds to the Great Harbour has been named after former Morton chairman Douglas Rae. Conversely, Sinclair Street beside Cappielow is named after the onetime owner of the land where the harbour was dug. Source.

Partick Thistle visit Cappielow. The Jags are in search of a win and can rise as high as seventh place if they get one, or they could fall back into tenth place if they lose and Alloa beat Ross County.

Morton are in sixth place no matter what they do. The Ton have not played a competitive match since March 9th, but they beat a Celtic XI in a bounce match last week.

Photos from Partick vs Morton, December 29th, 2018.

How have Morton fared in league play against Partick this century?

2018-19        2 wins, 1 loss so far.

2012-13        2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss; 7 gf, 5 ga; 7 points.

2011-12        1 win, 1 draw, 2 losses; 2 gf, 7 ga; 4 points.

2010-11        2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss; 3 gf, 2 ga; 7 points.

2009-10        1 win, 3 losses; 1 gf, 8 ga; 3 points.

2008-09        1 win, 3 losses; 3 gf, 4 ga; 3 points.

2007-08        2 wins, 2 draws; 8 gf, 3 ga; 8 points.

2005-06        2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss; 4 gf, 4 ga; 7 points.

Other games:

Dunfermline 0 - 1 Dundee United (March 26)

ICT 3 - 2 Alloa (March 26)

Dunfermline 0 - 1 Ayr United (March 29)

Alloa [1 - 0] Ross County (today)

Dundee United [1 - 2] Queen of the South (today)

ICT [0 - 0] Falkirk (today)

[Morton 0 - 3 Partick. Ugh!]

Matches at Cappielow in March 2019:

March 2        Morton 1 - 1 Falkirk

March 11      Celtic reserves 3 - 2 Hearts reserves

March 16      Morton vs Alloa [postponed]

March 19      Morton reserves 2 - 5 Dunfermline reserves

March 23      Portugal 2 - 1 Poland, UEFA U-17s

March 25      Celtic reserves vs St Johnstone reserves [postponed]

March 26      Russia 1 - 2 Portugal, UEFA U-17s

March 30      Morton [0 - 3] Partick

1928-29: Morton visited East Stirlingshire and won 0 - 2.

Angus: Forfar [2 - 1] Arbroath

Arbroath can win the League 1 title today if they win this game and East Fife beat Raith.

East Kilbride won the Lowland League on Tuesday.

There's a good chance that Dundee and Dundee United will meet in the playoffs in May.

Since 1975, when the Scottish League was reorganized into three divisions, what clubs have suffered consecutive relegations?

1975, 1976        Dunfermline

1975, 1976        Clyde

1984, 1985        St Johnstone

1994, 1995        Brechin

1996, 1997        Dumbarton

1999, 2000        Hamilton

2001, 2002        Morton

2004, 2005        Partick

2006, 2007        Stranraer

2009, 2010        Clyde

2011, 2012        Stirling Albion

2012, 2013        Dunfermline

2015, 2016        Cowdenbeath

Which ones have enjoyed consecutive promotions?

1976, 1977        Clydebank

1986, 1987        Dunfermline

1999, 2000        Ross County

2001, 2002        Partick Thistle

2002, 2003        Brechin

2004, 2005        Stranraer

2005, 2006, 2007        Gretna

2009, 2010        Cowdenbeath

2010, 2011        Livingston

2012, 2013        Alloa

2013, 2014        Rangers

2017, 2018        Livingston

It's the semi-finals of the Scottish Junior Cup, first leg:

Largs Thistle [2 - 2] Hurlford United

Lochee United [1 - 4] Auchinleck Talbot

Auchinleck Talbot have won this cup twelve times, most recently last year. Hurlford and Largs have each won it once, Lochee never.

Lochee United come from Dundee. The other three clubs are from Ayrshire.

Cowlairs versus Partick Thistle.

In the 1887-88 Glasgow Cup these two played to a scoreless draw, then Cowlairs won the replay.

They were members of the 1892-93 Scottish Alliance. Cowlairs won 8 - 3 at their place on October 8, 1892, and 3 - 5 at Partick Thistle's place on March 25, 1893.

They were together in the SFL Division Two in 1893-94 and 1894-95. Partick Thistle took 3 wins, Cowlairs 1 win.

In the 1887-88 Glasgow Cup they played to a scoreless draw, then Cowlairs won the replay. Partick Thistle beat Cowlairs 6 - 1 in the 1895-96 Glasgow Cup.

They never met in the Scottish Cup.

When discussing 19th-Century Scottish football you must always say Partick Thistle, not just Partick, because there was also a Partick FC around at the time.

SWFL2 W/SW: Rutherglen [2 - 3] Morton Women (tomorrow)

Danish 1st Division: F. Amager [1 - 0] Fredericia (tomorrow)

Swiss Challenge League: Servette 5 - 2 Winterthur (yesterday)

Regionalliga Südwest: Wormatia Worms [0 - 0] 1. FC Saarbrücken (tomorrow)

72nd Aomori Prefecture Football Championship:

Match No. 3: Maritime Self-Defense Force Hachinohe SC [1 - 4] Gonohe SC

Match No. 4: Shichinohe SC [0 - 1] Aomori University SC

Tomorrow Iwaki FC play a training match against Joyful Honda Tsukuba. [Iwaki 4 - 1 Tsukuba.]

Here's a helpful article on the money behind the Canadian Premier League.

The CPL has been very quiet the past few weeks. Next week the warm weather training in the Dominican Republic begins, and hopefully there will be some scorelines to report. The teams will be staying at the Cap Cana resort at the extreme eastern tip of the country and training at a nearby site called Los Establos -- the Stables. I guess they'll be practicing on the polo fields there. A polo ground is about the size of six soccer pitches, and Los Establos has two of them, so there should be room for all seven squads. But what of the divots? What about the horse hockey?

Google Maps image of Los Establos:

Kit Kat

How did Cairo get a district named Kit Kat? Ghita Skali's The Kit Kat Project digs into it.

Being Frank

There's a brand new fantastic documentary film out all about Frank Sidebottom. Source.

Octopus Helmet

Some samurai helmets, like this one, fall into the category of kawari kabuto, unusual helmets. See more here. Source.

Moriyasu Bon Genji Monogatari Emaki

Prince Genji mourns Yugao in the recently uncovered Moriyasu Bon handscroll. Source.

Shelterbelt

In response to the 1930s Dust Bowl the US federal government authorized the reforestation of part of the Great Plains, encouraging farmers to plant windbreaks along the edges of their properties. The result was the Great Plains Shelterbelt. Source.

Jules Verne's Tomb

The tomb of Jules Verne, who died on this day in 1905, implies that he hasn't been dead all this time so much as exploring the centre of the earth. Source.

2018-19 Scottish Challenge Cup Final

Nomads. Source.

Morton's game at Somerset Park has been moved to April 2nd due to call-ups for the Scotland U-21 squad who play a friendly against Mexico this weekend. Goalkeepers Robbie McCrorie (Morton) and Ross Doohan (Ayr) are both called up.

However, yesterday Morton visited Celtic for a closed door friendly and won 0 - 1.

Robbie McCrorie's clean sheets for Morton:

2019/1/26      Morton 0 - 0 Dunfermline

2019/2/16      Morton 0 - 0 Ayr

2019/2/26      Morton 1 - 0 Queen of the South

It's the final of the 2018-19 Scottish Challenge Cup. Ross County meet Connah's Quay Nomads at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium in Inverness.

Ross County have won this cup twice and been runners-up twice. To get to today's game they had to beat Heart of Midlothian colts, Raith Rovers, Montrose, Motherwell colts, and East Fife. The Staggies are currently top of the Scottish Championship.

Connah's Quay Nomads are the first non-Scottish club to make it to the final. They bested Falkirk, Coleraine, Queen's Park, and Edinburgh City in the earlier rounds. The Nomads are presently first or second in the Welsh Premier League, depending on how The New Saints did last night. The town of Connah's Quay is on the River Dee, which forms part of the northern boundary of Wales, and is not to be confused with the River Dee that runs through Aberdeen. It's a different Dee.

[Ross County win 3 - 1.]

Championship matches:

Dundee United 1 - 0 Ross County (March 19)

Partick Thistle 1 - 2 ICT (yesterday)

Dundee United [2 - 1] Alloa (today)

If the Tangerines win they cannot be relegated.

[Ayr United visited BSC Glasgow for a friendly and won 0 - 4.]

Today Cappielow is the site of a UEFA Under-17 match between Portugal and Poland. Another game, between Portugal and Russia, will be played on March 26th, also at Cappielow.

Morton and Falkirk announced Monday that they have reached an agreement in the McKinnon affair, but that the details are confidential.

Thursday was the 100th birthday of Queen of the South FC. The club was formed in a merger of the teams of the 5th Kings Own Scottish Borderers and the Arrol-Johnston car company.

1928-29: Morton visited Alloa and won 1 - 3.

1951-52: On March 22nd, 1952 Morton beat Aberdeen 3 - 2 at Cappielow.

Cowlairs versus Rangers. Fitbastats lists ten games between these two Glasgow clubs. I feel there must be more, but these ten will certainly do.

They met in Round Three of the 1886-87 English FA Cup. In those days clubs from all parts of the UK were admitted. Rangers beat Cowlairs 3 - 2 on Rangers' ground. (Whether this was Kinning or Cathkin Park I don't know.) I think this is the only instance of two Scottish clubs playing each other in the FA Cup.

They played five games in the 1887-88 Glasgow Cup semi-finals. The first two were scoreless draws, the third was a 2 - 2 draw, then Rangers won 2 - 1, and then for some reason they played again, and this time Rangers won 3 - 1.

They both played in the inaugural 1890-91 SFL season. Rangers won one, with one draw.

On November 25th, 1893 they met in Round One of the Scottish Cup and Rangers won 8 - 0. But then on December 9th, 1893 they met in the Glasgow Cup final, and Rangers won, but only by a score of 1 - 0.

SWFL2 Cup, Round Two: Morton Women [3 - 2] Murieston United (tomorrow)

West of Scotland Premiership: Largs Thistle vs Glenafton

Irvine Meadow 1 - 1 Largs Thistle

Danish 1st Division: Fredericia [2 - 1] Nykobing

Regionalliga Südwest: 1. FC Saarbrücken [1 - 1] Kickers Offenbach

Tomorrow Iwaki FC play a training match against Vonds Ichihara. [1 - 1.]

The 72nd Aomori Prefecture Football Championship begins tomorrow with the first of six rounds:

Match No. 1: Maritime Self-Defence Force Hachinohe SC [2 - 0] Aomori Chuo Gakuin University

Match No. 2: 筒木坂FC [1 - 1] Gonohe SC [Gonohe won on PK.]

I don't know who 筒木坂FC are or how to write their name in Latin letters, but they play in the Aomori League Division 1.

Norm Eastman

The CBC has an article on the career of Norm Eastman, who did his art schooling at Mount Allison in the 1950s and went on to a career of illustrating men's magazines, specializing in semi-clad women with machine guns. This self-portrait is set in a dorm room in Trueman House, which looked just the same in the 1970s and indeed up until 2006.