An actual Scottish pyramid, the Prince Albert Cairn at Balmoral. Source.
It's Morton versus Dundee United at Cappielow. Today's match is a lap of honour because Morton are already safe from relegation and Dundee United will hold second place regardless of the result. So just enjoy the game. The Ton cannot surpass last year's squad in points earned, but can outdo them in league position. This is the final match in a Morton uniform for any number of players.
Two more clubs will qualify for the 2019-20 Championship today, and possibly a third if Dundee lose to Hamilton and St Mirren beat Motherwell.
Because Partick and QoS play each other and they can't both win, Dunfermline are safe.
Falkirk can finish ninth if they beat Ross County and Alloa lose to Ayr. Falkirk can finish eighth if they win by five goals, Alloa lose and QoS lose by five goals.
Despite that three groups are jockeying for ownership of Falkirk FC. Story.
Partick can finish ninth but not tenth. Whoever finishes ninth will meet Montrose in the playoff semi-finals.
If Morton win today it'll be their first three-game winning streak of the year and their best end-of-season streak since they finished 2014-15 with four wins in a row. The Ton have been remarkably unstreaky all season, winning, drawing or losing no more than two in a row since the League Cup group stage began in July.
[Drama! Morton manager Jonatan Johansson and assistant Peter Houston quit just before the game, after they were told to drop Charlie Telfer from the line-up. Telfer needs to play start today's match to activate a clause to extend his contract. Millar and McAllister are acting managers today.]
The other Championship matches:
Ayr United (3rd, 53 pts.) [1 - 1] Alloa (9th, 38 pts.)
Falkirk (10th, 35 pts.) [3 - 2] Ross County (1st, 71 pts.)
ICT (4th, 53 pts.) [1 - 0] Dunfermline (6th, 41 pts.)
QoS (8th, 38 pts.) [0 - 3] Partick (7th, 40 pts.)
[Morton win 1 - 0. Goal by Tidser. Morton finish in fifth place. Falkirk are relegated. QoS go into the relegation playoffs.]
[Elsewhere, Celtic win the Premiership title for the eighth year running. Dundee are relegated to the Championship. Brechin suffer their second relegation in two years. Peterhead win League Two.]
[Following the game, Queen of the South sacked manager Gary Naismith.]
How have Morton performed against the Tangerines in league play in the 21st Century?
2018-19 2 draws, 1 loss so far.
2017-18 1 win, 1 draw, 2 losses; 5 gf, 5 ga; 4 points.
2016-17 3 draws, 1 loss; 3 gf, 4 ga; 3 points.
Year-end Synopsis: It has been quite a frustrating season for the Ton. 2018-19 will probably be remembered for the change in chairmanship and the Ray McKinnon fiasco, but I think the most important story of the year is how it started out looking to be Michael Tidser's best season ever, and then wasn't.
Tidser did sign a pre-contract agreement with Falkirk after all, but it has an escape clause that activates if Falkirk go down to League One. Will he be back at Morton? Doubt it. Story.
Morton headaches:
2018/7/17 Partick 2 - 1 Morton League Cup
A win in this game would have put Morton into the second round -- against Celtic at Cappielow, given Partick's draw.
2018/8/14 Dumbarton 2 - 1 Morton Challenge Cup
2018/8/31 Ray McKinnon defects to Falkirk.
2018/9/29 Morton 1 - 5 Ayr United league
2018/10/27 Ross County 5 - 0 Morton league
2018/12/1 Dunfermline 3 - 0 Morton league
2019/1/19 East Fife 2 - 1 Morton Scottish Cup
2019/3/30 Morton 0 - 3 Partick league
Morton highlights:
2018/7/28 Morton 5 - 0 Albion Rovers League Cup
2018/8/25 Morton 2 - 1 Ross County league
2018/10/20 Morton 1 - 0 Falkirk league
2018/10/30 QoS 1 - 2 Morton league
2018/11/3 Morton 5 - 1 Partick league
This was Morton's biggest win against Partick since 4 - 0 on 1990/9/29.
2018/12/19 SPFL rules in Morton's favour re McKinnon.
2019/1/4 Morton 1 - 0 Ross County league
This was the first time Morton took two wins from Ross County in a season.
2019/4/20 Falkirk 0 - 2 Morton league
2019/4/27 Dunfermline 0 - 1 Morton league
How did Morton fare against the other 2018-19 Championship teams?
Falkirk 2 wins, 2 draws. 4 gf, 1 ga, +3 gd. 8 points.
QoS 2 wins, 2 draws. 6 gf, 4 ga, +2 gd. 8 points.
Partick Thistle 2 wins, 2 losses. 7 gf, 6 ga, +1 gd. 6 points.
Ross County 2 wins, 2 losses. 3 gf, 8 ga, -5 gd. 6 points.
[Dundee United 1 win, 2 draws, 1 loss. 4 gf, 4 ga, 0 gd. 5 points.]
Dunfermline 1 win, 2 draws, 1 loss. 2 gf, 4 ga, -2 gd. 5 points.
Alloa 1 win, 3 losses. 4 gf, 6 ga, -2 gd. 3 points.
Ayr United 3 draws, 1 loss. 2 gf, 6 ga, -4 gd. 3 points.
Inverness CT 2 draws, 2 losses. 4 gf, 6 ga, -2 gd. 2 points.
Our 2018-19 objectives for Morton, and did they accomplish them?
1) Make the Premiership playoffs. No.
2) Finish higher than Falkirk. Yes.
3) Finish higher than Queen of the South. Yes.
4) Play a non-Scottish club. No.
5) Play Hearts. No.
6) Play at least 48 games. No.
7) Play a Premiership side at Cappielow. No.
8) Score more goals than last season. No.
9) Get on TV. Yes.
Top and bottom Championship teams week by week (3 of 3):
Week 25 Ross County Partick Thistle
Week 26 Ross County Partick Thistle
Week 27 Ross County Partick Thistle
Week 28 Ross County Alloa Athletic
Week 29 Ross County Alloa Athletic
Week 30 Ross County Alloa Athletic
Week 31 Ross County Alloa Athletic
Week 32 Ross County Alloa Athletic
Week 33 Ross County Partick Thistle
Week 34 Ross County Falkirk
Week 35 Ross County P Falkirk
Week 36 Ross County Falkirk R
1 of 3 is here, 2 of 3 is here.
Angus derby table:
G W D L F A GD P Pos
Arbroath 12 7 3 2 24 12 +12 24 1st
Forfar 12 5 3 4 17 19 -2 18 2nd
Montrose 12 5 2 5 19 17 +2 17 4th
Brechin 12 1 4 7 15 27 -12 7 10th
There could be two Forfarshire clubs in the Championship next year, plus Dundee and Dundee United.
The Holy Grail of Scottish football is the scoreline Forfar 4, East Fife 5. How did Forfar versus East Fife play out this season?
2018/7/22 East Fife 1 - 1 Forfar (League Cup group stage. It went to penalty kicks, which Forfar won 5 - 4.)
2018/10/6 Forfar 0 - 4 East Fife
2018/12/22 East Fife 1 - 0 Forfar
2019/3/2 Forfar 3 - 0 East Fife
2019/5/4 East Fife [2 - 3] Forfar
Helicopter Saturday: was the helicopter up?
I* II III IV
2019 [N] N N Y
2018 N N Y Y
2017 N N N Y
2016 N N N Y
2015 N N Y N
2014 N Y N N
2013 N N N N
2012 N N N N
2011 Y N N N
2010 N N Y N
*The Premiership's final weekend comes later than the other three.
Pyramid playoffs, second leg: Cove Rangers [3 - 0] East Kilbride
Winner meets Berwick Rangers, who have not won a match or scored a goal since March 19th, and who sacked their manager Thursday. [Cove Rangers win 5 - 1 on aggregate.]
The 2019-20 SPFL fixture release date has been released. Whew!
East of Scotland League championship playoffs:
Bonnyrigg Rose 2 - 1 Penicuik (May 1)
Broxburn [2 - 3] Bonnyrigg Rose (today)
All three clubs are named 'Athletic' so I just left it out.
[Bonnyrigg Rose are East of Scotland League champions.]
West of Scotland Premiership: Cambuslang Rangers 0 - 6 Largs Thistle
SWFL2 Cup semi-final: Pollok United [1 - 4] Morton Women
Canadian Premier League:
Pacific 1 - 2 Valour (May 2)
Cavalry [2 - 1] York 9
Valour [1 - 2] Edmonton
HFX Wanderers [2 - 1] Forge FC
[Akeem Garcia and Luis Perea score for the Wanderers.]
About Forge FC
This is the Hamilton club. They operate out of the same stadium as the CFL Tiger-Cats, and are owned by the same people. Rather than black and gold they have gone with an orange kit that out-tangerines Dundee United.
About the Wanderers Grounds
The Wanderers Grounds have been a sporting venue since the 1880s, and were the home of the Wanderers AAC until 1982. The heyday of the place falls between the years 1896 and 1938 when there was a pavilion on site.
The playing field lies athwart the small valley formed by Citadel Hill and Camp Hill. Before Halifax was founded a brook ran through there, so I'm interested to see how readily the playing surface becomes waterlogged. It's one of three grass surfaces in the league.
To the south are the Public Gardens, to the west Camp Hill Cemetery, to the north the Science Centre and the Junior Bengal Lancers riding club, to the east the city greenhouses. Tucked right behind the east stands is the Wanderers Lawn Bowling Club.
What's striking about this stadium is the lack of permanent infrastructure. The stands are aluminum rentals, and the corporate suites are made from shipping containers. The whole thing could be packed up in a week.
Danish 1st Division: Fredericia [0 - 1] Silkeborg
Swiss Challenge League: Winterthur [2 - 0] Wil
Regionalliga Südwest: 1. FC Saarbrücken [2 - 1] SSV Ulm
The Fukushima Prefecture Football Championship quarter-finals and semi-finals take place this weekend:
Quarter-finals (May 4):
Match No. 19: Iwaki FC [2 - 0] Fukushima University
Match No. 20: Bandits Iwaki [0 - 5] Eastern Japan Int'l University
Semi-final (May 5):
Match No. 21: [Iwaki FC 8 - 0 Eastern Japan Int'l University]
The winner of Match No. 21 will face Fukushima United in the final.
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