Plenty of Nothing

Purcell's Cove Quarry

Source.

Vintage Dundee

Vintage Dundee marmalade jars. Source.

Morton visit Inverness for a televised match against Caledonian Thistle.

Week Four finds Morton in second place, behind Dundee United by 3 points and ahead of Ayr on goals scored. It looks like Morton could stay ahead of everyone on goals scored this season. They presently have 9 after three league matches, compared to eight for Dundee United. It's the goals against column that needs work.

Morton have 29 goals for in all competitions and 25 against. Last season their 25th goal against came on Oct 30th, and their 29th goal for on Nov 24th.

This is Caley Thistle's third consecutive season in the Championship, and their ninth in tier II overall. They've spent twelve seasons in the top tier. So far this season they have a win, a loss and a draw.

The oldest player on the Caley Thistle squad is captain Carl Tremarco, aged 33.

Reghan Tumilty has been loaned to Dumbarton. Henk Van Schaik has left Morton to return to the Netherlands. Defender Stephen Welsh is signed on loan from Celtic.

[Oh! ICT 5 - 0 Morton.]

The other Championship matches:

Dundee United [6 - 2] Dundee (also tonight)

It's the first Dundee Derby of the season. This is the first meeting of these two teams since Round Two of the 2017-18 League Cup. Dundee FC won that time.

Partick Thistle [2 - 3] Ayr United (tomorrow)

Arbroath [1 - 0] Dunfermline (tomorrow)*

Queen of the South [0 - 1] Alloa (tomorrow)*

* These matches count as Round One of the Championship League Cup. (See below.)

League One (tomorrow):

Airdrieonians (4th) [0 - 0] Falkirk (2nd)

East Fife (6th) [4 - 2] Raith Rovers (1st)

Forfar (3rd) [0 - 0] Clyde (9th)

Montrose (10th) [1 - 2] Dumbarton (5th)

Stranraer (8th) [1 - 2] Peterhead (7th)

How many years did each club spend in the First Division/Championship this decade?

9        Falkirk, Queen of the South, Morton

7        Raith Rovers

6        Dunfermline, Livingston, Dumbarton

5        Partick Thistle, Alloa

4        Dundee, Cowdenbeath, Ayr United, Dundee United

3        Ross County, Hamilton, Hibs, St Mirren, Inverness CT

2        Rangers

1        Stirling Albion, Airdrie, Hearts, Brechin, Arbroath

0        everybody else

It's the Scottish Cup, second preliminary round:

Jeanfield Swifts vs Linlithgow Rose [postponed]

Girvan [0 - 1] Broxburn Athletic

Banks O'Dee [2 - 0] Golspie Sutherland

Threave Rovers [0 -2] Hill of Beath Hawthorn

Lochee United [5 - 2] LTHV

Whitehill Welfare [0 - 1] Penicuik Athletic

Camelon Juniors [0 - 2] Auchinleck Talbot

1907-08: On August 28th Morton and Port Glasgow Athletic played their Renfrewshire Cup second round replay, and Morton won 2 - 0.

On August 31st Morton were away to Aberdeen where they won 2 - 1.

1963-64: On August 28th visited Stranraer and won 1 - 2. It was the third meeting between these two clubs and still only August. On August 31st Morton visited Clyde and beat them 0 - 4. This brought the League Cup group stage to a conclusion. Morton were winners of Group 6 with six wins in six matches, 20 goals for and 4 goals against.

Port Glasgow Athletic versus Celtic. Port Glasgow played sixteen league matches against Celtic in Division One. Celtic won fourteen of them, Port Glasgow one (on Nov 11, 1905), with one draw. Celtic won all four of their Scottish Cup meetings, the most significant being the semi-final of the 1898-99 cup.

SPFL Reserve Cup: Morton 1 - 4 Motherwell (August 26)

[SWFL2 W/SW: Morton 8 - 0 Mid-Annandale Ladies]

Canadian Premier League:

York9 vs Forge (August 28) (postponed)

Valour 2 - 0 HFX Wanderers (August 28)

Cavalry 1 - 1 Pacific (August 28)

HFX Wanderers [0 - 0] Edmonton (Sept 2)

Valour [0 - 8] Cavalry (Sept 2)

MLS: Montreal Impact 2 - 1 Vancouver Whitecaps (August 28)

Bury FC have been expelled from the English league. They won the FA Cup in 1900 and 1903.

AFC Champions League QF, first leg:

Shanghai SIPG 2 - 2 Urawa Red Diamonds (Aug 27)

Guangzhou Evergrande 0 - 0 Kashima Antlers (Aug 28)

UEFA Europa League Playoff Round, second leg:

AIK 1 - 4 Celtic

Rangers 1 - 0 Legia Warsaw

Maribor 2 - 2 Ludogorets Razgrad

Qarabağ 2 - 1 Linfield

Bnei Yehuda 0 - 1 Malmö

CONCACAF League, Round of 16, second leg:

Independiente 2 - 1 Robinhood (Aug 27)

Olimpia [4 - 1] Forge (Aug 29)

Because of the rioting at that recent Olimpia league match this fixture was moved to San Pedro Sula on the north coast of Honduras and was played behind closed-door match.

Swiss Challenge League: Kriens [3 - 2] Winterthur (tomorrow)

Tohoku Soccer League: Iwaki FC [11 - 0] FC Primeiro (Sunday)

FC Primeiro is based in Koriyama, a city in the geographical centre of Fukushima Prefecture. The club was founded in 1996 after Fukushima FC were promoted to the old JFL. (Fukushima FC folded soon after.) They rapidly moved up the Tohoku League Division One, where they have played ever since. They have appeared in the Fukushima Prefecture championship ten times, winning seven times, but not since 2006, having been surpassed as top club in the prefecture by Fukushima United and now Iwaki FC.

The name Primeiro comes from the Portuguese for first and is written プリメーロ. Their colour scheme is light blue, black and white.

A made-up stat: the Championship League Cup

In the spirit of the Morton Castle Game and Statistical Third Lanark, here's the Championship League Cup. This competition, made up by me, and it's mine, uses actual Championship results to pit the ten teams of tier II against each other in a knockout tournament.

How it works:

Each club in the 2019-20 Scottish Championship is seeded 1 to 10 according to the 2018-19 final standings. Clubs that have entered for 2019-20 by promotion or relegation are inserted at the top and bottom. So this year's clubs are seeded

  1.  Dundee

  2.  Dundee United

  3.  Inverness CT

  4.  Ayr United

  5.  Morton

  6.  Partick Thistle

  7.  Dunfermline

  8.  Alloa

  9.  Queen of the South

10.  Arbroath

There are four rounds. Round One is played by teams 7 to 10. The two winners join teams 1 to 6 in Round Two. The four winners of Round Two go to the semi-finals, and the two semi-final winners to the final.

The teams are matched on the basis of highest seed versus lowest seed. Each encounter is single-game.

Results are taken from the actual matches played by the opponents in the 2019-20 Championship. Round One will use scores from the first quarter of the schedule, Round Two the second quarter, the semis the third quarter, and the final the fourth quarter.

If a match is postponed then the next league match between those two teams will count, even if it's not the re-arranged match, and even if it's in the next quarter.  In the event that a fixture is postponed so long that it takes place after the fixture it's supposed to set up I'll declare No Cup Winner Due To Temporal Distortion.

Draws are tricky because there can be no extra time, penalty-kicks or replays. In the event of a draw, I'll say that victory will go to the team with: (1) fewer red cards; and if they are still even, then (2) fewer yellow cards; and if they are still even, then (3) the greater number of corner kicks. If they're still even, the win will go to the visiting side.

[Round One results:

2019/8/30      Arbroath 1 - 0 Dunfermline

2019/8/30      Queen of the South 0 - 1 Alloa]

The Cave of the Nymphs, by Blake

Source.

Tashilhunpo Monastery

Source.

Scarabei Umbra

Scarabei Umbra by Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1600). Source.

Lions Door, 1631

Oak door in St Saviour's Church, Darmouth, Devon. Source.

Egyptian Arkadia

Byzantine Egypt had a province named Arkadia. Source.

Another Summer Cup

Remparts versus Jokers. Source.

It's the preseason, and again Les Jokers de Cergy-Pontoise host the Summer Cup, which for some reason they didn't name Coupe d'Été.

Jokers de Cergy-Pontoise host Dragons de Rouen, Gothiques d'Amiens and Remparts de Tours. (Source.) Amiens and Rouen play in Ligue Magnus, the top French league, and the Jokers and Remparts participate in Division 1, the second tier of French hockey.

The games:

August 23

Amiens [5 - 1] Tours

Cergy-Pontoise [1 - 5] Rouen

August 24

Rouen [5 - 3] Amiens

Cergy-Pontoise [4 - 2] Tours

August 25

Rouen [2 - 1] Tours

Cergy-Pontoise [2 - 4] Amiens

[Rouen win the tournament.]

Around the Bend

A footrace at Cappielow in 1893, Wee Dublin End. Source.

Partick Thistle visit Cappielow for a televised Friday night match against Morton. Morton are third in the standings, Partick eighth.

In the League Cup group stage Partick beat Airdrieonians, Queen's Park and Clyde, and played Hamilton to a draw. The Accies won the shootout. Partick's 10 points earned them first place in the group and a match in Round Two against Ross County, which they won.

Playing for Partick this season are former Mortonners Thomas O'Ware and Gary Harkins. They also have onetime Rangers standout Kenny Miller. Miller is 39.

Reports are that Partick Thistle are skint and no longer even have a team bus.

So far this season Morton have scored 26 goals and allowed 23, league and cup. Last season they did not allow their 23rd goal until Oct 27, and they did not score their 26th goal until Nov 3rd.

[Morton have signed midfielder Luca Colville from Bradford City.]

The other Championship matches (Saturday):

Alloa (10th) [0 - 1] Arbroath (9th)

Ayr United (4th) [1 - 0] Queen of the South (7th)

Dundee (2nd) [0 - 0] Inverness CT (5th)

Dunfermline (6th) [0 - 2] Dundee United (1st)

[Morton 3 - 2 Partick. Morton goals by Cadden, Sutton and McLean. Morton were down 0 - 2 at the half.]

League One (Saturday):

Clyde (10th) [1 - 0] Falkirk (1st)

Dumbarton (6th) [3 - 1] Stranraer (5th)

East Fife (7th) [4 - 1] Airdrieonians (4th)

Peterhead (8th) [1 - 0] Forfar (3rd)

Raith Rovers (2nd) [3 - 0] Montrose (9th)

Which Championship clubs have up-to-date Current Season articles on Wikipedia?

Dundee, Dunfermine, Inverness CT, Queen of the South.

When did each Championship club last win or lose by a score of 1 - 0, and how many games ago was that?

2019/8/10      Ayr United (1)

2019/8/10      Dundee (2)

2019/7/28      Inverness CT (3)

2019/7/20      Dunfermline (5)

2019/7/13      Partick Thistle (7)

2019/5/14      Dundee United (10)

2019/5/4        Morton (8)

2019/4/13      Alloa (10)

2019/4/13      Queen of the South (14)

2019/4/6        Arbroath (11)

Manageria: Brechin have parted ways with manager Barry Smith. Smith played for Morton in 2008.

1907-08: On August 21st Port Glasgow Athletic and Morton played to a 2 - 2 draw in the second round of the Renfrewshire Cup.

On August 24th Morton hosted Celtic in their first home match of the season and lost 2 - 3. After three games against Glasgow clubs the Ton had one point.

1963-64: Morton got in their first league match of the season on August 21st in Stranraer, winning 1 - 3. On August 24th Ayr United visited Cappielow for a League Cup group stage match which Morton won 5 - 2.

Port Glasgow Athletic versus Partick Thistle. These two were members of the 1891-92 Scottish Alliance. Their games:

1891/12/5        Partick Thistle 2 - 1 Port Glasgow Athletic

1892/1/23        Port Glasgow Athletic 2 - 2 Partick Thistle

They played twenty-eight Scottish League games, Partick winning fourteen, Port Glasgow ten, with four draws.

SPFL Reserve League: Morton 1 - 2 Hamilton (Aug 19)

SWFL2 W/SW: Morton Women [7 - 0] Rutherglen (Sunday)

2019-20 South Region Challenge Cup, Round One:

Berwick Rangers [4 - 0] Newtongrange Star (Saturday)

The South Region Challenge Cup is a knockout tournament played by the clubs of the Lowland League, East of Scotland League and South of Scotland League, plus Glasgow University. It's run by the SFA and bears some organizational resemblance to the Scottish Cup. It was started in 2007 when SFA licensees were first admitted directly into the Scottish Cup and the South Qualifying Cup was scrapped. There was once a North Region Challenge Cup too, but it only lasted a couple of seasons. Spartans and East Kilbride have each won it three times.

There are a lot of clubs in this competition, so for this year off I'll just track the Lowland League teams, two of which should make it to the final.

Tohoku Soccer League: Iwaki FC [9 - 1] Akita FC Cambiare (Sunday)

Swiss Challenge League: Grasshopper Club Zurich [2 - 2] Winterthur

The Swiss Challenge league is like the Scottish Championship in that every year it includes a team that never falls out of the top tier, except for this one time. This year it's Grasshoppers. They have won the Swiss league 27 times, the Swiss Cup 19 times, and they made the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1977-78. This is their first time out of the top division since 1951.

UEFA Europa League Playoff Round, first leg (Aug 22):

Celtic 2 - 0 AIK

Legia Warsaw 0 - 0 Rangers

Ludogorets Razgrad 0 - 0 Maribor

Linfield 3 - 2 Qarabağ

Malmö 3 - 0 Bnei Yehuda

CONCACAF League, Round of 16, first leg:

Robinhood 1 - 1 Independiente (Aug 20)

CA Independiente are from La Chorrera, Panama. They wear black and gold.

Forge 1 - 0 Olimpia (Aug 22)

CD Olimpia was founded 107 years ago. They have been winners of the Honduran league 30 times, the CONCACAF Champions Cup' twice, and more to the point they won this very competition two years ago. They wear white at home, or red, white and blue away. This is not Olimpia's first game against a Canadian side: in the 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League group stage they played to a 1 - 1 draw and a 1 - 2 loss against Montreal Impact.

Olimpia's stadium was the scene of rioting Saturday as Olimpia fans attacked the team bus of their rival Motagua, and the riot police were called in. Four people were killed.

Canadian Premier League:

Valour 3 - 1 Edmonton (Aug 19)

HFX Wanderers vs Forge (Aug 21) (postponed)

Cavalry 3 - 1 York 9 (Aug 21)

Pacific [2 - 1] Valour (Saturday)

Forge [1 - 0] Cavalry (Sunday)

Edmonton [2 - 2] York9 (Sunday)

MLS: Toronto FC [1 - 2] Montreal Impact (Saturday)

Which Canadian Premier League parks have floodlights?

Wanderers Grounds (Halifax)    Got 'em.

York Lions Stadium (York9)       Got 'em.

Tim Hortons Field (Hamilton)    Got 'em.

IG Field (Winnipeg)                   Got 'em

Clarke Stadium (Edmonton)      Got 'em.

Westhills Stadium (Langford)    Got 'em.

Spruce Meadows (Calgary)       Need 'em.

I don't know what they're thinking at Cavalry FC. Their October home games are scheduled to kick off at sundown. Story.

Odysseus in the Bay of Fundy

Source.