Plenty of Nothing

Sumo Wrestlers and Sunflowers

Source.

Greenock Central Station (1841)

So clean and new! Painting by Thomas Carsell (1810-1860). Source.

Alloa Athletic visit Cappielow.

This is Alloa's fifth Championship campaign this decade, which puts them one ahead of Ayr United.

Morton's record against Alloa this decade has been 5 wins, 1 draw, and 8 losses.

Morton's first game against Alloa was a 1 - 0 victory at Cappielow on December 30th, 1922, in Division One. Morton were Scottish Cup holders at the time.

The Wasps did all right against lower division clubs in the preseason, beating Albion Rovers 2 - 1 and Clyde 3 - 2. In the League Cup group stage they played Elgin City to a 3 - 3 draw but then lost the shootout, lost to Hibs, and then beat Stirling Albion and Arbroath. Their 7 points were not enough to get them into Round Two. Last weekend they played to a 1 - 1 draw against Partick Thistle.

Alloa midfielder Alan Trouten played for Morton in 2003-04.

The oldest player on the Alloa roster is captain Andy Graham, age 35. The oldest member of the Morton squad is Chris Millar, 36.

The situation: It's the snakes and ladders part of the season when a single result can transport a team to the top or bottom of the standings. Morton enter today's game in ninth place, which would put them in the relegation playoffs if they are still there in May 2020. If Morton lose today and ICT win or draw, it's the odium of tenth for the Ton.

When else have Morton played their league home opener against Alloa, and how did it go?

1977/8/20      Morton 4 - 2 Alloa

1958/9/3        Morton 4 - 1 Alloa

When was the last time Morton started the league season with a 4 - 2 loss?

A: It never happened before last weekend.

How many times last season did Morton score twice and still lose the game?

A: Zero.

Is scoring up?

Scoring is way up. In the eighteen games Morton played from January to May 2019, there were 34 goals scored for an average of 1.88 per game (counting both teams' goals). In Morton's first five games of 2019-20 there have been 28 goals scored, or 5.6 per game.

Morton are feuding with the Greenock Telegraph, which is too bad for both as they are basically in a symbiotic relationship.

Meanwhile, Buchanan's Toffees are big in Iraq.

Sort the Championship teams by points earned in the League Cup group stage:

10    Dundee

10    Partick

  9    Dunfermline

  8    Morton

  7    Ayr United

  7    Inverness CT

  7    Dundee United

  7    Alloa

  6    Arbroath

  6    Queen of the South

(Teams in bold progressed to Round Two.)

If group stage points counted in the league standings, would they have made any difference to the 2018-19 Championship table?

71    +    9    =    80    Ross County

65    +    5    =    70    Dundee United

56    +    9    =    65    Inverness CT

54    +   12   =    66    Ayr United

46    +    6    =    52    Morton

43    +    9    =    52    Partick

41    +   12   =    53    Dunfermline

39    +    8    =    47    Alloa

38    +    9    =    47    QoS

38    +    6    =    44    Falkirk

Yes they would. Ayr would have finished 3rd instead of 4th, Dunfermline 5th instead of 7th, and QoS would have finished 8th instead of 9th and avoided the playoffs, as they had a better GD than Alloa.

The other Championship matches:

Partick 1 - 2 Dundee United (last night)

With this win DUFC surpass Brechin's record low finish in '17-18.

Dundee [1 - 0] Ayr United

Inverness CT [2 - 1] Arbroath

Queen of the South [1 - 1] Dunfermline

[Morton win 4 - 1. Goals by McHugh (3) and Lyon. Morton jump from 9th place to 3rd.]

League One:

East Fife [1 - 1] Peterhead

Falkirk [6 - 0] Dumbarton

Former Morton managers McKinnon and Duffy go head to head.

Forfar [1 - 0] Stranraer

Montrose [0 - 1] Airdrieonians

Raith Rovers [5 - 2] Clyde

How have Morton fared in Match No. 2 this decade?

2018/8/11      Alloa 0 - 2 Morton

2017/8/12      Morton 4 - 1 St Mirren

2016/8/13      Morton 1 - 1 Falkirk

2015/8/15      Hibs 1 - 0 Morton

2014/8/16      Morton 4 - 0 Stranraer

2013/8/17      Falkirk 3 - 1 Morton

2012/8/18      Hamilton 1 - 1 Morton

2011/8/13      Morton 2 - 1 Livingston

2010/8/14      Dunfermline 2 - 0 Morton

4 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses.

1963-64: Morton began their season with a League Cup group stage match against Ayr United, winning 0 - 1 at Somerset Park.

Port Glasgow Athletic versus Hibs. Twenty league matches: Hibs won twelve, Port one, with seven draws. Hibs knocked Port Glasgoq out of the 1901-02 Scottish Cup.

A few months ago there was talk of expanding the Championship to 12 clubs with a 44-game schedule. Morton have only ever played five 44-game seasons. They were:

                  G     W     D     L      GD    Pts    Pos             Z

1986-87    44    24      9    11    +32    57    1st Div 1      47

1987-88    44      3    10    31    -73    16    12th Prem    47

1991-92    44    17    12    15     +7    46    7th Div1        51

1992-93    44    19    10    15     +9    48    6th Div 1       50

1993-94    44      6    17    21    -31    29    11th Div 1     50

Z = total games, league + cup

The League Cup group stage was not played during any of these years, but the Challenge Cup was introduced in 1990-91, which accounts for the uptick in Z.

How have East Stirlingshire fared since relegation?

                  G     W    D    L     F       A     GD     P     Pos

2016-17    30    21    5    4    107    43    +64    68    2nd

                    (SC: R2    LC: GS    ChC: R1    LLC: QF    SChC: SF)

2017-18    30    19    7    4      67    31    +36    64    4th

                    (SC: R2    LC: ----    ChC: R1    LLC: R1    SChC: R3)

2018-19    28    11    6    11    57    47    +10    39    6th

                    (SC: R2    LC: ----    ChC: R1    LLC: F      SChC: QF)

(SC = Scottish Cup, LC = League Cup, ChC = Challenge Cup, LLC = Lowland League Cup, SChC = South Challenge Cup.)

East Stirlingshire look very good this year, due in large part to the former Morton players on their roster: Bobby Barr, Willie Dyer and Peter MacDonald. Will they yoyo back into League Two? Today they play wunderkinds Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic. [Bonnyrigg Rose 3 - 1 East Stirlingshire.]

It's the Scottish Cup, first preliminary round. A bunch of East of Scotland League sides were granted SFA licenses this summer, bumping the size of this round up to thirteen matches. Let's follow the clubs (in italics) that are in the cup for the first time:

Hill of Beath Hawthorn [2 - 0] Blackburn United

Broxburn Athletic [2 - 0] Tynecastle

Dundonald Bluebell [2 - 2] Auchinleck Talbot

Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare [1 - 6] Penicuik Athletic

Coldstream [1 - 9] Jeanfield Swifts

Camelon Juniors [4 - 0] Newton Stewart

Canadian Premier League:

HFX Wanderers [0 - 0] Cavalry

York 9 [0 - 2] Valour

Edmonton [3 - 1] Pacific

Swiss Challenge League: Vaduz [0 - 1] Winterthur (tomorrow)

Circe, or Melissa, by Dosso Dossi

Source.

Leaving Westboro Station for Detroit

Source.

Pharoah's Daughter, 1950

Pharoah's Daughter (1950) by Bertram Brooker. Brooker was a member of the Canadian Group of Painters and also the winner of the first Governor General's Award for Fiction. Source.

2019-20 Scottish Challenge Cup, Round One

It's the Scottish Challenge Cup, Round One. This round involves 24 teams: twelve 2019-20 Premiership colt teams, the top four 2018-19 Highland League teams, the top four 2018-19 Lowland League teams, and the bottom four 2018-19 League Two teams. (So in terms of 2019-20 positions there are actually five teams from the Lowland league, four from League Two, and three from the Highland League.)

The 24 teams are divided into North and South sections. As usual the border between North and South is haywire, with Fife in the South, and Lanarkshire in the North. Every colt team is unseeded, so each match in this round is between an authentic club and a colt team.

Last year's top attendance in Round One was 700. (See below.) Can Berwick vs Rangers colts beat that? [No.]

The matches:

Fraserburgh [2 - 3] Ross County colts

Hibs colts [3 - 4] Elgin City

Brora Rangers [6 - 0] Aberdeen colts

Livingston colts [1 - 3] Formartine United

Albion Rovers [1 - 4] Hearts colts

St Johnstone colts [1 - 4] Cove Rangers

Kelty Hearts [4 - 0] Kilmarnock colts

Hamilton colts [4 - 0] BSC Glasgow (tomorrow)

This season Hamilton's New Douglas Park is operating under the name Fountain of Youth Stadium.

Berwick Rangers [1 - 2] Rangers colts

St Mirren colts [1 - 0] East Kilbride

Queen's Park [2 - 2] Celtic colts [Celtic win on PK.]

Motherwell colts [1 - 0] Spartans (tomorrow)

What are the attendance figures from games involving colt teams in last year's cup?

  150    East Stirlingshire vs Motherwell U21s    (Aug 14)

  191    Dundee U21s vs Hibs U21s    (Aug 14)

  208    Kilmarnock U21s vs St Mirren U21s    (Aug 14)

  266    Annan vs Celtic U21s    (Aug 14)

  297    Hamilton U21s vs Clyde    (Aug 14)

  344    Hearts U21s vs Ross County    (Aug 14)

  479    Raith Rovers vs Aberdeen U21s    (Aug 14)

  636    Rangers U21s vs Falkirk    (Aug 14)

  700    Dundee Utd vs St Johnstone U21s    (Aug 15)

  460    Livingston U21s vs Forfar    (Aug 21)

  208    Dundee U21s vs Motherwell U21s    (Sept 6)

  316    St Mirren U21s vs Hamilton U21s    (Sept 8)

  408    Sligo Rovers vs Livingston U21s    (Sept 8)

  507    St Mirren U21s vs Queen's Park    (Oct 13)

  950    Motherwell U21s vs Sligo Rovers    (Oct 13)

1209    Motherwell U21s vs Ross County    (Nov 17)

Average: 457

Past sponsors of the Challenge Cup:

1990-95        B&Q (building supplies)

1995-98        nobody

1999-2006    Bell's (whisky)

2006-08        nobody

2008-11        MG Alba (Gaelic media)

2011-14        Ramsdens (pawnbroker)

2014-16        Petrofac (oil drilling)

2016-19        Irn-Bru (soft drink)

2019-            Tunnock's (biscuits)

Port Glasgow Athletic versus Stranraer. Port Glasgow defeated Stranraer 3 - 0 in round one of the 1904-05 Scottish Cup.

UEFA Champions League 3QR, first leg:

Cluj [1 - 1] Celtic (tomorrow)

Maribor [1 - 3] Rosenborg (tomorrow)

UEFA Europa League 3QR, first leg:

Midtjylland [2 - 4] Rangers (Aug 8)

Rijeka (Croatia) [2 - 0] Aberdeen (Aug 8)

Sutjeska (Montenegro) [1 - 2] Linfield (today)

Ludogorets Razgrad [5 - 0] The New Saints (Aug 8)

Slovan Bratislava [1 - 0] Dundalk (tomorrow)

Vaduz [0 - 5] Eintracht Frankfurt (Aug 8)

Malmö [3 - 0] Zrinjski Mostar (Aug 8)

2019 CONCACAF League, preliminary round, second leg:

Antigua GFC [0 - 0] Forge FC (Aug 8) [Forge advance.]

Capoise [1 - 1] Robinhood (tomorrow) [Robinhood advance.]

2019 Canadian Championship, semi-finals, first leg:

Ottawa Fury [0 - 2] Toronto FC (tomorrow)

Montreal Impact [2 - 1] Cavalry FC (tomorrow)

Mica Elephant

19th-century Indian painters used sheets of mica for canvasses to make durable and portable images. Source.

Sigrun Lindal, Fjallkona, 1924

It's the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba in Gimli this weekend. In addition to Vikings roaming the streets the fjallkona or Lady of the Mountain can be seen. Sigrun Lindal played the fjallkona in 1924. Source.

James Watt

James Watt, the first man to apply steam power to football.

The 2019-20 Scottish Championship season begins. Morton are at Somerset Park to play Ayr United.

On paper Ayr are not as good a team as last year. Lawrence Shankland has signed with Dundee United. Declan McDaid has signed with Dundee. Goalkeeper Ross Doohan has gone back to Celtic.

In the preseason Ayr visited Queen's Park and won 0 - 2. In the League Cup group stage Ayr trounced Berwick, beat Falkirk, were beaten by Livingston, and were held to a draw against Stranraer. Their 7 points were not enough to get them into Round Two.

The Honest Men are facing the realities of operating in the Championship. In late June the Ayr United board issued a detailed statement about the club's financial state and prospects.

Near the end of last season it looked as if the 2019-20 Championship would include both St Mirren and Falkirk, but with one in the Premiership and the other in League One it's hard for a Morton supporter to know who to hate. If only Port Glasgow were still in the league.

This season the Championship includes the Dundee Derby. But you won't see is Dundee and Dundee United playing home games on the same day. For crowd control reasons the police don't allow it.

The savants at Pie and Bovril have Dundee United as overwhelming favourites to win the Championship. And since the Tangerines got Lawrence Shankland it seems likely. But this is the Championship, where anything can go wrong. This will be Dundee United's fourth straight year as favourites for promotion.

Today's starting lineup is [Ramsbottom, Tumilty, Van Schaik, Brian McLean, Grant, Jacobs, McAlister, Muirhead, Nesbitt, Cadden, Sutton.]

Compare last year's: Scully, Kilday, Buchanan, Telfer, Millar, McAlister, McHugh, Tidser, Tumilty, MacLean, McKeown.

The other Championship matches:

Alloa [1 - 1] Partick Thistle

Arbroath [0 - 0] Queen of the South

Dundee United [4 - 1] Inverness CT

Dunfermline 2 - 2 Dundee (last night)

[Ayr 4 - 2 Morton. Morton goals by Tumilty and Cadden.]

When have Morton started the league with a game against Ayr United, and how did that go?

2014/8/9        Ayr United 1 - 0 Morton

1997/8/2        Ayr United 1 - 2 Morton

1971/9/4        Ayr United 1 - 0 Morton

1939/10/21    Ayr United 0 - 1 Morton

1930/8/9        Ayr United 2 - 2 Morton

1920/8/18      Ayr United 0 - 2 Morton

How did the 2019-20 Championship clubs fare against each other in the group stage?

Arbroath 2 - 3 Alloa

Dundee 1 - 0 ICT

Morton 3 - 3 QoS

It's not really enough to build a table out of.

When did the current Championship clubs most recently join the division, and did they come from above or below?

2019    Dundee (above)

2019    Arbroath (below)

2018    Partick (above)

2018    Ayr United (below)

2018    Alloa (below)

2017    Inverness CT (above)

2016    Dundee United (above)

2016    Dunfermline (below)

2015    Morton (below)

2013    QoS (below)

When did they confirm their places in the 2019-10 Championship?

Arbroath                April 13

Morton                   April 27

Dunfermline           April 27

Partick                   May 4

Alloa                      May 4

Dundee                 May 4

Ayr United             May 11

Inverness CT        May 17

QoS                      May 18

Dundee Utd          May 26

In which divisions have the 2019-2020 Championship teams played since 1994?

Dundee Utd        ABAAAA     AAAAAAAAAA      AAAAAABBBB

Dundee               BBBBAA     AAAAABBBBB     BBABAAAAAB

Inverness CT     DDDCCB     BBBBAAAAAB      AAAAAAABBB

Dunfermline        BBAAAB     AAAAAAABBB      BABCCCBBBB

Partick                AABBCC     CBAABCBBBB      BBBAAAAABB

Morton                CBBBBB     BCDCCCCBBB     BBBBCBBBBB

QoS                    CCCCCC    CCBBBBBBBB      BBCBBBBBBB

Ayr Utd               BCCBBB     BBBBCCCCCB     CBCCCCBCBB

Alloa                   DDDDCC    BCBCCCCCCC     CDCBBBCCBB

Arbroath             DDDDCC    CBBCCDDDCC     DCCCDDDCCB

(A = top tier, B = second tier, etc.)

Which SPFL clubs have spent at least a dozen years in tier II since 1994, including 2019-20?

18            Falkirk

18            Morton

17            Queen of the South

16            Raith Rovers

14            St Mirren

13            Dundee

13            Ayr United

13            Partick Thistle

12            Ross County

12            Dunfermline

What are Plenty of Nothing's objectives for Morton this season?

1) Play a Premiership club at Cappielow.

2) Play a non-Scottish club.

3) Make the promotion playoffs.

4) Win the Challenge Cup.

5) Score 50 goals in league play.

6) Knock Falkirk out of any cup.

7) Finish above Ayr United.

8) Finish above Queen of the South.

League One matches:

Airdrieonians [0 - 2] Forfar

Clyde [1 - 1] East Fife

Dumbarton [0 - 1] Raith Rovers

Peterhead [0 - 0] Falkirk

Stranraer [2 - 2] Montrose

League One is so much like an alternate Championship this year that I'm going to follow every game.

What year did Falkirk last play a league match against the other 2019-20 League One teams?

2018        Dumbarton

2017        Raith Rovers

2013        Airdrieonians

2005        Clyde

1999        Stranraer

1997        East Fife

1991        Forfar

1986        Montrose

never       Peterhead

Port Glasgow Athletic versus Heart of Midlothian. Of sixteen league matches, Hearts were the winner eleven times, Port Glasgow twice, with three draws. Hearts knocked Port Glasgow out of the Scottish Cup three times.

Lowland League: Edusport Academy have changed their name to Caledonian Braves.

SWFL2 W/SW: Morton Women vs East Kilbride Thistle Ladies (tomorrow)

East Kilbride Thistle have dropped out of the league.

2019 CONCACAF League preliminary round, first leg:

Forge FC 2 - 1 Antigua GFC (Aug 1)

Antigua GFC are winners of the 2019 Guatemalan League clausura. They wear green and white stripes. Antigua was the capital city of Guatemala from 1543 to 1775.

Antigua have been north once before. They made it to the 2016-17 CONCACAF Champions League group stage, where they played Alianza of El Salvador and the New York Red Bulls. On August 3rd, 2016 they visited Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, and lost 3 - 0.

Robinhood 0 - 0 Capoise (July 31)

Robinhood have been in it since the Caribbean Club Shield, so we must follow them.

Canadian Premier League:

Cavalry vs Forge (postponed)

Valour 2 - 2 Pacific (July 31)

Edmonton 2 - 0 HFX Wanderers (July 31)

Forge vs York9 (postponed)

HFX Wanderers [1 - 0] Valour (August 5) [Goal by Arnone.]

UEFA Champions League 2QR, second leg (July 30 and 31):

Nõmme Kalju (Estonia) 0 - 2 Celtic

Copenhagen 1 - 0 The New Saints

AIK 3 - 2 Maribor

Qarabağ 3 - 0 Dundalk

UEFA Europa League 2QR, second leg (August 1):

Progrès Niederkorn 0 - 0 Rangers

Aberdeen 5 - 0 Chikhura Sachkhere (Georgia)

Sūduva (Lithuania) 5 - 0 Tre Penne

Ludogorets Razgrad 4 - 0 Valur

Linfield 1 - 0 HB

Stjarnan 1 - 3 Espanyol

Vaduz 2 - 0 Fehérvár

KÍ 0 - 1 Luzern

Malmö 3 - 2 Domžale (Slovenia)

Apollon Limassol (Cyprus) 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers

Crusaders 1 - 4 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Partizan 3 - 0 Connah's Quay Nomads

Swiss Challenge League: Winterthur vs Lausanne Sport

Numeralia: Two years from now it will be the beginning of the season named 2021-22, which comes exactly 101 years after the similarly sequential 1920-21.

Morioka Sansa Odori

Drumming is the thing at Morioka Sansa Odori at the beginning of August each year. Source.