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The Elfstedentocht is a long distance race over the frozen canals of the Dutch province of Friesland. In its early years the ice conditions were favourable only about once every five years, but the race has not been staged now since 1997, and with global warming there's concern that it might never be possible again. Source.
The race begins and ends in Leeuwarden. Today's weather forecast for Leeuwarden projects a high of 10 and a low of 8 Celsius.
This time last year towns in the Atlas Mountains received their first snowfall in thirty years. Source.
Somehow Akira Kurosawa managed to get the cast of Rashomon (1950) to pose as the cast of The Usual Suspects (1995).
See here for a collection of 19th-Century photographs of Welsh women in stovepipe hats.
Tilburg play Krefelder EV U23. This is the development squad for the DEL's Krefeld Pinguine. Tilburg are currently top of the Obrliga Nord and Krefelder U23 are bottom.
There are no Canadians playing for Krefeld.
Krefeld is in the Lower Rhine valley and right on the line dividing Low German dialects from Central German. North of Krefeld they say "ik" and south of Krefeld they say "ich."
Ralf Hütter of Kraftwerk was born in Krefeld. There was a Battle of Krefeld during the Seven Years War.
[Tilburg win 5 - 1.]
RRS Discovery, the ship of Scott's 1901-04 Antarctic expedition, was built in Dundee and is now on display on the Dundee waterfront. Source.
Morton visit Tannadice for a match against Dundee United. Morton are eighth in the division, Dundee United are first. The Tangerines have not lost a match since Oct 19th and are 17 points clear of second-place Inverness. United have outscored Morton 8 goals to 1 in their two meetings so far this season. Lawrence Shankland is the top scorer in the SPFL with 22 goals.
It might appear hopeless, but Morton have taken a win from Dundee United in each of the last three seasons.
Morton are 6 points out of third place and 4 points out of tenth place.
Stephen Welsh has been recalled to Celtic. Peter Grant has departed Morton for Queen's Park.
Michael Tidser has left Falkirk.
The other Championship matches:
Alloa 2 - 0 Arbroath (Jan 21)
Dunfermline (5th) 2 - 0 Dundee (4th) (last night)
Arbroath (7th) [2 - 1] Partick Thistle (9th)
Ayr United (3rd) [1 - 0] ICT (2nd)
QoS (6th) [2 - 3] Alloa (10th)
[Dundee United 1 - 1 Morton. Morton goal by Orsi.]
League One:
Airdrieonians (3rd) [0 - 0] Stranraer (10th)
Clyde (7th) [2 - 1] East Fife (4th)
Falkirk (2nd) [6 - 0] Forfar (9th)
Peterhead (8th) [1 - 0] Dumbarton (6th)
Raith Rovers (1st) [4 - 3] Montrose (5th)
Since 1994, which clubs have played the most seasons in tier III (the Second Division or League One)?
19 Forfar
18 Stranraer
17 Stenhousemuir
17 Brechin
15 East Fife
14 Alloa
13 Stirling Albion
13 Ayr United
12 Airdrieonians
12 Arbroath
When was Morton's last scoreless draw against each of the other 2019-20 Championship clubs?
2019/2/16 Morton 0 - 0 Ayr United
2019/1/26 Morton 0 - 0 Dunfermline
2016/11/19 Morton 0 - 0 Dundee United
2012/2/18 Partick Thistle 0 - 0 Morton
2009/1/17 Dundee 0 - 0 Morton
2008/9/13 Morton 0 - 0 Queen of the South
2006/3/18 Alloa 0 - 0 Morton
1967/4/22 Morton 0 - 0 Arbroath
never Inverness CT
1907-08. Jan 25th was Round One of the Scottish Cup. Morton hosted Vale of Atholl from Perthshire and beat them 7 - 0.
1963-64. Celtic visited Cappielow for Round Two of the Scottish Cup and won 1 - 3.
Morton in the Glasgow and District Midweek League 1912-13:
1912/9/10 Morton 2 - 1 St Mirren (at Shawfield)
1912/11/5 Partick Thistle 2 - 0 Morton
1912/12/3 Third Lanark 3 - 2 Morton
1913/4/9 Morton 1 - 1 Kilmarnock
Every game took place in Glasgow. Each team was to meet each other team once. Morton's games against Clyde and Falkirk did not occur or have not been found. Source: Scottish Football Historical Archive.
SPFL Reserve League: Morton 2 - 2 Hearts (Jan 20)
It's the Scottish Junior Cup, Round Five:
Auchinleck Talbot [2 - 1] Tayport
Broughty Athletic [2 - 1] St. Roch's
Hurlford United [5 - 1] Gartcairn
Kello Rovers [2 - 1] Irvine Meadow
Kirkintilloch Rob Roy [0 - 1] Neilston Juniors
Petershill [1 - 1] Darvel Juniors
Pollok [4 - 0] Fauldhouse United
Stoneywood-Parkvale FC [0 - 4] Beith Juniors
Swiss Challenge League: Kriens [0 - 0] Winterthur
2020 AFC Champions League East, preliminary round two (Jan 21):
Kedah (Malaysia) 5 - 1 Tai Po (Hong Kong)
Buriram United (Thailand) 2 - 1 Ho Chi Min City (Vietnam)
Port (Thailand) 0 - 1 Ceres-Negros
Melbourne Victory (New Zealand) 5 - 0 Bali United
2020 Copa Libertadores, First Stage, first leg (Jan 22):
San José (Bolivia) 0 - 1 Guaraní (Paraguay)
The Copa Libertadores is the top club cup in South America. 47 teams compete for a place in the FIFA Club World Cup. The tournament goes from January 'til November. There are four Bolivian clubs in it this year: San José, The Strongest, Jorge Wilstermann, and Bolívar. San José are the only Bolivian club in the first stage.
The División de Fútbol Profesional, Bolivia's top league, got off to a delayed start midweek, except for the match between San José and The Strongest, which was postponed due to the Copa Libertadores.
Tomorrow evening Real Santa Cruz host Club The Strongest. I'm going to follow The Strongest through 2020, but also write about the other clubs, and try to get a handle on Bolivian football and maybe Bolivia itself.
Real Santa Crux have just been promoted to the top division. They were previously in it from 1994 till 2001. They wear white. Their home stadium is the 14,000-seat Estadio Juan Carlos Durán Saucedo. Santa Cruz de la Sierra is the largest city in Bolivia.
[Real Santa Cruz 3 - 2 The Strongest.]
The Canadian Premier League has played only one season but it has already established itself as an organization that likes to get things done at the very last minute. The league placed a club into the 2019 Concacaf League without having a 2018 champion by running a short 10-game apertura last spring. Now they're working to put a club in Ottawa for the 2020 season, which (checks watch) begins in three months.
The split season might help them with that. They could play the Spring Season with seven teams, and admit Ottawa for the Fall Season, giving the new club a couple of extra months preparation time. A seven-team Apertura plus an eight-team Clausura would make for a 26-game season for the other seven teams, if everyone were to play everyone else an equal number of times, for which there is no guarantee in this league.
HFX Wanderers have signed Mateo Restrepo, captain of University of California Santa Barbra.
Football Stadium Prints started out a couple of years ago making original images of Scottish football grounds, including a really nice one of Cappielow with the Titan Crane behind it, and have now done the Wanderers Grounds, choosing quite an unexpected view of the main stand with Camp Hill Hospital in the background. You'd normally expect to be shown Citadel Hill.
The Canadian Premier League's 2019 Player of the Year Tristan Borges has been sold to Belgian club Oud-Heverlee Leuven for an undisclosed amount.
Valour FC have signed Fraser Aird.
Estonian clubs versus Slovenian clubs in UEFA competition:
2004/7/14 Flora Tallinn 2 - 4 ND Gorica CL 1QR
2004/7/21 ND Gorica 3 - 1 Flora Tallinn CL 1QR
2009/7/2 Narva Trans 0 - 3 Rudar Velenje EL 1QR
2009/7/9 Rudar Velenje 3 - 1 Narva Trans EL 1QR
The 2020 League of Ireland season is approaching. Our guys UCD were relegated from the Premier Division to the First Division at the end of the 2019 season, and Shelbourne were promoted. Limerick FC, who finished bottom of the First Division, are tottering on the verge of insolvency, and have been replaced in the 2020 schedule by Shamrock Rovers II. The other nine First Division clubs don't like it and been warned by the league that they'd just better show up for their games because or else.
The new structure of Scottish women's football is becoming clear. There will be a SWPL 1 with eight clubs, a SWPL 2 with ten clubs, and a third-tier SWF Championship of 26 clubs divided into two 13-team geographical sections called North and South. Morton will be in the Championship South. In 130 years the men's league has never had a 13-team division, not even by accident. [Update: Stenhousemuir have been moved into the South. The Championship South will have 14 clubs, the Championship North will have 12.]
"You wanna dance? You wanna DANCE?" Source.
Tilburg Trappers host Füchse Duisburg. Tilburg are currently first in the Oberliga Nord, Duisburg eighth.
Füchse Duisburg was founded in 1971 as Duisburger SC. The club played in the DEL from 2005-06 to 2008-09, but then a financial crisis sent them down to the fourth tier. Füchse is German for foxes.
Canadians playing for Füchse: Matt Abercrombie, Steven Deeg.
Three Tilburg players are among the top ten scorers in the league. Mitch Bruijsten is second in total points with 31 goals and 26 assists. Danny Stempher is fifth with 52 points. Max Hermens is ninth with 46 points.
Duisburg is an industrial city at the confluence of the Rhine and Ruhr rivers.
Which teams in the top German leagues are located in the North Rhine and Ruhr Valley?
DEL: Düsseldorfer EG, Iserlohn Roosters, Kölner Hair, Krefeld Pinguine
DEL2: none
Oberliga: Füchse Duisburg, Moskitos Essen, Herner EV, Krefeld Pinguine U23
[Trappers win 5 - 2.]
Irene "Winkie" Gartside-Spaight atop a demolished tank on the Western Front in 1916. Photo by Mairi Chisholm. Source.