The Barque Kilblain Becalmed Off the Cloch Lighthouse, by William Clark. Source. The Cloch Lighthouse also figures in this Clark painting and this one.
Developments:
Monday: The Lowland League declared its season finished and Kelty Hearts champion.
Tuesday: The new West of Scotland League officially launched with 67 clubs. The clubs are listed here.
Wednesday: Dundee FC voted in favour of the SPFL's proposal to end the 2019-20 Championship and Leagues One and Two. Dundee United, Raith Rovers and Cove Rangers gained promotion. Ann Budge of Hearts was put in charge of a SPFL taskforce on league restructuring.
Friday: the SPFL paid out £1.8m in year-end prize money to the 30 clubs of the Championship, League One and League Two. Budge struck a 15-member committee (including David Mackinnon for Morton), expecting to have a proposal ready within three weeks. Coincidentally the UK and Scottish governments extended the lockdown by three weeks.
Year-End Stats Wowzerooney:
First and last place teams week by week (3 of 3):
Week 25 Dundee United Partick Thistle
Week 26 Dundee United Partick Thistle
Week 27 Dundee United Partick Thistle
Week 28 Dundee United Partick Thistle
Mar 14 cancelled
Mar 21 cancelled
Mar 28 cancelled
Apr 4 cancelled
Apr 11 cancelled
Apr 18 cancelled
Apr 25 cancelled
May 2 cancelled
How did Morton fare against the other Championship clubs?
Alloa 2 wins, 1 draw. 10 gf, 5 ga, +5 gd. 7 points.
Arbroath 2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss. 4 gf, 3 ga, +1 gd. 7 points.
QoS 1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss. 6 gf, 3 ga, +3 gd. 4 points.
Dundee 1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss. 3 gf, 3 ga, 0 gd. 4 points.
Dunfermline 1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss. 5 gf, 6 ga, -1 gd. 4 points.
Partick Thistle 1 win, 2 losses. 5 gf, 6 ga, -1 gd. 3 points.
Ayr United 1 win, 2 losses. 6 gf, 8 ga, -2 gd. 3 points.
Inverness CT 1 win, 2 losses. 4 gf, 9 ga, -5 gd. 3 points.
Dundee United 1 draw, 2 losses. 2 gf, 9 ga, -7 gd. 1 point.
Big wins:
2019/7/16 Morton 6 - 1 Dumbarton League Cup
2019/7/23 Annan 0 - 5 Morton League Cup
2020/2/29 QoS 0 - 4 Morton league
Big losses:
2019/7/19 Motherwell 4 - 0 Morton League Cup
2019/8/30 Inverness CT 5 - 0 Morton league
2019/9/7 Inverness CT 3 - 1 Morton Challenge Cup
2019/9/28 Dundee Utd 6 - 0 Morton league
Did Morton meet Plenty of Nothing's objectives?
1) Play a Premiership club at Cappielow. No.
2) Play a non-Scottish club. No.
3) Make the promotion playoffs. No.
4) Win the Challenge Cup. No.
5) Score 50 goals in league play. No.
6) Knock Falkirk out of any cup. No.
7) Finish above Ayr United. No.
8) Finish above Queen of the South. Yes.
1907-08. Morton hosted Queen's Park and won 3 - 2.
1963-64. On April 13th Morton visited Dumbarton at Boghead and won 0 - 2. On April 18th they went to Central Park in Cowdenbeath and won 1 - 5.
SPFL Reserve League: Hamilton vs Morton (April 13) (no)
The Reserve League is done.
SWF Championship South: Morton vs Edinburgh Caledonia (no)
CPL: Pacific vs Wanderers (no)
The CPL clubs instituted 25% wage cuts this week.
Swiss Challenge League: Aarau vs Winterthur (no)
Grasshoppers Zurich has been sold to a Hong Kong group.
Bolivian league: The Strongest vs Santa Cruz (no)
In Japan the dates of the prefectural finals and the first round of the Emperor's Cup have been pushed back.
Which Scottish League clubs have finished with the most points each year this century?
2019-20 80 Celtic (Premiership) (as it stands)
2018-19 87 Celtic (Premiership)
2017-18 82 Celtic (Premiership)
2016-17 106 Celtic (Premiership)
2015-16 86 Celtic (Premiership)
2014-15 92 Celtic (Premiership)
2013-14 102 Rangers (League One)
2012-13 92 Queen of the South (2nd Division)
2011-12 93 Celtic (Premier League)
2010-11 93 Rangers (Premier League)
2009-10 87 Rangers (Premier League)
2008-09 86 Rangers (Premier League)
2007-08 89 Celtic (Premier League)
2006-07 84 Celtic (Premier League)
2005-06 91 Celtic (Premier League)
2004-05 98 Gretna (3rd Division)
2003-04 98 Celtic (Premier League)
2002-03 97 Rangers (Premier League)
2001-02 103 Celtic (Premier League)
2000-01 97 Celtic (Premier League)
Japan Football League 1999
There might not be any new soccer to report on this spring, so let's follow our guys Mito HollyHock through the 1999 season, which began this weekend 21 years ago.
In 1999 Mito HollyHock were members of the Japan Football League, which had just been downgraded from tier II to tier III through the creation of the J2 league. The 1998 JFL was made up of 16 teams, nine of which left to become the core of J2. The seven remaining JFL clubs were joined by two new teams, and the JFL played as a nine-team league in 1999. The JFL then as now was the top amateur league in Japan, though some clubs were effectively professional and just waiting for their turn to move up to the J League.
The nine clubs of the 1999 JFL were: Denso SC, Honda Motors, Jatco SC, Kokushikan University, Mito HollyHock, Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, Sony Sendai, Yokogawa Electric and Yokohama FC. The teams played each other three times for a total of 24 games each. The season ran from April to November.
1999/4/18 Sony Sendai 0 - 4 Mito HollyHock
Why did Mito HollyHock not join J2 in 1999? Probably because they finished in 14th place with only 23 points and a -32 goal difference in 1998, lower than any of the successful candidates.
(Your source for 1999 JFL scorelines is soccer-db.net.)