Plenty of Nothing

Bring Me the Head of John A. Macdonald

Source.

Gargoyle, Toronto, 1920

Source.

Tsubasa Endoh

Tsubasa Endoh joined Toronto FC in 2016 from the University of Maryland Terrapins. He has scored 8 goals for the first team, and 11 for TFC II. Source.

It's Kilmarnock versus Dundee United. These two have not met since 2016 due to United's extended residency in the Championship. Although 2015-16 was the year United got relegated they still outplayed Killie, winning two, with a loss and a draw. The all-time record between these two clubs is 58 wins for Killie, 57 for United and 43 draws.

Killie's greatest league win against Dundee United was:

1931/12/12    Kilmarnock 8 - 0 Dundee United

Killie's worst league losses against them were:

1982/12/11    Dundee United 7 - 0 Kilmarnock

1981/1/3        Dundee United 7 - 0 Kilmarnock

So far this season Kilmarnock have a record of 2 draws and 3 losses, 5 goals scored and 9 allowed, good for 2 points and 11th place.

[Kilmarnock 4 - 0 Dundee United. Killie get their first win in emphatic manner.]

Canadian Premier League:

Read about U-21 minutes here.

Pacific 2 - 0 Valour (August 25)

York9  3 - 2  Forge (August 26)

Edmonton 1 - 3 HFX Wanderers (August 26)

Atlético Ottawa 2 - 0 Cavalry (August 27)

Valour [2 - 1] Edmonton

HFX Wanderers [1 - 1] York9

[Omar Kreim scores for Halifax.]

Cavalry [1 - 2] Pacific (tomorrow)

Atlético Ottawa [0 - 2] Forge (tomorrow)

[Table after these games:

Forge            6    3    2    1    11     7    +4    11

Cavalry         6    3    1    2      9     7    +2    10

Pacific           5    2    2    1     8     6     +2      8

York9            5    1    4    0      7     6    +1      7

Valour           5    2    1    2      6     5    +1      7

Wanderers    5    1    3    1     8     7     +1      6

Atlético          5    1    2    2     6   10      -4      5

Edmonton     5    0    1    4     4    11     -7      1

The top four will advance to the group stage. There is now no path to the group stage for Edmonton. Pacific's remaining games are against the bottom two clubs. Wanderers have Valour and Atlético.]

Other games:

MLS: Montreal Impact 2 - 0 Vancouver Whitecaps (August 25)

Montreal Impact 0 - 1 Toronto FC (yesterday)

JFL: FC Maruyasu Okazaki [0 - 2] Iwaki FC (tomorrow)

2019-20 Swiss Cup semi-final: Basel 6 - 1 Winterthur (August 25)

2020 FAI Cup, Second Round: UCD [1 - 3] Sligo Rovers (tomorrow)

Iceland: Vikingur Olafsvik [1 - 1] ÍBV

Allsvenskan: Malmö [1 - 1] Elfsborg (tomorrow)

TPS 1 - 0 HIFK (August 26)

KuPS [3 - 1] TPS

K League: Pohang Steelers [2 - 1] Seongnam FC (tomorrow)

J2: Mito HollyHock 0 - 0 Ehime

Luxembourg: UNA Strassen [0 - 4] Progrès Niederkorn (tomorrow)

The Tim Traveller attends a Red Star FC match.

Headline seen: "Rangers fans asbolutely buzzing at latest SPFL Old Firm announcement." Asbolutely is my new abverb for anything that crowd does.

2020-21 UEFA Champions League, 2nd qualifying round:

Celtic 1 - 2 Ferencváros

This is Celtic's earliest exit from the Champions League since 2005.

Young Boys 3 - 1 KI

2020-21 UEFA Europa League, 1st qualifying round:

Maribor 1 - 1 Coleraine (Coleraine win on PK.)

Olimpija 2 - 1 Vikingur Reykjavik

B36 4 - 3 FCI Levadia

Riteriai (Lithuania) 3 - 2 Derry City

Valletta 0 - 1 Bala Town

Rosenborg 4 - 2 Breiðablik

These two met in 2011, Rosenborg winning 7 - 0 on aggregate.

Aberdeen 6 - 0 NSÍ

Motherwell 5 - 1 Glentoran

Malmö 2 - 0 Cracovia

Shamrock Rovers 2 - 2 Ilves (Shamrock Rovers win on PK.)

FH 0 - 2 DAC Dunajská Streda

The New Saints 3 - 1 Žilina

Vaduz 0 - 2 Hibernians (Malta)

Fehérvár 1 - 1 Bohemians (Ireland) (Fehérvár win on PK.)

Progrès Niederkorn 3 - 0 Zeta (Montenegro)

(As usual we're following clubs from Scotland, Wales, the two Irelands, the Faroes, Iceland, plus a few favourites from other places.)

Mortonalia:

Morton are training.

Fouad Bachirou (Morton 2010 to 2014) is transferring from Malmö to Nottingham Forest of the English Championship.

Queen of the South made multiple player signings this week, including Joe McKee (Morton 2013 to 2016), and Gregor Buchanan (Morton 2018-19).

Lawrence Shankland (Morton 2017) will play for Scotland in the coming matches against Israel and the Czech Republic.

Historical matches:

Aug 29, 1914. Morton hosted Aberdeen and played to a 1 - 1 draw.

Aug 29, 1992. Morton hosted Cowdenbeath and won 1 - 0. Goal by Rowan Alexander.

SFL Division Three results August 30, 1924:

Queen of the South 1 - 0 Dumbarton Harp

Solway Star 1 - 0 Leith Athletic

Dykehead 4 - 1 Vale of Leven

Galston 3 - 0 Brechin City

Helensburgh 1 - 1 Royal Albert

Peebles Rovers 4 - 0 Mid Annandale

Nithsdale Wanderers 1 - 1 Lochgelly United

Montrose 3 - 0 Beith

Source: Glasgow Herald, Sept 1, 1924, p. 14.

Seongnam FC have a very sharp Magpies thing going on.

Bloor Street Viaduct, 1916

Source.

Canterbury High School in Minecraft

Roam the halls here.

$15 Playing Card Money

In 2008 the Canadian Mint issued this commemorative silver coin in the form of the Queen of Spades, which harks back to the days when the government of New France was so hard up for coin that it seized all the playing cards in the province and reissued them as legal tender. Source.

Abandoned Radar Station

RCAF Beaverbank, operational from 1954 to 1964, was part of the Pinetree Line, the third string of radar installations built to detect a Soviet bomber attack on North America. Its ruins can be seen and spraypainted midway between Upper Sackville and Fall River. Source.

Parking, 1923

Autos parked outside the 1923 Toronto Auto Show. Source.

Shell Haus, Berlin

Shell-Haus Berlin. Designed by Emil Fahrenkamp and completed in 1931. Photo by Kurt Triest. Source.

Gasparotto and Aird

Luca Gasparotto and Fraser Aird in Rangers days. Source.

Canadian Premier League:

Pacific 1 - 1 York9 (August 18)

Atlético Ottawa 0 - 4 Valour (August 19)

This is Valour's biggest win to date. Goal for Aird.

HFX Wanderers 1 - 1 Forge (August 19)

Goal by Akeem Garcia.

Last season in head-to-head competition these two teams each took a win, with two draws.

Edmonton 0 - 2 Cavalry (August 20)

York9 [0 - 0] Valour

Luca Gasparotto versus Fraser Aird. These two used to play together in the Rangers system and later at Falkirk. They played opposite each other when Gasparotto was with Morton and Aird was with Dunfermline in 2017-18.

Forge [2 - 1] Pacific

Atlético Ottawa [2 - 2] Edmonton (tomorrow)

[With 10 minutes to go Edmonton were down by 2 goals and effectively out of the next round.]

Cavalry [2 - 1] HFX Wanderers (tomorrow)

[Goal Garcia.]

Last season in head-to-head competition Cavalry took four wins, HFX none, with one draw.

[Table after these matches:

Cavalry          4    3    1    0    8    3    +5    10

Forge             4    2    2    0    7    4    +3      8

Valour            3    1    1    1    4    2    +2      4

York9             3    0    3    0    3    3      0      3    

Wanderers    3    0    2    1    4    5     -1      2

Pacific           3    0    2    1    4    5     -1      2

Atlético          3    0    2    1    4    8     -4      2

Edmonton     3    0    1    2    2    6     -4      1    ]

What are the methods of determining the order of clubs in the standings?

1) points;

2) head-to-head record;

3) goal difference;

4) goals for;

5) total wins;

6) U-21 minutes;

7) coin toss or drawing of lots.

Other games:

Rangers [2 - 0] Kilmarnock

What was Kilmarnock's greatest league game against Rangers?

2000/10/28    Rangers 0 - 3 Kilmarnock

What was Killie's worst league game against them? It's a tie:

1918/12/21    Rangers 8 - 0 Kilmarnock

1937/2/27      Rangers 8 - 0 Kilmarnock

MLS: Toronto FC 3 - 0 Vancouver Whitecaps (August 18)

Toronto FC 1 - 0 Vancouver Whitecaps (yesterday)

The three Canadian MLS clubs will play each other three times each through August and September and the one with the best record will play the winner of the Canadian Premier League for the Voyageurs Cup.

J2: Fukuoka 0 - 1 Mito HollyHock (August 19)

Mito HollyHock [2 - 3] V-Varen Nagasaki (tomorrow)

JFL: Verspah Oita [4 - 1] Iwaki FC (tomorrow)

[Looks like Iwaki have found their level. This is their first league loss since 2014, when they played in the third tier of the Fukushima prefecture league.]

Faroes: B36 vs TB (tomorrow)

Iceland: ÍBV 1 - 0 Afturelding (August 19)

Magni [0 - 0] ÍBV

Ireland: UCD 2 - 1 Athlone (August 17) UCD received two red cards to one for Athlone.

Cabinteely 0 - 3 UCD (yesterday)

Allsvenskan: Malmö [2 - 1] Falkenbergs FF (tomorrow)

TPS [1 - 0] FC Inter Turku

[This is a huge win against the Finnish league's top club.]

K League: Busan IPark [2 - 1] Pohang Steelers

Saarland Cup semi-final (August 18):

FC 08 Homburg  3 - 0  1.FC Saarbrücken

The time has come to choose a club from Luxembourg, and who could it be but FC Progrès Niederkorn, who knocked Rangers out of the 2017-18 Europa League? Progrès play in the top tier of football in Luxembourg, the National Division.

The National Division is normally 14 teams big and plays 26 games. But last season was cut short by the coronavirus at 17 games. Every team played 17 so the final standings were decided by points rather than a points-per-game percentage. Unlike the SPFL the division avoided relegating anyone by expanding by two clubs. So there are 16 teams in 2020-21 and each team will play 30 games.

The National Division starts this weekend. However, Progrès's first match, against Racing FC, is postponed due to several Racing players having tested positive for coronavirus.

As a footballing nation Luxembourg is ranked 43rd in Europe and 98th in the world.

2019-20 UEFA Champions League final (tomorrow):

PSG [0 - 1] Bayern Munich

2020-21 UEFA Champions League, 1st qualifying round (midweek):

Celtic 6 - 0 KR

These two had met before in the 2QR of the 2014-15 Champions League. Celtic won both legs, outscoring KR 5 - 0 on aggregate.

Legia Warsaw 1 - 0 Linfield

Connah's Quay Nomads 0 - 2 Sarajevo

Celje 3 - 0 Dundalk

KÍ [3 - 0] Slovan Bratislava (postponed)

The losers drop down to the Europa League.

2019-20 UEFA Europa League final (yesterday):

Sevilla 3 - 2 Inter Milan

2020-21 UEFA Europa League, preliminary round:

Tre Penne 1 - 3 Gjilani (Kosovo)

Glentoran 1 - 0 HB

St Joseph's (Gibraltar) 1 - 2  B36

Coleraine 1 - 0 La Fiorita

NSÍ 5 - 1 Barry Town United

2019-20 UEFA Women's Champions League, QF (yesterday):

Glasgow City 1 - 9 VfL Wolfsburg

Developments:

Queen of the South made their first signing with Joe McKee, who played for Morton from 2013 to 2016.

The start of the Swiss Challenge league has been bumped to September 18 to take advantage of an expected relaxation of audience limits.

The 2020 Canadian Football League season has been scrapped.

Mortonalia:

The League Cup group stage fixtures are out. Morton don't get St Mirren at Cappielow, but they do get them in November.

Apparently Morton didn't complain that Hearts were training before the start date, they complained that they weren't allowed to train before the start date like Hearts were doing. It's a subtle difference, but it had the same effect.

Morton have signed forward Ross MacIver on loan from Motherwell.

Morton in the three-division era:

1975-76    26      7      9    10    31    40       -9    23    11th, Div 1

1976-77    39    20    10      9    77    52    +25    50    4th, Div 1

1977-78    39    25      8      6    85    42    +43    58    1st, Div 1 P

1978-79    36    12    12    12    52    53       -1    36    7th, Premier Div

1979-80    36    14      8    14    51    46      +5    36    6th, Premier Div

1980-81    36    10      8    18    36    58     -22    28    8th, Premier Div

1981-82    36      9    12    15    31    54     -23    30    7th, Premier Div

1982-83    36      6      8    22    36    81     -45    20    9th, Premier Div R

1983-84    39    21    12      6    75    46    +29    54    1st, Div 1 P

1984-85    36      5      2    29    29   100    -71    12    10th, Premier Div R

1985-86    39    14    11    14    57    63       -6    39    7th, Div 1

1986-87    44    24      9    11    88    56    +32    57    1st, Div 1 P

1987-88    44      3    10    31    27   100    -73    16    10th, Premier Div R

1988-89    39    16      9    14    46    46        0    41    5th, Div 1

1989-90    39      9    16    14    38    46       -8    34    11th, Div 1

1990-91    39    11    13    15    48    55       -7    35    9th, Div 1

1991-92    44    17    12    15    66    59      +7    46    7th, Div 1

1992-93    44    19    10    15    65    56      +9    48    6th, Div 1

1993-94    44      6    17    21    44    75     -31    29    11th, Div 1 R

Which clubs played in all three divisions in the three-division era (1975-76 to 1993-94)?

St Johnstone         ABBBB    BBBABCCCBB    AAAA

Kilmarnock            BABBA    ABABBBBBBC    BBBA

Falkirk                   BBCCC    BBBBBBAABB    BAAB

Dunfermline          BCCCB    BBBCCCBABA    AABB

Clydebank             CBABB    BBBBBAABBB    BBBB

Ayr United             AAABB    BBBBBBCCBB    BBBB

Dumbarton            BBBBB    BBBBABBBCC    CCBB

Raith Rovers         CBCBB    BBBBCCCBBB   BBBA

(A = Premier Division; B = Division 1; C = Division 2)

Historical matches:

Aug 22, 1914. Morton visited Third Lanark and played to a 3 - 3 draw.

Aug 22, 1992. Morton hosted St Mirren at Cappielow and lost 0 - 1.

1924-25 SFL Division Three, August 23 matches:

Vale of Leven 3 - 0 Galston

Royal Albert 1 - 1 Queen of the South

Beith 2 - 3 Solway Star

Brechin City 3 - 2 Helensburgh

Dumbarton Harp 1 - 4 Nithsdale Wanderers

Leith Athletic 2 - 1 Clackmannan

Lochgelly United 5 - 1 Dykehead

Mid Annandale 2 - 2 Montrose

Source: Glasgow Herald, August 25, 1924, p.14.