Plenty of Nothing

Painted Ceiling, Delgatie Castle

Source.

Onsen

There are a lot of hot springs in Beppu, Oita Prefecture. Source.

Inuit 1567

A woodcut made by Matthäus Franck is thought to be the first European depiction of Labrador Inuit. It shows a mother and daughter who were captured by French sailors and brought to the Netherlands in 1567. Source.

The Oldest Building in Nova Scotia

The Mission, in Avondale, Hants County, is thought to be the oldest building in Nova Scotia. It was constructed for the administration of Acadie in 1699. Source.

Scottish Championship 2020-21

Building a Liner at Greenock, by Muirhead Bone. Source.

The 2020-21 Scottish Championship season begins today, seven months and ten days after the last one stopped. The member clubs are Alloa, Arbroath, Ayr United, Dunfermline, Dundee, Hearts, Inverness CT, Morton, Queen of the South and Raith Rovers. It's an assortment never seen before, mainly due to Hearts, who have only played in tier II once before in the four-division age.

The only other time Hearts played in the Championship was 2014-15, when Morton were in League One. Of this year's clubs only Queen of the South, Raith Rovers and Alloa were around to play Hearts that year. Hearts swept them all.

There's a severe scarcity of derbies in this year's Championship. Morton are without St Mirren, Ayr are without Kilmarnock, Dundee are without Dundee United, Inverness are without Ross County, Hearts have no Hibs, Alloa have no Stirling Albion, and Arbroath are without any other Forfarshire team. Only Dunfermline and Raith can indulge their local Fife rivalry. Queen of the South haven't had a local derby since Gretna went bust. Everyone will simply have to hate on Heart of Midlothian.

This will be Morton's first 27-game season, as 2019-20 was their first 28-game season. The most points a team can accumulate in 27 games is 81. And that's assuming all games get played. The 2020-21 schedule could very easily become Swiss cheese, with the final standings based on points per game.

Today's home-opener is Morton versus Alloa.

These clubs met three times last season. Morton took two wins and there was a 4 - 4 draw. Morton and Alloa had never played each other to a 4 - 4 result before. So don't say that new things don't happen.

Wasps who have played for Morton: Alan Trouten (2003-04), Andy Graham (2011-2012), Scott Taggart (2012-14), and Robert Thomson (2017-19). None of the Morton squad have played for Alloa.

Morton have seven players whose surname begins with Mc or Mac.

Morton's starting lineup is: [McAdams, Fjortoft, McLean, McGinty, Muirhead, Jacobs, McAlister, Salkeld, McPake, Nesbitt, Orsi.]

Compare last year: Ramsbottom, Tumilty, Van Schaik, Brian McLean, Grant, Jacobs, McAlister, Muirhead, Nesbitt, Cadden, Sutton.

Read The Two Point One's guide to the 2020-21 Scottish Championship.

The other Championship matches:

Hearts 6 - 2 Dundee* (last night)

Dundee were instrumental in preventing the league reconstruction that would have kept Hearts in the Premiership, so karma.

Ayr United [2 - 1] Queen of the South

These two have met 95 times before, with 39 wins each, plus 17 draws. QoS are without their coaching staff, who have gone into isolation.

Dunfermline [3 - 1] Inverness CT*

ICT won all three matches last season.

Raith Rovers [3 - 0] Arbroath

Their last meeting was in League One a year and a half ago.

[Morton win 1 - 0. Goal by Salkeld.]

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

2020    Hearts (above)

2020    Raith Rovers (below)

2019    Dundee (above)

2019    Arbroath (below)

2018    Ayr United (below)

2018    Alloa (below)

2017    Inverness CT (above)

2016    Dunfermline (below)

2015    Morton (below)

2013    QoS (below)

In which divisions have the 2020-21 Championship clubs played since 1994?

Hearts               AAAAAA    AAAAAAAAAA    AAAABAAAAA    B

Dundee             BBBBAA    AAAAABBBBB    BBABAAAAAB    B

Inverness CT    DDDCCB    BBBBAAAAAB   AAAAAAABBB    B

Dunfermline      BBAAAB    AAAAAAABBB    BABCCCBBBB    B

Raith Rovers    BAABBB    BBCBBCCCCB    BBBBBBBCCC    B

Morton             CBBBBB    BCDCCCCBBB    BBBBCBBBBB    B

QoS                 CCCCCC    CCBBBBBBBB    BBCBBBBBBB    B

Ayr Utd            BCCBBB    BBBBCCCCCB    CBCCCCBCBB    B

Alloa                DDDDCC   BCBCCCCCCC    CDCBBBCCBB    B

Arbroath          DDDDCC    CBBCCDDDCC   DCCCDDDCCB   B

(A = tier I; B = tier II; etc.)

Which clubs have spent at least a dozen years in tier II since 1994, including 2020-21?

19            Morton

18            Falkirk

18            Queen of the South

17            Raith Rovers

14            St Mirren

14            Dundee

14            Ayr United

13            Partick Thistle

13            Dunfermline

12            Ross County

Sort the Championship clubs by points earned so far in the 2020-21 League Cup:

                        G    GD    Pts

Dunfermline     3      6      9

Hearts              3      4      9

Dundee            2      5      6

Ayr United        3      3      6

Arbroath           3      3      6

Alloa                 3      2      6

Morton              2      1      4

QoS                  3      0      4

Raith Rovers     2     -1      3

Inverness CT    2     -1      2 

Plenty of Nothing's objectives for Morton:

1)    Make the promotion playoffs, if they happen.

2)    Get at least a point off Hearts.

3)    Finish higher than Ayr United.

4)    Finish higher than Queen of the South.

5)    Have a positive goal difference.

6)    Get to a quarter-final.

7)    Beat St Mirren.

Prediction:

This season every story in the Scotsman about the Championship will be about Hearts.

Kilmarnock:

Livingston host Kilmarnock. These two have played 50 competitive matches up till now: Killie have 27 wins, Livi 14, with 9 draws. They played twice last season and each took a win.

Kilmarnock's best result against Livi in league play:

1991/4/10      Meadowbank Thistle 1 - 8 Kilmarnock

And worst:

2001/10/20    Kilmarnock 1 - 5 Livingston

[Livi 1 - 3 Killie.]

League One:

Cove Rangers begin their first League One season with a visit from East Fife whom they have never played before. Cove have also never played three other 2020-21 League One sides: Clyde, Dumbarton and Forfar. [Cove win 3 - 1.]

Other matches:

J2: Matsumoto Yamaga 2 - 2 Mito HollyHock (Oct 14)

Mito HollyHock [1 - 3] Albirex Niigata (tomorrow)

JFL: Iwaki FC [1 - 2] Sony Sendai (tomorrow)

Both teams have 13 points after 8 games, and both have a 0 gd.

K League: Pohang [4 - 0] Ulsan (tomorrow)

Faroes: B36 [2 - 0] TB

Allsvenskan: Djurgården [3 - 2] Malmö (Monday)

FC Haka 2 - 1 TPS (yesterday)

TPS [4 - 1] RoPS (Monday)

Ireland: UCD 5 - 1 Cabinteely (yesterday)

Iceland: ÍBV vs Fram (postponed)

3.Liga: 1.FC Saarbrücken [2 - 1] Unterhaching (tomorrow)

Swiss Challenge League: Winterthur 2 - 2 Schaffhausen (yesterday)

Luxembourg Cup, Second Round: Kehlen [0 - 2] Progres Niederkorn (tomorrow)

Lowland League: Bonnyrigg Rose [3 - 0] Gretna 2008

WoSFL: Largs Thistle vs Clydebank (postponed)

The 2020-21 SWF Championship South was to begin tomorrow but has been postponed due to second-wave Covid. Morton vs Stenhousemuir (postponed).

Other developments:

Club The Strongest have closed their facilities for the weekend because of the Bolivian election. Between them Covid and political upheaval have knocked big holes in the Bolivian football schedule, which normally has almost no close season.

Tuesday's League Cup match between Stranraer and Albion Rovers ended in a 14 - 15 shootout.

Morton Women so far:

             G     W    D     L       F      A       GD    Pts    Pos

2017    20    18    2      0    122      8    +114    56      1st, SWFL 2 West

2018    22      2    0    20      18    79      -61       6    11th, SWFL 1 South

2019    14    14    0      0    105      4    +101    42      1st, SWFL 2 W/SW

2020      3      2    0      1        9      4       +5       6      3rd, SWF Champ. South

Historical matches:

Oct 17, 1914. Morton travelled to Motherwell and played to a 1 - 1 draw.

Oct 17, 1992. Morton hosted Meadowbank Thistle and won 4 - 1. Johnstone, Mathie and Mahood scored, plus one own goal.

JFL 1999: Denso 3 - 2 Mito HollyHock

SFL Division Three results, October 18, 1924:

Vale of Leven 3 - 1 Royal Albert

Solway Star 2 - 1 Helensburgh

Galston 2 - 1 Queen of the South

Beith 1 - 3 Lochgelly United

Dumbarton Harp 3 - 1 Mid Annandale

1924-25 Scottish Qualifying Cup, Fourth Round:

Nithsdale Wanderers 1 - 0 Dykehead

Clackmannan 1 - 1 Peebles Rovers

Leith Athletic 3 - 3 Montrose

Source: Glasgow Herald, October 20, 1924, p. 14.

And finally, the 2020-21 Championship League Cup:

Last season I fabricated the Championship League Cup, a knockout cup tournament based on actual results from SPFL Championship league matches. You can read the rules here. Because of coronavirus, the final between Arbroath and Partick Thistle was not played. This season those two teams are not in the same division or Betfred Cup group, so an autumn final is unfortunately out of the question. Therefore the final result for the first Championship League Cup is:

2019-20        no winner

This season the Championship is only 27 games long, or three round robins, which means there can only be three cup rounds to this cup, not four like last year. This requires Round One to be a group stage. Round Two will be the semi-final, with the top two finishers from each group, and Round Three will be the final.

The pecking order will be based on the 2019-20 Championship table. There will be two groups. Group A will consist of the teams in positions 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 of the 2019-20 table, and Group B will be made up of teams 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10. Hearts will take the place of Dundee United, and Raith Rovers will take the place of Partick Thistle. So, the groups are:

Group A: Hearts, Dundee, Arbroath, Morton, QoS.

Group B: ICT, Ayr United, Dunfermline, Alloa, Raith Rovers.

Every team will play every other team in its group once, and the results will be made up into a table for each group. There will be no need for special tie-breaking rules in this round, as draws are allowed. If two teams are tied in the standings at the end of this round, the usual SPFL Championship tiebreakers will apply. All these games take place from October and December. Like last year, if a match gets postponed until later than the next round match it sets up, and there isn't another match between those two clubs in the meantime, then the tournament must be abandoned on the grounds of absurdity. There are 20 games to play in the group stage, half of them in December, so weather- or Covid-related postponement could easily scuttle it.

Round Two will consist of two matches: A1 vs B2, B1 vs A2. Last season's tiebreaker rules will be applied if needed.

The final will occur some time between March and May.

Each Championship League Cup hatch will be marked with an asterisk. There are two today. (See above.)

Dürer Woodblock

This is the woodblock used to print The Entombment of Christ, part of the Small Passion series. It's in the British Museum along with 34 of the 36 others in the set. Source.

Snaefell Mountain Railway

Source.

Veste Coburg

The west face. Source.

Greenock Cannes

The Ken Loach film Sweet Sixteen, set in Greenock, won for best screenplay at the 2002 Cannes Festival. Lead actor Martin Compston was a defender with Greenock Juniors and made two appearances for Morton in the 2001-02 season. He played Bothwell in Mary Queen of Scots (2018).

Morton host Queen's Park FC.

This is the second time these two have appeared in the same group since the League Cup group stage was reintroduced. On July 18th, 2017 they played to a 2 - 2 draw, though Morton won the extra point in the shootout.

Altogether they've met seven times in League Cup play. Morton have won five times, and Queen's Park twice, most recently in 1961.

Queen's Park FC is loaded with ex-Morton players: Michael Doyle (2016-18), Lee Kilday (2014-19), Peter Grant (2019-20), Bob McHugh (2017-20) and Ross MacLean (2018-19). Plus Ray McKinnon is manager.

Morton's Kalvin Orsi played for Queen's Park in 2017.

[Morton 1 - 0 Queen's Park. Goal by Cameron Blues.]

Also today:

Queen of the South vs Partick Thistle. St Mirren are off.

[QoS 0 - 0 Partick. Partick win on PK.]

How to abbreviate Queen's Park and Queen of the South: Queen's Park are Queen's, or QPFC, or QP. Queen of the South are Queens, or QoS, or QofS.

Read about Queen's ambitions here.

And in Group E it's Kilmarnock vs Dunfermline. Covid-struck Killie will field five first squad players, and the rest are from the development squad.

There are five Fife clubs competing in the group stage. Cowdenbeath, East Fife and Raith Rovers are in Group A, Kelty Hearts are in Group C, and Dunfermline Athletic are in Group E. What would it take to have all five in the same group? 1) If Dunfermline were in the Premiership geography would likely put them in the North section. 2) Kelty Hearts would have to win the Lowland League, or already be in League Two. 3) There would have to be a fluky draw to put them all together, or else an intentional grouping. I've said before that this would be a golden opportunity to replicate the Fife Cup.

Before today's games, what was the best each team could do in Group G?

11 pts    St Mirren

10 pts    Morton

  9 pts    QoS

  9 pts    Partick

  9 pts    Queen's Park

[Group G standings after these games:

                          P   W PW PL   L    F   A   GD Pts

St Mirren           2    1    1    0    0    6    3     3    5

Partick               3    1    1    0    1    3    4    -1    5

Morton               2    1    0    1    0    3    2     1    4

QoS                   3    0    1    2    0    4    4     0    4

Queen's Park    2    0    0    0    2    0    3    -3    0     ]

Now the League Cup group stage goes on hold for month. The final two matchdays will be November 11th and 14th.

This is by no means the first time that group stage matches have been interspersed with league matches. Morton's 1947-48 season began with this sequence of games: one group stage match, one league match, two group stage matches, one league match, three group stage matches.

Elsewhere:

Lowland League: Bonnyrigg Rose [2 - 0] Caledonian Braves

Developments:

In light of the second Covid wave, and the heightened restrictions being applied to amateur sport, a number of West of Scotland League clubs have indicated that they would rather not play this season. Among them are Auchinleck Talbot, Glenafton, and Kilbirnie Ladeside.

[The WoSFL plans to restart October 24th, with 15 teams in the Premiership. I think The other two Premiership dropouts are Pollok and Rutherglen Glencairn Cumnock.]

FIFA has suspended the Trinidad and Tobago FA.

The last ten non-Premiership sides to beat Motherwell:

2019/1/19      Motherwell 1 - 2 Ross County        Scottish Cup

2015/9/22      Morton 3 - 2 Motherwell                  League Cup

2013/11/30    Albion Rovers 1 - 0 Motherwell       Scottish Cup

2010/1/18      Inverness CT 2 - 0 Motherwell        Scottish Cup

2008/2/11      Motherwell 1 - 2 Dundee                  Scottish Cup

2007/2/28      Motherwell 1 - 2 St Johnstone        Scottish Cup

2006/1/7        St Mirren 3 - 0 Motherwell               Scottish Cup

2004/3/6        Motherwell 0 - 1 Inverness CT        Scottish Cup

2003/9/23      Forfar 3 - 3 Motherwell (Forfar won on PK)    League Cup

2001/9/25      Airdrieonians 2 - 1 Motherwell        League Cup

Acropolis, 1865

Daguerreotype by Philippos Margaritis of the Acropolis in 1865, showing the medieval Frankish tower. Source.