Plenty of Nothing

HC Ajoie versus GCK Lions

Ajoie defeated GCK Lions 10 - 1 on January 19th, 2016. Source.

HC Ajoie come from Porrentruy in the canton of Jura in the northeastern corner of Switzerland. The club was founded in 1973. They've reached the top Swiss league twice, in 1988-89 and 1992-93, and have had spells in the third tier, but have spent all of the 21st century in tier two. Ajoie won the NLB in 2016, but it did not result in promotion. This spring they enjoyed their greatest moment when they were come-from-behind winners of the Swiss Cup.

They play at Patinoire de Voyeboeuf, which can hold 4,600 fans. Their colours are black and yellow. Their crest features a griffin against the coat of arms of Jura.

Head coach of Ajoie is Gary Sheehan, a Canadian who has been coaching in Switzerland since 1991.

Today Ajoie visit GCK Lions, the farm team of ZSC Lions of the National League.

Despite having fallen into the maw of ZSC, GCK have a history of their own. They were formed in 1934 as Grasshopper Club Zürich, and won both the Swiss league title and the Swiss Cup in 1966. In the year 2000 they merged with SC Küsnacht, who were themselves formed in 1934, and moved into the Küsnacht arena. Küsnacht is a suburb of Zürich on the eastern shore of Lake Zürich. Carl Jung lived there, and he would be the one to ask about the underlying significance of lions and griffins.

[GCK Lions 0 - 5 Ajoie.]

Broomfield

Airdrieonians used to play at a marvelous ground named Broomfield Park, with a pavilion in the corner. This photo was taken prior to kickoff on Sept 4th, 1993, when Airdrie beat Morton 2 - 0 in Division One action. Source.

It's Matchday #2 of the 2020-21 League Cup, but Morton are off. The other Group G matches are:

Partick Thistle [2 - 0] Queen's Park

Partick have not lost to Queen's Park since 1982.

Queen of the South [2 - 2] Saint Mirren [St Mirren win on PK.]

Saint Mirren have won their last five matches against QoS.

[Group G standings after these matches:

                           P   W  PW PL  L    F    A   GD  Pts

St Mirren            2    1    1    0    0    6    3     3    5

QoS                    2    0    1    1    0    4    4     0    3

Partick                2    1    0    0    1    3    4    -1    3

Morton                1    0    0    1    0    2    2     0    1

Queen's Park     1    0    0    0    1    0    2    -2    0    ]

Other matches:

Scotland beat Israel on penalty kicks Thursday night, after the bars were obliged to kick out their patrons.

The Lowland League starts today. Let's follow Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic, who are entering their second year in the league. Today it's Gala Fairydean Rovers [0 - 4] Bonnyrigg Rose.

The WoSFL was to start today but are barred from playing for the next two weeks due to second-wave Covid.

Glenafton vs Largs Thistle (postponed)

Iceland: Leiknir F vs ÍBV (postponed -- all Icelandic league games are off until October 19)

Promotion is out of ÍBV's reach at this point.

J2: JEF United Chiba [1 - 5] Mito HollyHock

Tōhoku: Cobaltore Onagawa [2 - 0] Morioka Zebra (tomorrow)

This concludes the 2020 Tōhoku Member of Society Soccer League. Cobaltore finish 2nd and Morioka Zebra finish 7th.

Ireland: Athlone 2 - 4 UCD (yesterday)

3.Liga: MSV Duisburg vs 1.FC Saarbrücken (postponed due to coronavirus in the Duisburg squad)

Developments:

Countries are jockeying for the 2034 World Cup already.

Historical matches:

Oct 10, 1914. Morton 6 - 2 Queen's Park.

Oct 10, 1992. Morton visited Kilmarnock and lost 3 - 0.

JFL 1999: Mito HollyHock 1 - 0 Yokogawa Electric (Oct 9, 1999)

Morton, Airdrieonian, Clydebank pecking order in the three-division era:

1975-76    Airdrieonians, Morton, Clydebank

1976-77    Clydebank, Morton, Airdrieonians

1977-78    Clydebank, Morton, Airdrieonians

1978-79    Morton, Clydebank, Airdrieonians

1979-80    Morton, Airdrieonians, Clydebank

1980-81    Airdrieonians, Morton, Clydebank

1981-82    Morton, Airdrieonians, Clydebank

1982-83    Morton, Clydebank, Airdrieonians

1983-84    Morton, Clydebank, Airdrieonians

1984-85    Morton, Clydebank, Airdrieonians

1985-86    Clydebank, Morton, Airdrieonians

1986-87    Clydebank, Morton, Airdrieonians

1987-88    Morton, Clydebank, Airdrieonians

1988-89    Clydebank, Airdrieonians, Morton

1989-90    Airdrieonians, Clydebank, Morton

1990-91    Airdrieonians, Clydebank, Morton

1991-92    Airdrieonians, Morton, Clydebank

1992-93    Airdrieonians, Morton, Clydebank

1993-94    Airdrieonians, Clydebank, Morton

Swept at Broomfield -- seasons in which Morton visited Airdrieonians twice and lost both games:

1999-00:

2000/4/8        Airdrieonians 3 - 0 Morton

1999/12/7      Airdrieonians 1 - 0 Morton

1990-91:

1991/4/23      Airdrieonians 3 - 0 Morton

1990/8/25      Airdrieonians 4 - 0 Morton

1980-81:

1981/5/2        Airdrieonians 3 - 2 Morton

1980/10/11    Airdrieonians 1 - 0 Morton

SFL Division Three results, October 11, 1924:

Vale of Leven 5 - 2 Beith

Solway Star 1 - 1 Queen of the South

Royal Albert 2 - 2 Peebles Rovers

Nithsdale Wanderers 4 - 3 Helensburgh

Mid Annandale 1 - 1 Dykehead

Brechin City 0 - 1 Montrose

Clackmannan 3 - 2 Galston

Dumbarton Harp 1 - Lochgelly United 1

Source: Glasgow Herald, October 13, 1924, p. 15.

Craig Anderson made a positive test result flow chart. Source.

Bessie Watson

Nine-year-old bagpiper Bessie Watson piped for votes for women during the Women's Social and Political Union demonstration in Edinburgh on this date in 1909. Despite having had tuberculosis as a child she lived to be 91 and continued to pipe into her eighties. Source.

Sidecar Racing

Source.

Joust

This is only one of 146 jousts recorded in the Tournament Book of Duke Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous of Saxony, c. 1535. It's housed at the Veste Coburg. Source.

Wee Dublin

Track stars at Cappielow, 1915. This photo gives a good view of the tenement that once stood behind the Wee Dublin End. Source.

Morton host Queen of the South in the first game of the League Cup group stage. This is Morton's first competitive match since March 7th, 213 days ago. QoS last played on March 10th.

These two met last year in the group stage, playing to a 3 - 3 draw before Morton took the extra point in the shootout. All-time they have played six League Cup matches and Morton have won every one.

Former Morton players now with QoS are: Joe McKee (Morton 2013-16) and Gregor Buchanan (2018-19).

Former QoS players now with Morton are: Kyle Jacobs (QoS 2015-19), Michael Ledger (2019-20) and Gary Oliver (2015-16 and 2019-20).

This match is behind closed doors, and the club has asked supporters not to try to watch it from the Sinclair Street hill.

[Morton 2 - 2 Queen of the South. QoS win on PK. Morton goals by McGinty and Nesbit. Jacobs and Colville score in the penalty shoot. QoS earn 2 points, Morton 1 point.]

Tomorrow it's St Mirren versus Partick Thistle. Queen's Park are off.

[St Mirren 4 - 1 Partick Thistle.]

Kilmarnock has forfeited its Group E match against Falkirk due to the entire first team being quarantined. If the club must forfeit the Dunfermline tie as well then there's little to no chance they'll advance to Round Two.

[And due to a positive Covid test, Forfar have forfeited their Group B match against Dundee.]

The Blue Brazil have been forced to move their League Cup home games to Methil after two episodes of flooding at Central Park.

Which clubs have played the most League Cup matches against Morton?

17    Motherwell

15    Aberdeen, Cowdenbeath, Rangers

14    Alloa, Ayr United

13    Dumbarton

Which Southern section SPFL opponents have Morton not drawn in the present-day League Cup group stage? Hamilton, Livingston, Dunfermline, Airdrieonians, Falkirk, Stranraer.

Cumulative group stage points since 2016:

                                    16/7   17/8   18/9   19/0    total

Partick Thistle               12      10       9       10       41

Morton                           11       8        6        8        33

Queen of the South        9        7        9        6        31

St Mirren                         9        6        9        6        30

Queen's Park                  4        7        4        5        20

[Group G standings after these matches:

                          P  W  PW  PL  L    F   A    GD  Pts

St Mirren           1    1    0    0    0    4    1      3    3

QoS                  1    0    1    0    0    2    2      0    2

Morton              1    0    0    1    0    2    2      0    1

Queen's Park    0    0    0    0    0    0    0      0    0

Partick               1    0    0    0    1    1    4    -3    0    ]

The Parthenon, Nashville

The Swiss Cup of Hockey

Ajoie beat Davos to win the Swiss Cup back in February. Source.

It's the 18th edition of the Swiss Cup, a national tournament involving teams from the five top tiers of Swiss ice hockey. This cup started in the 1950s, but has not been held every year or even every decade, and it was just recently announced that the 2020-21 cup will be the last for the foreseeable future, owing to fixture congestion caused mainly by the Champions Hockey League. So let's follow it while we still have a chance.

The German name for this cup is Schweizer Cup, the French is Coupe de Suisse, and the Italian Coppa Svizzera.

Round One starts today with 32 teams: 12 are from the top tier (the National League), 10 from the second tier (the Swiss League), 6 from the third tier (the MySports League), 3 from the fourth (the misnamed First League), and 1 from the fifth (the similarly misnamed Second League).

Let's follow last year's surprise winner HC Ajoie, who play in the second-tier Swiss League.

Their game today is against HCV Martigny, who play in the MySports League. HCV Martigny was formed in 2018 through the merger of HC Sion-Nendaz 4 Vallées and HC Martigny Red Ice. Their rink, Forum d'Octodure, holds 3,520 spectators. Martigny is in the canton of Valais about where the Rhône takes a turn north toward Lake Geneva.

The early rounds of this cup are regionalized. Both Ajoie and Martigny are in the French-speaking part of Switzerland called Romandie, Ajoie in the north and Martigny in the south.

Ajoie knocked HC Red Ice out of the 2015-16 cup.

[Martigny 1 - 4 Ajoie.]

Pohang Steel Yard

I doubt there was ever a steel mill in this little valley, but the whole area beyond the left margin of this picture is wall to wall with them. Weep, Motherwell. Source.

Kilmarnock versus Motherwell was to have been played last night but is postponed after six Kilmarnock players tested positive for Covid-19. The entire team must self-isolate for 14 days.

Killie's best results in league play against Motherwell:

1895/8/24      Kilmarnock 7 - 1 Motherwell

1962/10/31    Kilmarnock 7 - 1 Motherwell

Worst:

1922/11/4      Kilmarnock 0 - 6 Motherwell

Developments:

Dundee have signed Jamaican striker Nicholas Hamilton on loan from York9. Due to Covid restrictions Hamilton was unable to get into Canada for The Island Games.

The SPFL has introduced a hodgepodge of changes regarding the number of substitutions allowed in a match. Managers will be allowed to make up to five substitutions per match in the Premiership, Leagues One and Two, the League Cup and the Challenge Cup. Managers will be allowed only three substitutions in the Championship and the playoffs.

However, the 2020-21 Challenge Cup is cancelled.

Saarland plans to open its border with Luxembourg on October 5th. The Moselle River separates the two jurisdictions. There are three crossings, one at Remich and two at Schengen, which is the namesake of the Schengen Area of open borders, currently suspended almost everywhere.

The Lowland League has dates for the 2020-21 Scottish Cup rounds listed on its website. I've pencilled them in with a question mark. As yet there is nothing on the SFA website or a Wikipedia article about the 2020-21 cup.

Mortonalia:

Ben Docherty has been loaned to Greenock Juniors and Shaun Rodgers to Gretna 2008.

On Tuesday Morton beat Livingston 1 - 0 in a friendly at Cappielow. Salkeld was the scorer.

Other matches:

Jeonbuk [0 - 1] Pohang Steelers

Morton Women [0 - 6] Glasgow Girls and Women FC (friendly) (tomorrow)

J2: Omiya Ardija 2 - 1 Mito HollyHock (Sept 30)

Mito HollyHock [0 - 0] Fagiano Okayama (tomorrow)

J3: Vanraure Hachinohe [2 - 3] Fukushima United

Blaublitz Akita [2 - 1] Iwate Grulla Morioka

JFL: Suzuka Point Getters [0 - 1] Iwaki FC

Tōhoku: Sendai University [3 - 0] Morioka Zebra

Faroes: Skala 1 - 3 B36 (October 1)

EB/Streymur [2 - 6] B36 (tomorrow)

Iceland: Keflavik 3 - 1 ÍBV (September 29)

ÍBV [1 - 3] Vestri

Allsvenskan: Kalmar [0 - 4] Malmö (tomorrow)

Ireland: UCD 1 - 3 Bray Wanderers (yesterday)

Luxembourg: Fola Esch [4 - 3] Progrès Niederkorn

3.Liga: 1.FC Saarbrücken [4 - 0] Hallescher FC (tomorrow)

Swiss Challenge League: Kriens [0 - 2] Winterthur

Suzuka Point Getters' crest looks like signage for a food court salad franchise.

2020-21 UEFA Europa League, playoff round (October 1):

Sarajevo 0 - 1 Celtic

These two met in the Champions League 1QR last season and Celtic won.

Rangers 2 - 1 Galatasaray

These two met in the 2000-01 Champions League first group stage.

Dundalk 3 - 1 KÍ

Dundalk have made it to the Europa League group stage once before, in 2016-17. KÍ never have.

Malmö 1 - 3 Granada

The draw for the group stage was held yesterday. Rangers are in Group D with Benfica, Standard Liege and Lech Poznan. Celtic are in Group H with Sparta Prague, AC Milan, and Lille. Dundalk are in Group B with Arsenal, Rapid Wein and Molde.

Rangers are in Group D with Benfica, Standard Liege and Lech Poznan.

2020 Copa Libertadores, group stage, matchday 5:

Group B: Palmeiras 5 - 0 Bolívar (September 30)

Group C: Athletico Paranaense 0 - 0 Jorge Wilstermann (September 29)

When is the Canadian Championship?

It must be played before the 2021 Concacaf Champions League begins in February. Toronto FC have MLS games scheduled October 3, 7, 11 14, 18, 24, 28, and November 1 and 8. And it's likely they'll make the MLS playoffs, which start November 20 and end December 12.

Forge have the Concacaf League on October 22, and if they progress there are matches November 3 - 5, December 1 - 3, December 8 - 10, January 5 - 7, January 12 - 14, January 19 - 21 and January 26 - 28.

So I think it'll be November 15th.

Historical matches:

Oct 3, 1914. Morton went to Ibrox and defeated Rangers 0 - 2.

Sept 29, 1992. Challenge Cup, Round One. Morton visited Forfar and won 2 - 5. The Morton scorers were: Alex Mathie with three, Alan Mahood and Rowan Alexander.

Oct 3, 1992. Dunfermline Athletic visited Cappielow and won 0 - 1. A quarter of the way through the schedule Morton were in fourth place out of twelve.

SFL Division Three results, October 4, 1924:

Queen of the South 3 - 1 Brechin City

Beith 8 - 3 Mid Annandale

Montrose 0 - 1 Vale of Leven

Lochgelly United 6 - 0 Dumbarton Harp

1924-25 Scottish Qualifying Cup, Third Round:

Solway Star 1 - 1 Royal Albert

Helensburgh 7 - 0 Stranraer(?)

Dykehead 3 - 1 Galston

Kithsdale Wanderers 5 - 1 Queen of the South

Arbroath Athletic 0 - 3 Peebles Rovers

Clackmannan 4 - 0 Breadalbane

Civil Service Strollers 0 - 1 Leith Athletic

Source: Glasgow Herald, October 6, 1924, p. 14.

On October 2, 1925:

Queen of the South 2 - 1 Nithsdale Wanderers

Source: fitbastats

The Arch of Septimius Severus, 1900

Luigi Bazzani, The Arch of Septimius Severus, Rome (1900). Source.