Plenty of Nothing

Perseus and the Dragon

Detail from Perseus Freeing Andromeda by Piero di Cosimo. Source.

100th Emperor's Cup Round Five

University of Tsukuba. Confusingly, their shirt sponsor is retail chain Joyful Honda. Source.

It's the Emperor's Cup, Round Five. This is the last round without any J League teams and the first of three consecutive rounds in which there are only four clubs. The winners of this round will go on to meet the champions of J2 and J3, and the winners of that round will go on to meet the top two J1 teams. This format has been hammered out over the course of the pandemic and will very likely never be used again. Today's matches are:

Match No. 45: Fukui United [0 - 3] Fukuyama City

Match No. 45: Honda FC [2 - 1] University of Tsukuba

Fukuyama City are in their first Emperor's Cup. They were started in 2017 as Fukuyama SCC and took on their present name last year. They wear white and have a red rose as their emblem.

Fukui United were known as Fukui Saurcos until 2019. Fukui is the dinosaur capital of Japan.

Honda FC are the onetime JSL club that refused to go professional and now clog up the top of the JFL standings making it hard for other teams to get promoted. You can memorize a list of their many Emperor's Cup appearances here.

University of Tsukuba have been around the Emperor's Cup since 1935. There's a list of their cup games here.

Honda FC and University of Tsukuba have met twice before in the Emperor's Cup:

1984/12/15    R1    Honda 2 - 2 University of Tsukuba (Honda won on PK.)

1989/12/9      R1    Honda 4 - 3 University of Tsukuba

FC Kariya in the Emperor's Cup:

99回    R1    Kataller Toyama 2 - 0 FC Kariya

92回    R1    Zweigen Kanazawa 0 - 1 FC Kariya

            R2    Nagoya Grampus 2 - 0 FC Kariya

89回    R1    Matsumoto Yamaga 1 - 0 FC Kariya

87回    R2    FC Kariya 0 - 1 Zweigen Kanazawa

(Prior to 2006 the club was known as Denso SC.)

85回    R2    FC Ryukyu 1 - 0 Denso

82回    R1    Denso 1 - 1 Sapporo University (Denso won on PK.)

            R2    Yokohama FC 3 - 2 Denso

81回    R1    Denso 4 - 2 Akita Commercial High School

            R2    Mito HollyHock 1 - 0 Denso

80回    R1    FC Primeiro 1 - 6 Denso

            R2    Denso 2 - 1 Juntendo University

            R3    Shimizu S-Pulse 3 - 0 Denso

79回    R1    Nara Sangyo University 2 - 7 Denso

            R2    Denso 7 - 0 Iwami

            R3    Kashiwa Reysol 4 - 2 Denso

78回    R1    Matsubashi Electrical Works Iga Ueno 0 - 5 Denso

            R2    Denso 1 - 3 Tsukuba University

77回    R1    Aoyama Gakuin University 1 - 0 Denso

76回    R1    Denso 3 - 1 Juntendo University

            R2    Denso 3 - 1 Blaze Kumamoto

            R3    Yokohama Flügels 4 - 0 Denso

(Prior to 1996 the club was known as Nippon Denso.)

75回    R1    Bellmare Hiratsuka 3 - 0 Nippon Denso

74回    R1    Nippon Denso 1 - 3 Kyoto Purple Sanga

71回    R1    Nippon Denso 1 - 6 Hitachi

2019-20 Scottish Cup Final

Celtic vs Hearts, 1956. Is that a Tennent's Lager ad on the game ball? Source.

Morton host Queen of the South.* These two teams met in the League Cup group stage, meaning they will have played four matches by the end of 2020-21, if the coronavirus does not curtail the season. Queen of the South have played Morton more times in the 21st century than any other club.

Morton hold sixth place with 10 points and can move up to third place if they win today and Ayr and Inverness lose. QoS are currently ninth with 4 points. They were beaten 6 - 1 by Hearts last weekend. Altogether Queens  have allowed 20 goals in 7 games.

Since returning to the Championship Morton have finished 5th, 4th, 7th, 5th and 7th. In the same time QoS have finished 7th, 6th, 6th, 9th and 9th.

Developments:

There is serious concern that Morton is on the brink of insolvency.

York9 FC have renamed themselves York United and changed their colours to green, blue and gold, seeking to attract "a new community," by which I think they mean Toronto.

[Anton McElhone is to be Morton interim manager for the rest of the season.]

Other Championship matches:

Alloa [2 - 1] Inverness CT*

Arbroath [2 - 1] Ayr United

Dundee [3 - 3] Dunfermline

Raith Rovers vs Hearts (postponed to January 26)

[Morton 2 - 0 QoS. Both goals by Orsi.]

(*Plenty of Nothing Championship League Cup group stage match)

The League Cup quarter-finals were held midweek:

Alloa 1 - 2 Hibs

Alloa made it to the quarter-finals of the League Cup in 1948, losing to Dundee, and 2016, losing to Celtic. They have never won a game against Hibs in the League Cup.

Dunfermline 1 - 1 St Johnstone (St Johnstone win on PK.)

They last met in this cup in 2003.

St Mirren 3 - 2 Rangers

The 2009-10 finalists. This is a major upset, and now Celtic and Rangers are both out.

Livingston 2 - 0 Ross County

They met once before in this cup, in 2010, and Ross County won.

2019-20 Scottish Cup Final (tomorrow)

Celtic vs Hearts

This Scottish Cup has taken 16 months to complete. The first preliminary round was played on August 10, 2019. And so the biggest cup in Scotland joins all those diddy county cups that couldn't get one year done until after the next one had started. The 2020-21 Scottish Cup final will be in five months' time.

This is the 28th time Celtic and Hearts have met in the Scottish Cup, and the fifth time they've met in the final. Celtic have won 20 times, but only twice in the final. Previous finals went:

1901/4/6        Hearts 4 - 3 Celtic

1907/4/20      Celtic 3 - 0 Hearts

1956/4/21      Hearts 3 - 1 Celtic

2019/5/25      Celtic 2 - 1 Hearts

This is the first time since 1983 that the same two clubs have met in consecutive finals. And due to Covid restrictions this match is guaranteed to set a new low-attendance record for a Scottish Cup final. The old record is 2,500, set in 1874.

[Celtic 3 - 3 Hearts. Celtic win on penalty kicks.]

In which calendar years have Hearts not played Celtic?

1982, 1889, and every year before that.

Other games:

Kilmarnock [0 - 2] Aberdeen (tomorrow)

Lowland League: Edinburgh University 0 - 3 Bonnyrigg Rose (December 15)

Bonnyrigg Rose vs BSC Glasgow (postponed)

Highland League: Wick Academy vs Clachnacuddin (postponed)

Clach have yet to play a Highland League match, all of them, so far, postponed due to weather or cup ties.

WoSFL: Largs Thistle [2 - 2] Beith Juniors

3.Liga: Magdeburg vs 1.FC Saarbrücken (December 16) (postponed)

1.FC Saarbrücken [3 - 3] Ingolstadt

Swiss Challenge League: Lausanne-Ouchy 1 - 1 Winterthur (December 15)

Winterthur 3 - 2 Wil (yesterday)

J2: Mito HollyHock 0 - 2 Ryukyu (December 16)

Tokyo Verdy [0 - 1] Mito HollyHock (tomorrow)

[That ends the J2 schedule. HollyHock finish in ninth place with 16 wins, 10 draws, and 16 losses, extending their run of J2 midtable consistency.]

Bolivia: The Strongest 7 - 0 Oriente Petrolero (December 14)

Palmaflor 2 - 1 The Strongest (December 16)

The Strongest [2 - 1] Bolivar

El clásico.

2020-21 UEFA Women's Champions League Round of 32, second leg:

Sparta Prague 0 - 1 Glasgow City (December 16)

Glasgow City are out.

2020 AFC Champions League final:

Persepolis [1 - 2] Ulsan Hyundai

[Ulsan move on to the FIFA Club World Cup in February.]

42nd Empress's Cup, QF:

Match No. 41: Urawa Red Diamond Ladies [3 - 2] JEF United Chiba Ladies (tomorrow)

Match No. 42: INAC Kobe Leonessa [2 - 3] Albirex Niigata Ladies

Match No. 43: Nippon TV Beleza [5 - 0] Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara

Match No. 44: Cerezo Osaka Sakai Ladies [3 - 3] Mynavi Vegalta Sendai Ladies (tomorrow) [Mynavi won on PK.]

Historical matches:

Dec 19, 1914. Morton travelled to Falkirk and lost 2 - 0. The 1914-15 season was now half over. Morton were in third place (out of 20).

Dec 19, 1992. Morton visited Clydebank and played to a 2 - 2 draw. Both Morton goals by Alex Mathie. The league schedule was now half complete. Morton held six place with 10 wins, 4 draws and 8 losses. Mathie led Morton scorers with 10 league goals and 8 cup goals.

SFL Division Three results, December 20, 1924:

Queen of the South 4 - 0 Solway Star

Royal Albert 2 - 0 Lochgelly United

Helensburgh 2 - 1 Brechin City

Clackmannan 4 - 1 Dumbarton Harp

Mid Annandale 1 - 0 Leith Athletic

Nithsdale Wanderers 3 - 1 Beith

Galston 0 - 2 Dykehead

Peebles Rovers 4 - 3 Montrose

Source: Glasgow Herald, December 22, 1924, p. 15.

Yoshitoshi Tokugawa

On December 19th, 1910 Yoshitoshi Tokugawa piloted Japan's first airplane flight. He was a grand-nephew of the last Tokugawa shogun, headed the Imperial Army Aviation School during World War Two, and died at age 78 in 1963. Source.

Golden Kamuy Cosplay at Abashiri Prison

Source.

Renza Hale, First Woman on the Moon

Nancy Gates played Renza Hale in the Men Into Space episode "First Woman On The Moon," written by James Clavell, which aired on December 16, 1959. Read about it at wcftr.

 

Bytowne

The Bytowne Cinema is closing, a victim of the coronavirus. Source.

Ajoie versus Bern

What SC Bern were wearing in 1993. Source.

SC Bern visit HC Ajoie for their Swiss Cup quarter-final. This is their first meeting in the Swiss Cup, and their first encounter of any kind since 1993.

This game was to have been played November 30th, but it got knocked back by two weeks in case Ajoie's quarantine was still in effect.

SC Bern was founded in 1930. The club has been Swiss champion 16 times, most recently in 2018-19. They have won the Swiss Cup twice, in 1965 and 2015. They draw the largest crowds of any European hockey club. However last year was an off season for them, and they finished ninth in the National League, missing the playoffs, and also missing out on an invitation to the 2020-21 IIHF Champions Hockey League, before the tournament was cancelled. SC Bern's record in the Champions Hockey League is here.

How do you spell Bern? It's Bern in German, Berne in French, and Berna in Italian and Romansch.

It's fortunate that the Swiss authorities went ahead with this final Swiss Cup because there will be no Spengler Cup in 2020. This makes the fifth year the Spengler Cup has been called off, the others being 1939, 1940, 1949 and 1956. The tournament was to have followed the usual six team format, with Davos, Team Canada, Ambrì-Piotta, KooKoo Kouvola and Sparta Prague participating.

Ajoie [0 - 3] Bern

The other quarter-finals:

Ambri-Piotta 1 - 2 Fribourg-Gotteron

Langenthal 0 - 8 ZSC Lions

Servette 0 - 0 Lausanne (Servette won in SO.)

HC Ajoie in the Swiss Cup:

14-15    R1    Ajoie 1 - 4 Genève-Servette

15-16    R1    Ajoie 8 - 4 HC Red Ice

             R2    Ajoie 3 - 4 Kloten Flyers

16-17    R1    Ajoie 4 - 5 Lausanne

17-18    R1    Ajoie 4 - 2 Lausanne

             R2    Ajoie 5 - 4 ZSC Lions

             QF    Ajoie 4 - 3 Langnau Tigers

             SF    Rapperswil-Jona Lakers 4 - 0 Ajoie

18-19    R1    Ajoie 2 - 7 Lausanne

19-20    R1    Wiki-Münsingen 1 - 8 Ajoie

             R2    Ajoie 4 - 3 Lausanne

             QF    Ajoie 6 - 3 ZSC Lions

             SF    Ajoie 4 - 3 Bienne

               F    Ajoie 7 - 3 Davos

20-21    R1    Martigny 1 - 4 Ajoie

             R2    Kloten 1 - 3 Ajoie

Source: French Wikipedia

100th Emperor's Cup, Round Four

No. 13 for Verspah, Shogo Tsukada.  Source.

It's Round Four of the Emperor's Cup, in which the winners of the eight regions pair off.

Match No. 41: Fukui United [2 - 1] ReinMeer Aomori

Match No. 42: Fukuyama City [2 - 1] Arterivo Wakayama

Match No. 43: Verspah Oita [0 - 1] Honda FC

Verspah won this year's JFL, and Honda came fourth. Verspah beat Honda 1 - 0 in league play on November 7th.

Match No. 44: University of Tsukuba [3 - 2] Kochi United

ReinMeer Aomori in the Emperor's Cup:

100回    R1    ReinMeer Aomori 2 - 1 Sapporo University

             R2    Iwaki FC 0 - 3 ReinMeer Aomori

             R3    Fuji University 1 - 2 ReinMeer Aomori

  98回    R1    Sakushin Gakuin University 3 - 3 ReinMeer Aomori (ReinMeer won on PK.)

             R2    JEF United Chiba 2 - 2 ReinMeer Aomori (JEF won on PK.)

  95回    R1    Mito HollyHock 4 - 2 ReinMeer Aomori

Verspah Oita in the Emperor's Cup:

100回    R1    Verspah Oita 2 - 2 Tegevajaro Miyazaki (Verspah won on PK.)

             R2    MD Nagasaki 0 - 2 Verspah Oita

             R3    NIFS Kanoya 1 - 2 Verspah Oita

  99回    R1    Roasso Kumamoto 2 - 0 Verspah Oita

  98回    R1    Gainare Tottori 1 - 1 Verspah Oita (Gainare won on PK.)

  97回    R1    Verspah Oita 2 - 1 Kochi United

             R2    Gamba Osaka 3 - 0 Verspah Oita

  95回    R1    Yokkaichi University 1 - 6 Verspah Oita

             R2    Sagan Tosu 4 - 0 Verspah Oita

  94回    R1    Dezzolla Shimani 0 - 5 Verspah Oita

             R2    Oita Trinita 2 - 1 Verspah Oita

(Prior to December 2013 the club was known as Hoyo Oita.)

  93回    R1    Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki 1 - 2 Hoyo Oita

             R2    Oita Trinita 2 - 0 Hoyo Oita

  92回    R1    Hoyo Oita 3 - 0 High School of Nagasaki Institute of Applied Science

             R2    Tokyo Verdy 3 - 0 Hoyo Oita

(Prior to 2012 the club was known as Hoyo AC Elan Oita.)

  91回    R1    Fukuoka University 2 - 0 Hoyo AC Elan Oita

(Prior to 2011 the club was known as Hoyo Atletico Elan Oita.)

  90回    R1    Hoyo Atletico Elan Oita 1 - 2 Honda Lock

Verspah Oita as a bowl of instant noodles. Source.

Deprived Greenock

In January the town centre of Greenock was judged to be the most deprived area of Scotland. BBC. Map source. And in May, not by coincidence, Inverclyde was found to be the Scotland's Covid-19 capital. BBC. And in October residents of Greenock were organizing to try to prevent the closure of the ICU at the Inverclyde Royal Hospital. Source.

Manager David Hopkin has left the club.

Morton visit Dunfermline. The Pars hold second place with 14 points; Morton are seventh with 7. Last season these two teams played each other to a win, a draw and a loss.

Morton's Robbie Muirhead played for Dunfermline in 2018-19. Dunfermline's Declan McManus played for Morton off and on from 2014 to 2016.

How have Morton fared in the first game after a manager has departed?

2019/5/4        Morton 1 - 0 Dundee United       (after Johansson)

2018/9/1        Partick Thistle 1 - 0 Morton          (after McKinnon)

2018/7/14      Ayr United 3 - 1 Morton                (after Duffy)

2014/7/26      Morton 1 - 0 Spartans                 (after Shiels)

2013/11/30    Inverness CT 4 - 0 Morton           (after Moore)

After six games Dunfermline have 4 wins and 2 draws for 14 points. Compare recent years:

2019-20          5 points

2018-19          5 points

2017-18        13 points

2016-17          3 points

Morton have scored only 4 goals in the first six league games. Compare recent years:

2019-20        10

2018-19          8

2017-18        10

2016-17          6

2015-16          6

Other Championship matches:

Ayr United 0 - 0 Raith Rovers* (last night)

Arbroath [0 - 1] Alloa

Hearts [6 - 1] Queen of the South*

Inverness CT [2 - 2] Dundee

[Morton win 1 - 2. Goals by McAlister and McGuffie.]

(*Plenty of Nothing Championship League Cup group stage match.)

Developments:

The Scottish government is going to pour £30million into Scottish football.

The Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway council areas have moved into Covid tier one. Based on this Queen of the South are applying for permission to let fans into Palmerston.

2020-21 Scottish Cup, preliminary round 2:

There are 26 matches in this round. Most of the clubs come from the Lowland, Highland and East of Scotland leagues, but our Lowland League guys Bonnyrigg Rose have a bye. Let's follow Clachnacuddin of the Highland League and the former SPFL clubs East Stirlingshire and Berwick Rangers.

Clachnacuddin [1 - 2] Caledonian Braves

East Stirlingshire [5 - 0] Inverurie Loco Works

Dunipace [1 - 3] Berwick Rangers

Other matches:

Celtic [2 - 0] Kilmarnock (tomorrow)

J2: Machida Zelvia [1 - 0] Mito HollyHock (tomorrow)

Luxembourg: Jeunesse Esch vs Progrès Niederkorn (postponed)

The Luxembourg National Division now takes a break until January 10th.

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

Swiss Challenge League: Winterthur 4 - 0 Xamax (yesterday)

SWF Championship South: Morton vs Airdrie (postponed)

WoSFL: Rutherglen Glencairn vs Largs Thistle (December 9) (postponed)

Blantyre Victoria [1 - 3] Largs Thistle

Bolivia: The Strongest 2 - 0 Always Ready (December 9)

Jorge Wilstermann 0 - 0 The Strongest (December 11)

Concacaf League play-in round:

Marathón (Honduras) 1 - 0 Forge (December 8)

Forge FC versus the world:

2019/8/1        Forge 2 - 1 Antigua GFC

2019/8/8        Antigua GFC 0 - 0 Forge

2019/8/22      Forge 1 - 0 Olimpia

2019/8/29      Olimpia 4 - 1 Forge

2020/10/22    Municipal Limeño 1 - 2 Forge

2020/11/3      Tauro 1 - 2 Forge

2020/12/1      Arcahaie 1 - 1 Forge (Arcahaie won on PK.)

2020/12/8      Marathón 1 - 0 Forge

2020-21 UEFA Women's Champions League, Round of 32, first leg:

Sparta Prague 2 - 1 Glasgow City (December 9)

2020-21 UEFA Europa League group stage, matchday 6:

Group B: Dundalk 2 - 4 Arsenal (December 10)

Group D: Lech Poznań 0 - 2 Rangers (December 10)

Group H: Celtic 3 - 2 Lille (December 10)

Rangers advance to the Round of 32.

2020 AFC Champions League East, Round of 16:

Beijing Guoan 1 - 0 FC Tokyo (December 6)

Ulsan Hyundai 3 - 0 Melbourne Victory (December 6)

Vissel Kobe 2 - 0 Shanghai SIPG (December 7)

Yokohama F. Marinos 2 - 3 Suwon Samsung Bluewings (December 7)

QF:

Ulsan Hyundai 2 - 0 Beijing Guoan (December 10)

Vissel Kobe 1 - 1 Suwon Samsung Bluewings (Kobe won on PK.) (December 10)

SF:

Ulsan Hyundai [2 - 1] Vissel Kobe (tomorrow)

42nd Empress's Cup, Round Three:

Every Nadeshiko League 1 team has made it to this round, plus the #1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 teams from League 2.

Match No. 33: Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies (N1) [2 - 0] Yamato Sylphid (N2)

Match No. 34: JEF United Chiba Ladies (N1) [1 - 0] Iga FC Kunoichi (N1)

Match No. 35: INAC Kobe Leonessa (N1) [1 - 0] Orca Kamogawa (N2)

Match No. 36: Albirex Niigata Ladies (N1) [3 - 1] Nippatsu Yokohama FC Seagulls (N2) (tomorrow)

Match No. 37: Nippon TV Beleza (N1) [2 - 0] AS Harima Albion (N2)

Match No. 38: Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara (N1) [2 - 1] Ehime FC Ladies (N1)

Match No. 39: Cerezo Osaka Sakai Ladies (N1) [3 - 0] Chifure AS Elfen Saitama (N2)

Match No. 40: Mynavi Vegalta Sendai Ladies (N1) [1 - 1] Sfida Setagaya (N2) (tomorrow) [Mynavi win on PK.]

Historical matches:

Dec 8, 1914. Morton played St Mirren in the semi-finals of the Navy and Army War Fund Shield, and won 1 - 0.

Dec 12, 1914. Morton were at home to Clyde and beat them 2 - 0.

Dec 13, 1992. Challenge Cup Final. Morton and Hamilton met at Love Street in Paisley, and the Accies won 3 - 2. Both Morton goals came from the boot of Rowan Alexander. Morton have never been back to the Challenge Cup final.

SFL Division Three results, December 13, 1924:

Beith 2 - 1 Queen of the South

Brechin City 3 - 0 Clackmannan

Dumbarton Harp 3 - 2 Galston

Leith Athletic 2 - 3 Peebles Rovers

Montrose 2 - 3 Helensburgh

Royal Albert 7 - 0 Dykehead

Solway Star 0 - 0 Nithsdale Wanderers

Vale of Leven 4 - 1 Mid Annandale

Source: Glasgow Herald, December 15, 1924, p. 15.