Watercolour of Morton Castle, by Princess Helena, 1869. Source.
Greenock Morton travel to Palmerston Park to contest the ownership of Morton Castle, located in Nithsdale. Thanks to Morton's win on Leap Day last year they are currently king of the castle and QoS are the dirty rascal.
After last night's Arbroath/Dundee match Morton hold fourth place with 16 points. QoS are eighth with 11 points. Morton won their December 19th match 2 - 0 at Cappielow, but QoS won the shootout in their League Cup group stage match October 6th.
Morton's last three matches have ended in a draw. At the moment, seven of the ten Championship clubs have accumulated at least as many draws as wins. Hearts are the only team without any draws.
[QoS have brought in an emergency goalkeeper.]
Morton Castle games up till now:
Jan 28, 2012 QoS 2 - 1 Morton M7 Q10*
Mar 29, 2014 QoS 3 - 0 Morton Q4 M10
Oct 10, 2015 QoS 1 - 0 Morton Q5 M6
Feb 4, 2017 QoS 3 - 0 Morton M3 Q5
Feb 17, 2018 QoS 1 - 1 Morton M5 Q6
April 6, 2019 QoS 1 - 1 Morton M6 Q7
Feb 29, 2020 QoS 0 - 4 Morton M6 Q9
*Means Morton were in seventh place and QoS in tenth place at time of kickoff.
Other Championship matches:
Arbroath [1 - 1] Dundee (last night)
Dunfermline [0 - 0] Ayr United
Hearts [2 - 3] Raith Rovers
Raith first match of 2021.
Inverness CT vs Alloa [postponed -- frozen pitch]
[QoS 2 - 1 Morton. Queen of the South retake the castle. Morton goal by Orsi.]
It's the League Cup semi-finals:
St Johnstone [3 - 0] Hibs
These two have met in the League Cup semi-final twice before, in 2007 and 2016. Hibs won both times.
Livingston [1 - 0] St Mirren (tomorrow)
Now that these two are in the group stage south section they meet up pretty often, but they've never met in the semi-finals before. Livi are on a nine-game unbeaten streak. St Mirren are on a four-game winless streak.
These two cup games will employ goal-line technology.
When did these clubs last appear in the League Cup final?
2015-16 Hibs
2012-13 St Mirren
2003-04 Livingston
1998-99 St Johnstone
How many times has each won the cup?
3 Hibs
1 St Mirren
1 Livingston
0 St Johnstone
When has neither Old Firm team made the League Cup semi-finals?
1950-51, 1954-55, 1959-60, 1979-80, 2006-07, 2013-14, 2020-21.
League Cups won:
46 (62%) Old Firm
28 (38%) everyone outside the Old Firm combined
Other matches:
3.Liga: 1.FC Saarbrücken [0 - 0] VfB Lübeck (tomorrow)
Swiss Challenge League: Chiasso [0 - 3] Winterthur
Postponed:
Kilmarnock vs St Johnstone (postponed due to the League Cup)
Lowland League: Bonnyrigg Rose vs Gala Fairydean Rovers
Highland League: Clachnacuddin vs Buckie Thistle
WoSFL: Troon vs Largs Thistle
SWF Championship South: Gartcairn vs Morton
Progrès Niederkorn haven't played in two months.
Developments:
The twenty League One and Two clubs have written to the football authorities asking to be allowed to resume play.
Tokyo Musashino City FC of the JFL and Tokyo United of the Kanto League have merged. The JFL team will now go by the name Tokyo Musashino United, while the Kanto League team will continue as Tokyo United. The JFL team had already announced that it is not aiming at J League membership.
HFX Wanderers are setting up an U-23 squad.
Wanderers have signed Nova Scotian goalkeeper Kieran Basket, who has been playing for the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
They've also signed Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé, formerly of Montreal Impact, Ottawa Fury, and Saint Louis FC.
Montreal Impact has renamed itself Club de Foot Montréal. I do not think this is an improvement.
The Canadian Premier League has put out a coffee table book about last year's tournament.
Iida Kodai has renewed his contract with Oklahoma City Energy FC.
Club The Strongest's crosstown rivals Bolivar have entered into a partnership with Manchester City FC.
Scottish Cup
Suppose the lower leagues don't return this year and their teams all drop out of the Scottish Cup. Who's left? There are the 12 Premiership clubs, plus Queen of the South and Dundee who have already won their Round Two matches, plus Arbroath, Raith Rovers, Ayr United, Inverness CT and Hearts, whose Round Two opponents would have dropped out, plus either Morton or Dunfermline, who have their Round Two match still to play. That makes 20 teams. Round Three could be reorganized to have the eight remaining Championship clubs play each other, so that Round Four would have 16 teams, the Premiership clubs plus the four Round Three winners.
South Challenge Cup
They're still trying to finish the 2019-20 South Challenge Cup. BSC Glasgow beat East Kilbride in one semi-final on December 27th. The other semi-final between Hill of Beath Hawthorn and Dunipace is still up in the air. The final is scheduled for March 14th.
This is a good illustration of how it's better to have the lockdown late in the competition. The 2020-21 cup still has 66 teams in it, which should prove to be a rescheduling nightmare.
Historical matches:
Jan 23, 1915. Morton visited Dundee and played to a 1 - 1 draw.
SFL Division Three in the 1924-25 Scottish Cup:
Beith
did not play
Brechin City
did not play
Clackmannan
1925/1/24 R1 Raith Rovers 3 - 0 Clackmannan
Dumbarton Harp
did not play
Dykehead
1925/1/24 R1 Dykehead 1 - 0 Forfar
1925/2/7 R2 Dykehead 3 - 1 Peebles Rovers
1925/2/21 R3 Kilmarnock 5 - 0 Dykehead
Galston
1925/1/24 R1 Motherwell 6 - 3 Galston
Helensburgh
1925/1/24 R1 Bo'ness 1 - 1 Helensburgh
1925/1/27 Helensburgh 0 - 0 Bo'ness
1925/2/3 Bo'ness 2 - 0 Helesburgh (at Firhill)
Leith Athletic
1925/1/24 R1 Hearts 4 - 1 Leith Athletic
Lochgelly United
1925/1/24 R1 Lochgelly United 4 - 0 Breadalbane
1925/2/7 R2 Dundee 2 - 1 Lochgelly United
Mid Annandale
did not play
Montrose
1925/1/24 R1 Montrose 6 - 2 Inverness Citadel
1925/2/7 R2 Montrose 0 - 2 Rangers
Nithsdale Wanderers
1925/1/24 R1 Broxburn United 3 - 2 Nithsdale Wanderers
Peebles Rovers
1925/1/24 R1 St Cuthbert Wanderers 0 - 0 Peebles Rovers
1925/1/27 Peebles Rovers 5 - 0 St Cuthbert Wanderers
1925/2/7 R2 Dykehead 3 - 1 Peebles Rovers
Queen of the South
1925/1/24 R1 Queen of the South 1 - 1 Alloa
1925/1/27 Alloa 2 - 0 Queen of the South
Royal Albert
1925/1/24 R1 Royal Albert 9 - 1 Stranraer
1925/2/7 R2 Royal Albert 1 - 3 Broxburn United
Solway Star
1925/1/24 R1 Solway Star 4 - 2 Stenhousemuir
1925/2/7 R2 Vale of Leven 2 - 2 Solway Star
1925/2/12 Solway Star 3 - 3 Vale of Leven
1925/2/16 Vale of Leven 1 - 2 Solway Star (at Cathkin Park)
1925/2/21 R3 Celtic 2 - 0 Solway Star
Vale of Leven
1925/1/24 R1 Vale of Leven 2 - 0 Inverness Caledonian
1925/2/7 R2 Vale of Leven 2 - 2 Solway Star
1925/2/12 Solway Star 3 - 3 Vale of Leven
1925/2/16 Vale of Leven 1 - 2 Solway Star (at Cathkin Park)
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