Cove Rangers, 1956. Source.
Morton host Cove Rangers. This is the first Scottish League match between these two clubs, but not the first match. They met up at Cove Rangers' old ground Allan Park in the 2004-05 Scottish Cup Round Two and Morton won 1 - 7. The last Morton player to score on Cove Rangers was Chris Millar.
Cove Rangers were founded in 1922, and in 1947 became a founding member of the Aberdeenshire Amateur League Division One, which they won 13 times including 1956 (above). They moved to the North Junior League in 1985 and the Highland League in 1986. They won that league seven times, and in 2019 they relegated Berwick Rangers to win a spot in the SPFL. Cove won League Two in 2020 and League One in 2022, and now they find themselves in the Championship. The division has never had an Aberdeen club before.
After guiding them through two promotions manager Paul Hartley left for Hartlepool this summer, because naming is destiny. Their present gaffer is Jim McIntyre, formerly of Dunfermline, Queen of the South, Ross County and Dundee. They wear blue.
After Week One's games Cove Rangers sit atop the Championship. Morton meanwhile are in a four-way tie for third (prior to last night's match between Queen's Park and Ayr, that is.)
[Morton win 1 - 0. Goal by Quitongo.]
Prior to this season, how many games had Cove Rangers played against the other 2022-23 Championship clubs?
7 Queen's Park
4 Partick Thistle
3 Inverness CT
3 Raith Rovers
2 Dundee
1 Morton
0 Arbroath
0 Ayr United
0 Hamilton Academical
Other Championship matches:
Queen's Park 2 - 3 Ayr United (last night)
Arbroath [0 - 0] Inverness CT
Partick Thistle [1 - 1] Hamilton Academical
Raith Rovers [0 - 1] Dundee
Other matches:
Edinburgh University 2 - 3 Gala Fairydean Rovers (August 2)
The Spartans [4 - 0] Gala Fairydean Rovers (today)
Nairn County [0 - 5] Forres Mechanics
Pollok [0 - 0] Largs Thistle
Shamrock Rovers vs UCD (yesterday) (postponed)
The Dutch Eerste divisie starts this weekend. Typical of football everywhere, Eerste divisie is the name of the second division. The top division, confusingly, is called the Eredivisie. We're following PEC Zwolle.
PEC Zwolle [2 - 1] De Graafschap (tomorrow)
Servette [1 - 0] Winterthur
Litherland REMYCA 1 - 2 FC Isle of Man (August 3)
Blaublitz Akita [1 - 1] Mito HollyHock (tomorrow)
Blancdieu Hirosaki [7 - 0] Bogolle.D.Tsugaru (tomorrow)
Forge [1 - 0] HFX Wanderers
League1 BC playoff final (August 1):
Varsity FC 1 - 1 TSS Rovers (TTS Rovers win on PK.)
TTS Rovers advance to the 2023 Canadian Championship. The Juan de Fuca Plate goes to the club with the most points after the male and female league tables are combined: Varsity FC.
League1 Ontario: North Toronto Nitro [5 - 2] North Mississauga
North Toronto Nitros have their home field in Downsview, Toronto.
PLSQ: Royal-Sélect de Beauport [5 - 0] CS Longueuil (tomorrow)
CSL: Serbian White Eagles [2 - 0] Toronto Falcons
Someone vandalized the pitch at Centennial Park Stadium, so CSL games have been shifted to Churchill Meadows, North Mississauga SC's pitch. [And then to Esther Shriner Stadium in North York.]
Toronto FC U23 0 - 1 Sunderland AFC U23, in Regina (August 3)
HFX Wanderers U23 1 - 0 CS St-Laurent (August 3)
UEFA Champions League 3QR, first leg (August 2):
Union Saint-Gilloise (Belgium) 2 - 0 Rangers
UEFA Europa League qualifying round, first leg (August 4):
Shamrock Rovers 3 - 1 Shkupi (North Macedonia)
Linfield 0 - 2 Zurich
UEFA Europa Conference 3QR, first leg (August 4):
Dundee United 1 - 0 AZ (Netherlands)
Viking (Norway) 5 - 1 Sligo Rovers
CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria) 0 - 1 St Patrick's Athletic
Concacaf League, preliminary round, second leg (August 2):
Pacific FC 6 - 0 Waterhouse FC (Jamaica)
Pacific advance.
Subsequent careers of clubs promoted via the pyramid playoffs:
FC Edinburgh (Edinburgh City)
2016-17 36 11 10 15 38 45 -7 43 7th, League Two
2017-18 36 7 9 20 37 62 -25 30 9th, League Two
2018-19 36 20 7 9 58 31 +27 67 3rd, League Two
2019-20 27 17 4 6 49 28 +21 55 2nd, League Two
2020-21 22 12 2 8 40 27 +13 38 2nd, League Two
2021-22 36 14 10 12 43 49 -6 52 4th, League Two P
Cove Rangers
2019-20 28 22 2 4 76 34 +42 68 1st, League Two P
2020-21 22 10 6 6 28 18 +10 36 3rd, League One
2021-22 36 23 10 3 73 32 +41 79 1st, League One P
Kelty Hearts
2021-22 36 24 9 3 68 28 +40 81 1st, League Two P
Once having gained entry to the SPFL, these three clubs have subsequently earned four promotions. Contrast the relegated clubs East Stirlingshire, Berwick and Brechin, who have not earned anything in their new leagues.
Times that Morton began the league season with a draw:
2022/7/30 Hamilton Academical 1 - 1 Morton
2021/7/31 Morton 2 - 2 Dunfermline
2018/8/4 Morton 2 - 2 Queen of the South
2017/8/5 Dumbarton 0 - 0 Morton
2016/8/6 St Mirren 1 - 1 Morton
2015/8/8 Morton 1 - 1 Falkirk
2012/8/11 Morton 2 - 2 Livingston
2011/8/6 Ross County 0 - 0 Morton
2010/8/7 Morton 0 - 0 Stirling Albion
2008/8/2 Clyde 1 - 1 Morton
2002/8/3 Gretna 1 - 1 Morton
1995/8/12 Dundee United 1 - 1 Morton
1994/8/13 Morton 1 - 1 Berwick Rangers
1985/8/10 Partick Thistle 1 - 1 Morton
1982/9/4 Morton 0 - 0 Kilmarnock
1976/9/4 Montrose 0 - 0 Morton
1975/8/30 Morton 0 - 0 Partick Thistle
1960/8/24 Morton 2 - 2 Stranraer
1957/8/21 Morton 1 - 1 Hamilton Academical
1954/9/11 Morton 2 - 2 Third Lanark
1953/9/5 Morton 3 - 3 Stenhousemuir
1951/9/8 Morton 2 - 2 Queen of the South
1948/8/14 Celtic 0 - 0 Morton
1945/8/11 Morton 1 - 1 Celtic
1943/8/14 Morton 1 - 1 Motherwell
1940/8/10 Third Lanark 2 - 2 Morton
1930/8/9 Ayr United 2 - 2 Morton
1927/8/13 Arbroath 1 - 1 Morton
1924/8/16 Morton 2 - 2 Kilmarnock
1921/8/17 Morton 0 - 0 Motherwell
1919/8/16 Partick Thistle 1 - 1 Morton
1917/8/18 Partick Thistle 3 - 3 Morton
1911/8/15 Partick Thistle 1 - 1 Morton
1896/8/22 Partick Thistle 2 - 2 Morton
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