Plenty of Nothing

Antarctic Volkswagen

Source.

Endurance

Shackleton's ship Endurance has been located, and it's in pretty good shape. Source.

Admiral Byrd's Antarctic Snow Cruiser

Thunderbirds are Go!

Admiral Byrd brought this enormous and mostly useless Snow Cruiser to Antarctica in 1939. Source. Watch this video.

Shackleton's Antarctic Car

Shackelton took an Arrol-Johnston with him to Antarctica in 1907. Source.

RRS Discovery

RRS Discovery, the ship of Scott's 1901-04 Antarctic expedition, was built in Dundee and is now on display on the Dundee waterfront. Source.

Morton visit Tannadice for a match against Dundee United. Morton are eighth in the division, Dundee United are first. The Tangerines have not lost a match since Oct 19th and are 17 points clear of second-place Inverness. United have outscored Morton 8 goals to 1 in their two meetings so far this season. Lawrence Shankland is the top scorer in the SPFL with 22 goals.

It might appear hopeless, but Morton have taken a win from Dundee United in each of the last three seasons.

Morton are 6 points out of third place and 4 points out of tenth place.

Stephen Welsh has been recalled to Celtic. Peter Grant has departed Morton for Queen's Park.

Michael Tidser has left Falkirk.

The other Championship matches:

Alloa 2 - 0 Arbroath (Jan 21)

Dunfermline (5th) 2 - 0 Dundee (4th) (last night)

Arbroath (7th) [2 - 1] Partick Thistle (9th)

Ayr United (3rd) [1 - 0] ICT (2nd)

QoS (6th) [2 - 3] Alloa (10th)

[Dundee United 1 - 1 Morton. Morton goal by Orsi.]

League One:

Airdrieonians (3rd) [0 - 0] Stranraer (10th)

Clyde (7th) [2 - 1] East Fife (4th)

Falkirk (2nd) [6 - 0] Forfar (9th)

Peterhead (8th) [1 - 0] Dumbarton (6th)

Raith Rovers (1st) [4 - 3] Montrose (5th)

Since 1994, which clubs have played the most seasons in tier III (the Second Division or League One)?

19        Forfar

18        Stranraer

17        Stenhousemuir

17        Brechin

15        East Fife

14        Alloa

13        Stirling Albion

13        Ayr United

12        Airdrieonians

12        Arbroath

When was Morton's last scoreless draw against each of the other 2019-20 Championship clubs?

2019/2/16      Morton 0 - 0 Ayr United

2019/1/26      Morton 0 - 0 Dunfermline

2016/11/19    Morton 0 - 0 Dundee United

2012/2/18      Partick Thistle 0 - 0 Morton

2009/1/17      Dundee 0 - 0 Morton

2008/9/13      Morton 0 - 0 Queen of the South

2006/3/18      Alloa 0 - 0 Morton

1967/4/22      Morton 0 - 0 Arbroath

never             Inverness CT

1907-08. Jan 25th was Round One of the Scottish Cup. Morton hosted Vale of Atholl from Perthshire and beat them 7 - 0.

1963-64. Celtic visited Cappielow for Round Two of the Scottish Cup and won 1 - 3.

Morton in the Glasgow and District Midweek League 1912-13:

1912/9/10      Morton 2 - 1 St Mirren (at Shawfield)

1912/11/5      Partick Thistle 2 - 0 Morton

1912/12/3      Third Lanark 3 - 2 Morton

1913/4/9        Morton 1 - 1 Kilmarnock

Every game took place in Glasgow. Each team was to meet each other team once. Morton's games against Clyde and Falkirk did not occur or have not been found. Source: Scottish Football Historical Archive.

Morton's record on Burns Day.

SPFL Reserve League: Morton 2 - 2 Hearts (Jan 20)

It's the Scottish Junior Cup, Round Five:

Auchinleck Talbot [2 - 1] Tayport

Broughty Athletic [2 - 1] St. Roch's

Hurlford United [5 - 1] Gartcairn

Kello Rovers [2 - 1] Irvine Meadow

Kirkintilloch Rob Roy [0 - 1] Neilston Juniors

Petershill [1 - 1] Darvel Juniors

Pollok [4 - 0] Fauldhouse United

Stoneywood-Parkvale FC [0 - 4] Beith Juniors

Swiss Challenge League: Kriens [0 - 0] Winterthur

2020 AFC Champions League East, preliminary round two (Jan 21):

Kedah (Malaysia) 5 - 1 Tai Po (Hong Kong)

Buriram United (Thailand) 2 - 1 Ho Chi Min City (Vietnam)

Port (Thailand) 0 - 1 Ceres-Negros

Melbourne Victory (New Zealand) 5 - 0 Bali United

2020 Copa Libertadores, First Stage, first leg (Jan 22):

San José (Bolivia) 0 - 1 Guaraní (Paraguay)

The Copa Libertadores is the top club cup in South America. 47 teams compete for a place in the FIFA Club World Cup. The tournament goes from January 'til November. There are four Bolivian clubs in it this year: San José, The Strongest, Jorge Wilstermann, and Bolívar. San José are the only Bolivian club in the first stage.

The División de Fútbol Profesional, Bolivia's top league, got off to a delayed start midweek, except for the match between San José and The Strongest, which was postponed due to the Copa Libertadores.

Tomorrow evening Real Santa Cruz host Club The Strongest. I'm going to follow The Strongest through 2020, but also write about the other clubs, and try to get a handle on Bolivian football and maybe Bolivia itself.

Real Santa Crux have just been promoted to the top division. They were previously in it from 1994 till 2001. They wear white. Their home stadium is the 14,000-seat Estadio Juan Carlos Durán Saucedo. Santa Cruz de la Sierra is the largest city in Bolivia.

[Real Santa Cruz 3 - 2 The Strongest.]

The Canadian Premier League has played only one season but it has already established itself as an organization that likes to get things done at the very last minute. The league placed a club into the 2019 Concacaf League without having a 2018 champion by running a short 10-game apertura last spring. Now they're working to put a club in Ottawa for the 2020 season, which (checks watch) begins in three months.

The split season might help them with that. They could play the Spring Season with seven teams, and admit Ottawa for the Fall Season, giving the new club a couple of extra months preparation time. A seven-team Apertura plus an eight-team Clausura would make for a 26-game season for the other seven teams, if everyone were to play everyone else an equal number of times, for which there is no guarantee in this league.

HFX Wanderers have signed Mateo Restrepo, captain of University of California Santa Barbra.

Football Stadium Prints started out a couple of years ago making original images of Scottish football grounds, including a really nice one of Cappielow with the Titan Crane behind it, and have now done the Wanderers Grounds, choosing quite an unexpected view of the main stand with Camp Hill Hospital in the background. You'd normally expect to be shown Citadel Hill.

The Canadian Premier League's 2019 Player of the Year Tristan Borges has been sold to Belgian club Oud-Heverlee Leuven for an undisclosed amount.

Valour FC have signed Fraser Aird.

Estonian clubs versus Slovenian clubs in UEFA competition:

2004/7/14      Flora Tallinn 2 - 4 ND Gorica          CL 1QR

2004/7/21      ND Gorica 3 - 1 Flora Tallinn          CL 1QR

2009/7/2        Narva Trans 0 - 3 Rudar Velenje    EL 1QR

2009/7/9        Rudar Velenje 3 - 1 Narva Trans    EL 1QR

The 2020 League of Ireland season is approaching. Our guys UCD were relegated from the Premier Division to the First Division at the end of the 2019 season, and Shelbourne were promoted. Limerick FC, who finished bottom of the First Division, are tottering on the verge of insolvency, and have been replaced in the 2020 schedule by Shamrock Rovers II. The other nine First Division clubs don't like it and been warned by the league that they'd just better show up for their games because or else.

The new structure of Scottish women's football is becoming clear. There will be a SWPL 1 with eight clubs, a SWPL 2 with ten clubs, and a third-tier SWF Championship of 26 clubs divided into two 13-team geographical sections called North and South. Morton will be in the Championship South. In 130 years the men's league has never had a 13-team division, not even by accident. [Update: Stenhousemuir have been moved into the South. The Championship South will have 14 clubs, the Championship North will have 12.]

Livingston Island

Livingston Island, in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, has a Bulgarian base on it, hence the Cyrillic script. The passage at the west end of Livingston Island is named Morton Strait. Source.

Morton visit Livingston. This could be the pivotal game of the season.

Dundee United and Dunfermline both won on Tuesday, knocking Morton back to fifth place. It's a three-way race between the Pars, Tangerines and Ton for two playoff spots. Including today's games, who do they still have to play?

Dunfermline: Falkirk, Brechin, ICT, Dumbarton (the bottom four teams)

Dundee United: Dumbarton, St Mirren, Falkirk, Brechin, QoS, Livingston

Morton: Livingston, Dumbarton, QoS, St Mirren, ICT

If everyone beats the underdog and loses to the overdog, Dunfermline will win four, Dundee United will win four, and Morton will win two, leaving Morton in fifth place. If every game ends in a draw, Morton will end up in fifth place.

If you assume that Morton and Dundee United will earn identical results against the same teams, then the difference is Morton's ICT versus United's Falkirk and Brechin. Falkirk and ICT could go either way, but Brechin should cause the Tangerines to pull three points further ahead of Morton.

Compare Dunfermline and Morton. ICT and Dumbarton cancel out, leaving Dunfermline with Falkirk and Brechin, and Morton with Livi, QoS and St Mirren.

Morton definitely have the toughest road.

In their last six starts Morton have 6 points, Dundee United have 6, and Dunfermline have 14. (Source.)

In their favour Morton have the fewest away losses (2) of any Championship club and the fewest goals allowed (29).

Dumbarton play all three clubs, making them a potential kingmaker. Well, third place maker.

Other match of the day: Falkirk [1 - 2] Dunfermline. These two sides bring out the worst in each other, supporters included. A Falkirk win would hurt the Pars' chances considerably.

[Livi 3 - 2 Morton. Morton goals by O'Ware and Lamie. Dunfermline win, but Dumbarton beat Dundee United. Morton remain in fifth place, 2 points behind the Tangerines.]

St Mirren can win promotion today with a win against Brechin, if Morton draw or win. [No title today.]

[Cove Rangers have won the Highland League.]

1978-79. April 4th Morton hosted Aberdeen and lost 0 - 1.

April 7th they visited Ibrox and held Rangers to a 1 - 1 draw.

1933-34. Morton were home to Leith Athletic and played to a 2 - 2 draw.

1944-45. Morton hosted Dumbarton in the final Southern League fixture of 1944-45 and won 2 - 1. This concluded the Southern League schedule. Morton finished in seventh place with 16 wins, 1 draw, and 13 losses. See.

Association football clubs of West Lothian:

SPFL:        Livingston FC

Lowland League: none

East of Scotland League: none

SJFA East Region Super League: Broxburn Athletic, Linlithgow Rose

SJFA East Region Premier League: Bathgate Thistle, Blackburn United, Fauldhouse United, Whitburn Junior

SJFA East Region South Division: Armadale Thistle, Harthill Royal, Livingston United, Pumpherston, Stoneyburn, West Calder United

2018 CONCACAF Champions League, semifinals, first leg:

Guadalajara 1 - 0 New York Red Bulls

Toronto FC 3 - 1 América

2018 AFC Champions League, Group Stage, matchday 5:

Group E: Kashiwa Reysol 0 - 2 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

Group F: Shanghai SIPG 1 - 1 Kawasaki Frontale

Group G: Cerezo Osaka 2 - 1 Jeju United

Group H: Shanghai Shenhua 2 - 2 Kashima Antlers

Abruzzo: San Nicolò [2 - 2] Avezzano

Regionalliga Sudwest: Walldorf (2 - 5) 1. FC Saarbrücken (April 3rd)

League of Ireland, First Division: Drogheda United [2 - 0] UCD

Allsvenkan: Malmö FF [1 - 1] AIK (April 9th)

SWFL Division 1 South: Morton [0 - 3] Hibernian Development

USL: Tampa Bay Rowdies [5 - 0] Ottawa Fury

Largs Thistle [0 - 0] Irvine Victoria (friendly)

J2: Ventforet Kofu [1 - 1] Mito HollyHock

Kanto Soccer League: Joyful Honda Tsukuba FC [2 - 2] Tokyo 23 FC

You can't get a complete picture of Japanese football at the regional level if you don't look at the university leagues. The Kanto University Soccer League is the strongest and oldest of the regional university leagues. There are two tiers on the men's side. Division One includes U of Tsukuba, Meiji U, Ryutsu Keizai U, Senshu U, Hosei U, Juntendo U, Toyo U, Toin U of Yokohama, Waseda U, Tokyo International U, Kokushikan U, and Komazawa U. Some of these names are familiar from the Emperor's Cup. Division Two has Nippon Sport Science U, Kanto Gakuin U, Keio U, Rissho U, Tokai U, Rikkyo U, Takashoku U, Tokyo U of Agriculture, Aoyama Gakuin U, Kanagawa U, Chuo U, and Tokyo Gakugei U. Let's follow Tsukuba through the 92nd Kanto University Soccer League season. Today it's:

University of Tsukuba [1 - 4] Meiji University

Sources: JUFA Kanto; ja.wikipedia

The final of the Queen's Park Shield, for Scottish university football supremacy, was played midweek: St Andrews 0 - 0 Strathclyde. St Andrews win on penalty kicks. It's St Andrews' third Shield, and their first since 1943.

University of Stirling versus Edinburgh University in the Lowland League this year:

16/9/2017        University of Stirling 1 - 2 Edinburgh University (South Challenge Cup)

7/10/2017        Edinburgh University 0 - 1 University of Stirling

19/12/2017      University of Stirling 2 - 0 Edinburgh University

71st Aomori Prefecture Soccer Championship, Round One (continued):

Hirosaki University Medical FC [2 - 3] Gonohe SC

Hachinohe Gakuin University AFC [3 - 1] Aomori Chuo Gakuin University FC

Antarctic Greenock

Birdie Bowers, one of the key members of Scott's final expedition, was born in Greenock.

St. Mirren visit Cappielow. This is the third Renfrewshire derby of the schedule. The two previous ended in scores of 0 - 0 and 1 - 1, making the Ton one of only three Championship sides that have not beaten the Buddies so far this season. St Mirren are having a monstrous season and sit in ninth place going into today's game.

When was the last time Morton were a better team than St Mirren? 1997-98.

It's the beginning of the second half of the season. Morton have played 18 league games, though Hibs only once and Queen of the South three times. They have 6 wins, 6 draws and 6 losses, for 24 points and a -1 goal difference. At this rate they'll finish the season with 48 points, good for 5.5th place in last year's Championship.

Declan McManus is back with the club, so Morton have a much improved shot at fourth place, and as Raith Rovers are up against Hibs today, things look pretty rosy.

What day is the game? In calendar year 2015 Morton played 51 matches, 36 of them league games, 6 cup games, and 9 friendlies. 37 were played on Saturday, 6 on Tuesday, 4 on Friday, and 1 each Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

The SPFL or Brora Rangers -- Which Is Greater? Brora Rangers of the Highland League have played 16 matches against SPFL clubs in Scottish Cup, Challenge Cup, and pyramid playoff action. The SPFL has 11 wins against Brora's 3, with 2 draws. The SPFL is greater, but statistically Brora is greater than Montrose, who have won one and lost two, with two draws.

[St Mirren win 0 - 1. Boo.]

Shirase Antarctic Expedition

The Japanese got up an Antarctic expedition in 1910 and visited the southern continent three years in a row using Sydney Australia as a base. Both the Australian Museum and the National Library of New Zealand have collections of photographs of the Shirase Expedition.

Zinck Comix "Lady Scott of the Antarctic"

Turning Toward Snow

First snow here today. Roofs are whitening. Pavements are damp and dark. A moment’s sunlight will return us to autumn dryness.

The snow has put me in mind of one of my favorite blogs: Antarctic Conservation. Recently they’ve been working on paper restoration and have confessed to being somewhat distracted by the interior of objects like this well-used copy of the Illustrated London News

I’ve always been curious about what the Edwardian explorers read. Expedition accounts frequently mention the reading habits and materials in passing. Lawrence Oates’ reading, for example, of Napier's multi-volume history of the Napoleonic War was a matter of comment on the expedition and is often noted in historical accounts,  sometimes with a note of surprise.

In Ponting photographs, books of one sort or another often peek out of the background.

I've often wanted to know is whether there’s a list of all the printed material taken along on the Edwardian expeditions. Oh wait. Conservators. Of course there’s a list. I wonder if there’s a publicly accessible list.

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