Plenty of Nothing

Víctor Ugarte

Víctor Ugarte (1926-95), third-highest scorer for the Bolivian national team, has his name on the stadium in Potosí* and a lifesize Subbuteo out front. Source.

Playoffs:

Premiership semifinal, second leg:

Dundee [0 - 1] Raith Rovers

Raith are three goals down after the first leg. Winner will advance to meet Premiership club 11, and loser plays in the 2021-22 Championship.

[Dundee advance.]

Other matches:

Hamilton Accies [0 - 2] Kilmarnock (tomorrow)

Motherwell [1 - 2] Ross County (tomorrow)

It's the final matchday of the Premiership schedule. Ross County need only one point to escape relegation. But if they lose and Kilmarnock win, Killie will be safe and Ross County will go into the playoffs. If Hamilton beat Killie by something like 9 goals then Killie are relegated and Hamilton will go into the playoffs. [Hamilton are relegated; Killie go against Dundee in the playoffs.]

Luxembourg: Progrès Niederkorn 1 - 1 Rodange (May 12)

Differdange [0 - 3] Progrès Niederkorn (tomorrow)

3.Liga: 1.FC Saarbrücken [2 - 0] SV Meppen

Kriens 3 - 0 Winterthur (yesterday)

J2: Kyoto Sanga [1 - 0] Mito HollyHock (tomorrow)

UCD 0 - 0 Cork City (last night)

Faroes: IF  0 - 5  B36 (May 13)

B36 [1 - 1] 07 Vestur Sorvagur (tomorrow)

KPV 1 - 1 TPS (May 13)

Real Potosí vs The Strongest [postponed]

Copa Libertadores group stage, matchday 4:

Group B: Always Ready 1 - 2 Olimpia (May 13)

Group B is a four-way tie.

Group C: The Strongest 2 - 0 Barcelona (May 11)

Copa Sudamericana group stage, matchday 4:

Group B: Guabira 0 - 1 Bahia (May 13)

Group C: Bolivar 2 - 2 Jorge Wilstermann (May 12)

At this point Guabira cannot advance.

Historical matches:

May 15, 1993. Morton finished the 1992-93 season with a visit to Dunfermline, where they won 2 - 1. Alexander McEwan scored twice. Morton ended up in sixth position with 19 wins, 10 draws and 15 losses. Alex Mathie was the team scoring leader with 13 goals in league play and 8 in cup play. Rowan Alexander came second with 10 and 4. The highlight of the season was the Challenge Cup final. There was no Renfrewshire Cup that season.

Vale of Leven FC 1877-78:

1878/5/25      McDougall's team vs Campbell's team

These sides were chosen from the first elevens of Vale of Leven and Queen's Park.

1878/5/11      Vale of Leven 6 - 1 Vale of Leven 2nd XI

1878/4/29      Vale of Leven 2nd XI 9 - 0 Blackfriars (Glasgow)

1878/4/13      Wanderers 1 - 3 Vale of Leven          in London

This win over the English FA Cup winner effectively made Vale of Leven champions of the world.

1878/4/6        Vale of Leven 5 - 1 Renton         ("the return match")

1878/3/30      Third Lanark 0 - 1 Vale of Leven    Scottish Cup final

1878/3/23      Vale of Leven 6 - 0 Arthurlie

1878/3/16      Queen's Park 2 - 0 Vale of Leven (12,000 spectators)

1878/3/16      Vale of Leven 2nd XI 0 - 2 Jamestown

1878/2/16      Vale of Leven 2nd XI 2 - 0 Helensburgh 2nd XI

1878/2/16      bye                                                   Scottish Cup R7

1878/1/19      Vale of Leven 5 - 0 Parkgrove        Scottish Cup R6

1877/12/22    Vale of Leven 10 - 0 Jordanhill       Scottish Cup R5

1877/12/15    Vale of Leven 5 - 0 Rangers           Scottish Cup R4

1877/12/1      Rangers 0 - 0 Vale of Leven

1877/11/17    Vale of Leven 1 - 1 Rangers

1877/11/17    Rangers 2nd XI 1 - 1 Vale of Leven 2nd XI

1877/11/10    Vale of Leven 3 - 0 Lennox            Scottish Cup R3

1877/10/27    Vale of Leven 4 - 1 Dumbarton            Scottish Cup R2

1877/10/6      Vale of Leven 8 - 0 1st LRV

1877/9/29      Rangers 5 - 0 Vale of Leven

1877/9/29      Vale of Leven 2nd XI 4 - 1 Rangers 2nd XI

1877/9/29      Vale of Leven wo/scr Kilmaronock** Thistle    Scottish Cup R1

1877/9/22      Vale of Leven 4 - 0 Kilbirnie

*Vale's return match against Renton on April 6th points to an earlier fixture which I haven't found.

**It's a real place.

(Sources: The Beautiful Dribbling Game for the Scottish Cup; the Glasgow Herald for friendlies)

Glasgow Thistle 1877-78:

G     W     D     L     F     A      GD

15    11     1     3    48    12    +36

(Glasgow Herald, April 22, 1878, p. 9.)

Thistle FC existed from 1868 to 1894.

*Potosí is mentioned on page 962 of Don Quixote.

Inés Quispe de Salinas

Inés Quispe de Salinas is president of Club The Strongest. Source.

Developments:

On Tuesday a Rangers-sponsored motion for an investigation into the reconstruction vote produced 13 yeas, 27 nays and 2 mehs. Morton, who have been very quiet throughout this lockdown, voted nay.

Tuesday the South of Scotland League declared its 2019-20 season null and void.

The BBC reports that the SPFL pressured the Lowland League into accepting Brechin in the event of the City losing in the pyramid playoffs. All the Angus clubs are clearly in the Highland League zone. As it stands now the pyramid playoffs are off and Brechin are reprieved.

The SPFL clubs conferenced on Friday, but no decision on ending the season came out of it.

The Bolivian Football Federation is distributing $50,000 of Conmebol money to each of the 14 top-tier clubs to tide them over. That's not a lot of money.

The top two German leagues resume this weekend, but Dynamo Dresden has gone into isolation and cannot play this week or next.

The Icelandic league plans to start June 13th. Denmark plans to go May 28th.

The part of Scotland that has been hardest hit by Covid-19 is Inverclyde. Story.

Regardless of the fate of the Premiership season, there are four cup games left to play: the semi-finals and final of the Scottish Cup and the final of the Challenge Cup.

Which clubs will be in the 2020-21 Scottish Championship?

A) Assuming there is a 2020-21;

B) Assuming that league reconstruction truly is dead;

C) Assuming that there is promotion and relegation for just the top and bottom clubs;

D) Assuming that there are no club liquidations:

Hearts, Inverness CT, Dundee, Ayr United, Arbroath, Dunfermline, Morton, Alloa, Queen of the South, Raith Rovers.

Had the clubs voted for 14-14-16 the 2020-21 Championship would have been made up of:

Dundee, Ayr United, Arbroath, Dunfermline, Morton, Alloa, Queen of the South, Partick Thistle, Raith Rovers, Falkirk, Airdrieonians, Montrose, East Fife, Dumbarton.

How many league matches did each of the clubs fighting relegation with club statements win in 2019-20?

6        Partick Thistle

4        Heart of Midlothian

2        Stranraer

Things I learned this week:

1) In a double robin robin (e.g. the English Premiership season) the other match we played against you is called the 'reverse fixture'.

2) In 1984 the South Korean league handed out 3 points for a win, 2 points for a draw, and 1 point for a scoreless draw.

3) Carol Channing's second husband was an Ottawa Rough Rider nicknamed The Murderous Ax.

Postponed games:

Canadian Premier League:

HFX Wanderers do not visit Atletico Ottawa.

York9 have sold Emilio Estevez to ADO Den Haag for an undisclosed amount.

Swiss Challenge League:

Lausanne Sport vs Winterthur (May 13) (no)

Winterthur vs Kriens (May 16) (no)

Bolivian league:

Royal Pari vs The Strongest (May 13) (no)

The Strongest vs National Potosi (tomorrow) (no)

Historical games:

1963-64: The Summer Cup group stage continued.

(May 13) Morton visited Third Lanark and won 1 - 3.

(May 16) Morton were at home to St Mirren and lost 1 - 2.

In 1974 when Ferranti Thistle were admitted to the league, Irvine Meadow were also under consideration.

JFL 1999: Jatco SC 2 - 3 Mito HollyHock

Jatco SC existed from 1972 to 2003. Their home town was Numazu in Shizuoka. The club came up from the Tokai league in 1997 but never made it higher. Jatco is short for Japan Automatic Transmission Company.

Games being played:

Faroes: B36 [3 - 0] Argja Bóltfelag (AB) (tomorrow)

After last week's season-openers B36 are in second place and AB are tied for fifth.

B36 have never participated in the Scottish Challenge Cup, but they've played three clubs that have: Linfield (in the 2012-13 UEFA Champions League, and the 2014-15 Europa League), The New Saints (in the 2015-16 Champions League) and Crusaders (in the 2019-20 Europa League). B36's record against them is 3 draws and 5 losses. Queen of the South have played Linfield, TNS and Crusaders in the Challenge Cup and have 2 wins and 1 loss, which suggests that the Scottish Championship is a stronger league than the top Faroese division.

K League: Daegu FC [1 - 1] Pohang Steelers

After last weekend's games Pohang are third and Daegu are tied for sixth.

Are the new Airdrieonians a continuation of the old Airdrieonians or the old Clydebank?

The old Airdrieonians club went bankrupt in 2002, partly due to the expense of building shiny new Excelsior Stadium, which opened in 1998. A group seeking to establish a second-life Airdrieonians applied for league membership, but the SFL elected Gretna instead. So the new Airdrieonian group bought Clydebank FC and moved them into the new Excelsior Stadium under the name Airdrie United (which was changed back to Airdrieonians in 2013.) Airdrie United had the name (more or less), colours and stadium of the old Airdrieonians, but the league membership and the Second Division spot of Clydebank.

What about the roster? These players from the 2001-02 Clydebank roster went on to play for Airdrie United in 2002-03:

1) Neil McGowan went from Clydebank 2001-02 to Airdrie United 2002-03 but played 11 games for KA of Iceland in the summer of 2002.

2) Simon Vella

3) Alan Gow

These players went from Airdrieonians 2001-02 to Airdrie United 2002-03.

1) Sandy Stewart

2) Stephen Docherty

3) Stephen McKeown

4) Paul Armstrong

5) Paul Ronald

6) Jérôme Vareille

In terms of league position Airdrie United were a continuation of the old Clydebank, but in terms of roster the new club looked more like the continuation of the old Airdrieonians.

Source.

Potosi, 1758

A bird's-eye view of the city of Potosi, Bolivia, in 1758, with the mountain Cerro Rico. This place supplied much of Europe's silver in the time of the Spanish Empire, and is still mined today. Source.

Museum of Musical Instruments

When in La Paz be sure to visit Museo Instrumentos Musicales de Bolivia. Source.

Cholita Mountaineers of Bolivia

Source. See also.

Wiphala

Bolivia's alternate flag is the Wiphala, representing the country's indigenous peoples. The quiltlike design has seven horizontal squares by seven vertical squares, and the arrangement of the colours varies according to which native group is referenced. Source.

Far From the World Cup

Bolivian club The Strongest's home field in the Achumani neighbourhood of La Paz is just across the back fence from the Andes.

FIFA World Cup group stage:

Group D: Iceland 1 - 2 Croatia (at Rostov Arena, June 26th)

Group H: Japan 0 - 1 Poland (at Volgograd Arena, June 28th)

Iceland are out, but Japan advance by having fewer cautions than Senegal.

Round of 16:

Belgium [3 - 2] Japan (at Rostov, July 2nd) [Japan are out.]

Morton watch: Douglas Rae's funeral is July 2nd. There's sentiment in favour of naming the main stand at Cappielow after him.

Dundee United manager Csaba Laszlo has come out with the statement that his predecessor did not require all Dundee United players to pass a medical exam, an assertion Ray McKinnon denies. This could be the basis for a good McKinnon/Laszlo hate-on this season, or it could just be the continuation of the hate-on between Laszlo and his own squad.

Morton has signed striker Denny Johnstone, who previously played for the club during the 2015-16 season while on loan from Birmingham City and scored 17 goals, many of them against Queen of the South.

2018-19 Europa League preliminary round, first leg:

B36 (Faroes) 1 - 1 St. Joseph's (Gibraltar)

Tre Fiori (San Marino) 3 - 0 Bala Town (Wales)

Cefn Druids (Wales) 1 - 1 Trakai (Lithuania)

League of Ireland, First Division: UCD 1 - 5 Longford Town

The LOI 1st Div season is two thirds done. UCD are first by 4 points despite that score.

J2: Albirex Niigata 1 - 1 Mito HollyHock

The J2 season is half over. Mito are in 16th place, though 17th-place Zweigen Kanazawa have two games in hand.

The JFL is also half over. Here's a table of the games between the four Tohoku clubs:

                                    G   W   D    L    F    A   GD   Pts

Sony Sendai                3    3    0    0    7    1    +6    9

Vanraure Hachinohe    3    1    1    1    3    2    +1    4

ReinMeer Aomori         3    1    0    2    3    6    -3     3

Cobaltore Onagawa     3    0    1    2    1    5    -4     1

Honda FC won the first stage.

Kantō Soccer League: Tokyo 23 FC [2 - 1] Ryutsu Keizai University

Kantō University Soccer League: Tsukuba [0 - 2] Juntendo

Waseda University lead the league at the halfway mark.

2018 Canadian Championship, 2QR, 2nd leg:

Ottawa Fury 1 - 0 Blainville (June 27th)

Ottawa advance.

USL: FC Cincinnati [2 - 0] Ottawa Fury

Stephen Hart has been chosen as general manager and coach of the Halifax Wanderers. He has previously managed the Canadian and Trinidad and Tobago national men's teams.

[Testspiel: Spvgg. Quierschied (1 - 4) 1. FC Saarbrücken. Quierschied is a suburb on the north side of Saarbrücken. Spvgg. Quierschied play in the Saarlandliga.]