Plenty of Nothing

Incense Burning Rabbits

Source.

Joueur de Bignou

Source.

Samson and Delilah

Source.

Albarello

An apothecary jar from Naples c. 1475-1500. Source.

The New Season

2021-22 marks the centenary of Morton's first Scottish Cup. Source.

The 2021-22 Championship begins. This year is going to be fantastic because supporters are back in the parks, Kilmarnock are in the division so there's the Ayrshire derby, Partick and the world's best mascot Kingsley return, Hamilton Academical, that somewhat more successful version of Greenock Morton, are back, and Morton are still in the division despite being so very very awful all last season.

Today Morton host Dunfermline Athletic. Morton have been cleared to admit 1500 home fans to Cappielow. Can they round up that many?

Dunfermline have not won a game at Cappielow since March 25th, 2017. However, they won three of four games in the League Cup group stage, and will meet Rangers in Round Two. They scored 13 goals, against Morton's 3.

Gozie Ugwu played for Dunfermline in 2014. Robbie Muirhead did likewise in 2018-19. None of the Pars have played for Morton.

Dunfermline Athletic is owned by a German consortium called DAFC Fussball GmbH.

Morton have signed fewer players than any other Championship club this summer.

Today's starting lineup is: [Hamilton, Ledger, Strapp, Jacobs, Oliver, Blues, Muirhead, Ugwu, Hynes, McGregor, Lithgow.]

Compare last year: McAdams, Fjortoft, McLean, McGinty, Muirhead, Jacobs, McAlister, Salkeld, McPake, Nesbitt, Orsi.

Willie Collum is referee.

[Morton 2 - 2 Dunfermline. Morton goals by Oliver and McGrattan.]

The other Championship matches:

Arbroath [0 - 1] Inverness CT

Partick Thistle [3 - 2] Queen of the South

Raith Rovers [4 - 4] Hamilton Accies

[That's the first time these two have played each other to a 4 - 4 draw.]

Kilmarnock [2 - 0] Ayr United (August 2)

This is the first Ayrshire derby in four years [and the first league match in 28 years.]

The 2021-22 Championship has five 10,000+ spectator stadiums: Rugby Park (17,889), Cappielow (11,589), East End Park (11,480), Somerset Park (10,185) and Firhill (10,102).

Developments:

St Mirren FC is now fan-owned.

Fort William's ground Claggan Park has been ruled unfit for use by the Highland League, and as a consequence all of Fort William's league and cup games this season will be played at the opponent's ground.

Dalbeattie Star are top of the Lowland League.

Video:

Eleanor Morton.

Plenty of Nothing's objectives for Morton in 2021-22:

1)    Beat Kilmarnock.

2)    Finish higher than Ayr United.

3)    Finish higher than Queen of the South.

4)    Score on Raith.

5)    Score on Arbroath.

6)    Score on Aberdeen.

7)    Play Cove Rangers.

8)    Play Kelty Hearts.

9)    Reach the semi-finals of any cup.

10)    Set a club record for scoreless draws.

Which clubs are in the 2021-22 Championship, and when did they know for sure?

April 23        Queen of the South

April 23        Inverness Caledonian Thistle

April 29        Partick Thistle

April 30        Arbroath

April 30        Ayr United

May 8          Dunfermline Athletic

May 15        Raith Rovers

May 16        Hamilton Academical

May 21        Greenock Morton

May 24        Kilmarnock

When did they last join the division and was it from above or below?

2021    Kilmarnock (above)

2021    Hamilton Academical (above)

2021    Partick Thistle (below)

2020    Raith Rovers (below)

2019    Arbroath (below)

2018    Ayr United (below)

2017    Inverness CT (above)

2016    Dunfermline (below)

2015    Morton (below)

2013    QoS (below)

In which divisions have the 2021-22 Championship clubs played since 1994?

Kilmarnock        AAAAAA     AAAAAAAAAA    AAAAAAAAAA   AB

Inverness CT    DDDCCB    BBBBAAAAAB   AAAAAAABBB    BB

Dunfermline      BBAAAB    AAAAAAABBB    BABCCCBBBB    BB

Hamilton           BBCBBC    DCCCBBBBAA    ABBBAAAAAA    AB

Partick              AABBCC    CBAABCBBBB    BBBAAAAABB    CB

Raith Rovers    BAABBB    BBCBBCCCCB    BBBBBBBCCC    BB

Morton             CBBBBB    BCDCCCCBBB    BBBBCBBBBB    BB

QoS                 CCCCCC    CCBBBBBBBB    BBCBBBBBBB    BB

Ayr Utd            BCCBBB    BBBBCCCCCB    CBCCCCBCBB    BB

Arbroath          DDDDCC    CBBCCDDDCC   DCCCDDDCCB   BB

(A = tier I; B = tier II; etc.)

The big clubs continue to rotate through the Championship:

2014-15        Hearts, Hibs, Rangers

2015-16        Rangers, Hibs

2016-17        Hibs, Dundee United

2017-18        Dundee United

2018-19        Dundee United

2019-20        Dundee United

2020-21        Hearts

2021-22        Kilmarnock

How many goals must a team score on opening day to start the season in first place?

[2021/8/2       2    Kilmarnock]

2020/10/17    6    Hearts

2019/8/3        4    Dundee United

2018/8/4        2    Ayr United

2017/8/5        4    Queen of the South

2016/8/6        2    Raith Rovers

2015/8/8        3    Raith Rovers

Recent years that Morton finished Day One in first place:

2013    Morton were alone in first place.

2003    Morton were alone in first place.

1983    Morton were alone in first place.

Recent years that Morton finished Day One in last place:

2014    Morton and Airdrie were tied for last place with a -1 gd.

2009    Morton and Dunfermline were tied for last place with a -1 gd.

2000    Morton and Airdrie were tied for last place with a -2 gd.

1990    Morton and Brechin were tied for last place with a -4 gd.

1989    Morton and Livi were tied for last place with a -2 gd.

1988    Morton were alone in last place.

1987    Morton were alone in last place.

Other matches:

Kelty Hearts [2 - 0] Cowdenbeath

Thomas O'Ware (Morton 2011-18) has signed with Kelty.

Cork City 1 - 1 UCD (last night)

Faroes: B36 3 - 0 TB (July 28)

Daegu [1 - 1] Pohang Steelers (tomorrow)

Tohoku Div 1: Dogizaka vs Primeiro Fukushima (tomorrow) (September 26)

TPS 2 - 2 MP MIkkeli (yesterday)

Cumbernauld United 0 - 4 Largs Thistle (July 28)

Largs Thistle [1 - 2] Cumnock Juniors

East Kilbride 1 - 1 Caledonian Braves (July 27)

The man of the match receives a bottle of whisky. Photo.

East Kilbride [0 - 1] Civil Service Strollers

Celtic B vs Rangers B (postponed)

Clachnacuddin [2 - 5] Huntly

Winterthur 3 - 1 Wil (yesterday)

1.FC Saarbrücken [1 - 2] VfL Osnabrück

Aurora [0 - 1] The Strongest

[Morton Women 10 - 3 St Mirren (August 1) (friendly)]

FC Isle of Man play in the tenth-tier North West Counties League Division One South, which starts today. Let's follow them:

Maine Road [1 - 1] FC Isle of Man

There's a border between England and the Isle of Man, so Covid restrictions could interfere with the schedule.

They're going to complete the 2019-20 South Challenge Cup. One semifinal was played December 27, 201920. The other is today:

Hill of Beath Hawthorn [2 - 4] Dunipace

2021-22 UEFA Champions League 2QR, second leg (July 28):

Midtjylland 2 - 1 Celtic

Celtic drop down to the Europa League.

2021-22 UEFA Europa Conference 2QR, second leg (July 29):

Hacken 2 - 0 Aberdeen

San Coloma 1 - 2 Hibs

Budućnost Podgorica 0 - 2 HB (July 27)

Borac Banja Luca 0 - 0 Linfield

Connah's Quay Nomads 4 - 2 Prishtina

Bodø/Glimt 3 - 0 Valur

FCI Levadia 1 - 2 Dundalk

The New Saints 5 - 1 Kauno Žalgiris

AGF 1 - 1 Larne

Bohemians 3 - 0 F91 Dudelange

Breiðablik 2 - 1 Austria Wien

Rosenborg 4 - 1 FH

Our guys Aberdeen, Hibs, Dundalk, Bohemians, Linfield, Larne, The New Saints and Breiðablik advance. FH and Connah's Quay Nomads are out.

Olympic Women's Soccer, group stage:

Chile 0 - 1 Japan (July 27)    Goal by Mina Tanaka.

Canada 1 - 1 Great Britain (July 27)    Canadian goal by Adriana Leon.

Quarter-finals:

Sweden 3 - 1 Japan (July 30 in Saitama)    Mina Tanaka scores for Japan.

Brazil 0 - 0 Canada (July 30 at Sony Sendai's stadium)    Canada win on PK and progress to the semis.

The first round of the 2021-22 North of Scotland Cup was (sort of) played Wednesday:

Forres Mechanics vs Rothes (postponed)

Nairn County 2 - 4 Lossiemouth

Strathspey Thistle wo/scr Golspie Sutherland

The 2020-21 Aberdeenshire Cup final was played Wednesday:

Formartine United 1 - 3 Fraserburgh

Canadian Premier League

With the conclusion of the Kickoff each team has played 8 games, and each has at least 2 wins and 2 losses. Halifax are in seventh place with 2 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses, 4 goals scored (the league lowest) and 8 goals allowed. Akeem Garcia is goalless. The Wanderers' next game is Monday at the Wanderers Grounds.

Members of four teams were threatened with fines by the league after they posed in Professional Footballers Association shirts in Winnipeg. The league has yet to recognize the players' union, and should immediately.

1999-2000

July 31, 1999.    It was Round One of the League Cup. Morton had a bye into Round Two by virtue of having finished sixth in the division in 1998-99. Clydebank had finished seventh. Clydebank met East Stirlingshire at Cappielow and lost 1 - 2. David Stewart scored for Clydebank. 69 people attended this match.

The Plenty of Nothing Championship League Cup:

This is the third year of the tournament. The previous results were:

2019-20        No winner

2020-21        No winner

The 2019-20 final was preempted by Covid, after which the two finalists went off to different leagues and did not meet again the next season. The 2020-21 cup successfully finished a 20-game group stage only to run aground on a postponed semi-final game that was not completed until after the final it was supposed to set up, triggering the "no temporal anomalies" rule.

This year's teams are seeded in this order:

  1    Kilmarnock

  2    Hamilton Academical

  3    Raith Rovers

  4    Dunfermline Athletic

  5    Inverness Caledonian Thistle

  6    Queen of the South

  7    Arbroath

  8    Ayr United

  9    Morton

10    Partick Thistle

Round One involves clubs 7, 8, 9 and 10. 7 will play 10, 8 will play 9. The higher club is not guaranteed home field advantage.

New rule: The next round will begin as soon as a fixture becomes available, whether league or cup.

Tie-breakers are: 1) the side with fewer red cards wins, or then 2) the side with fewer yellow cards wins, or then 3) the side with more corner kicks wins, or finally 4) the visitor gets the win. These tie-breakers take precedence over other tie-breakers.

The Round One matches are:

2021/8/21      Arbroath vs Partick

2021/9/25      Ayr United vs Morton

And two Round Two matches are already known:

2021/9/11      Raith Rovers vs Queen of the South

2021/9/28      Dunfermline vs Inverness CT

Ciudad Real

Source.

Shakōkidogū

This earthenware figure or dogū from the Jōmon period of Japanese prehistory (14,000 to 300 BC), was found in Tsugaru, Aomori Prefecture in 1886 and held up by Erich von Däniken in 1968 as evidence of extraterrestrial contact. Its snow-goggle eyes give it the name Shakōkidogū in Japanese. You only have to look at photos of Aomori in wintertime to see why snow-googles would be a thing. Today the figure is emblematic of Tsugaru, and Dogizaka FC have it on their crest.

Matches:

J2: Thespakusatsu Gunma 2 - 1 Mito HollyHock (June 4)

JFL: Nara Club 0 - 0 FC Kariya (yesterday)

Tohoku Div 1: Nippon Steel Kamaishi [0 - 2] Dogizaka

Dogizaka FC is written 筒木坂FC, which Google Translate insists is Tsutsugizaka FC.

Tohoku Div 2 N: Gonohe SC (五戸SC) vs Akita Cambiare [postponed]

[Gonohe did manage to get a game played in May, losing 6 - 0 to New Pearl Hiraizumi Maezawa.]

How can a person follow Dogizaka FC or Gonohe SC?  Both have pages at Transfermarkt. Aomori Goal magazine, which has a Twitter account in Japanese, covers both clubs.

PK-35 [0 - 0] TPS

The SWF Championship was supposed to begin this weekend, but so far nothing. [2020-21 is null and void, and the new season will start in August. The messaging on this has not been very clear.]

Developments:

Shaun Rodgers, Justin Johnson, Rabin Omar and James Wallace have been released by Morton. Chris Millar, Kalvin Orsi and Craig McGuffie are also not returning. Aidan Nesbitt has signed with Falkirk.

Morton have signed defender Alan Lithgow, formerly of Hearts, Stirling Albion, Clyde, Dumbarton, Ayr United, Stenhousemuir, Airdrieonians and Livingston. Gary Oliver has signed a one-year extension.

Stephen Farrell has left Stranraer to take on the managerial role at Dumbarton. Billy Dodds is the new manager at ICT.

Jim Duffy is joining the backroom staff at Ayr United.

Queen's Park will groundshare at Partick Thistle's Firhill Stadium this season.

[The Canadian league will start June 26th with the first 32 games being played in Winnipeg.]

How do things stand in the Japanese leagues?

J1:    After 20 games Kawasaki Frontale are tops, followed by Nagoya Grampus and Yokohama F Marinos.

J2:    Albirex Niigata lead, followed by Kyoto Sanga and FC Ryukyu. Our guys Mito HollyHock are tenth, as always.

J3:    After 9 games Kataller Toyama and Roasso Kumamoto lead.

JFL:    After ten games our guys Iwaki FC are tops, followed by Honda FC and FC Osaka.

Hokkaido:    This league is just starting.

Tohoku:    This league is just starting.

Kanto:    After seven games Briobecca Urayasu are tops.

Hokushinetsu:    After four games Niigata University of Health and Welfare and Fukui United are undefeated.

Tokai:    This league is just a game or two into its season.

Kansai:    Ococias Kyoto lead after four games.

Chugoku:    Fujifilm lead after three games.

Shikoku:    FC Tokushima and Tadostu FC are undefeated after four games.

Kyushu:    Okinawa SV are tops as usual.

WE League:    The new women's pro league hasn't started yet, but Nadeshiko 1 and 2 are well under way with Iga FC Kunoichi Mie on top of division 1.

Mito HollyHock in the 1990s:

Mito FC:

1994                                                                                 Ibaraki Div 4

1995                                                                                 Ibaraki Div 3

1996                                                                           1st, Ibaraki Div 2

Prima Ham Tsuchiura:

1994    18    10    2            6    36    25    +11    22     3rd, KSL

1995    18    14    3            1    48    13    +35    45     1st, KSL

1996    18    12    4            2    58    15    +43    40    2nd, KSL    P

Mito HollyHock:

1997    30      3    0    1    26    24    69     -45    10    16th, JFL

1998    30      7    1    0    22    37    69     -32    23    14th, JFL

1999    24    13    3    0      8    48    32    +16    45      3rd, JFL    P

Sources: Japanese Wikipedia, RSSSF.

Seasons of Gonohe SC:

2020      4    1    0      3      3    16    -13      3    5th, T2N

2019    18    6    1    11    30    71    -41    19    9th, T2N

2018    18    3    4    11    27    66    -39    13    8th, T2N

2017      9    8    1      0    35      9   +26    25    1st, AP1

2016      8    3    1      4    13    16      -3    10    5th, AP1

2015      8    5    1      2    18    11     +7    16    2nd, AP1

2014      7    4    3      0    12      6     +6    15    2nd, AP1

2013

2012

2011

2010      9    2    0      7      9    24    -15      6    9th, AP1

2009    11    5    1      5    23    24      -1    16    7th, AP1

T2N = Tohoku Member of Society Soccer League, Division Two North

AP1 = Aomori Prefecture Member of Society Soccer League, Division 1

I haven't yet found a source for the Aomori league, Division 2.

(Sources: Wikipedia, RSSSF.)

Porcelain Beer Cans

Ming dynasty beer cans by artist Lei Xue. Source.

Sophie Woodrow

Source.

Samian Ware, Vindolanda

Source.