Plenty of Nothing

St Nicolas Church in Hérémence

Source.

Sant'Adriano al Foro, 1909

The Church of Saint Adriano in the Forum (the building between the pillars) started life as the Curia Julia, the meeting-house of the Roman Senate. Source.

Dunstan Massey

Saints Anselm and Dunstan, by Dunstan Massey, in Westminster Abbey, Mission BC. Source. Everything about Westminster Abbey seems to have sprung out of a Robertson Davies novel. It's a mid-20th-Century modernist Canadian institution with an utterly European cultural project that has enabled a talented, obscure individual to create a huge body of really fantastic religious art. There's a book about it by Daphne Sleigh.

Pre-Raphaelite Greenock

The Old West Kirk contains stained glass windows by Dante Gabriel Rossetti ("Charity", left), Edward Byrne Jones and Daniel Cottier. Source.

It's the final matchday of the 2018-19 League Cup group stage. Morton host Albion Rovers.

These two clubs have played six League Cup matches since 1946. Morton lead with 4W and 2L. When they met in the group stage two years ago Morton took the extra point in the shootout.

Other game: Partick Thistle [0 - 2] Ayr United.

The situation: Morton cannot advance. Today's match may as well be called a friendly.

But the winner of the Partick/Ayr match will advance to Round 2, and the loser might also. Both Partick and Ayr have 9 points. Both are good at winning the group stage.

Morton's Tuesday glamour friendly against Cardiff City has been called off due to the number of injured Morton players. Currently Gaston, Johnstone, Robert Thomson, Millar, Waddell and Strapp are out. [Though Gaston and Waddell are starters today, and Millar and R. Thomson are substitutes.]

Morton have signed English striker Connor Bell, formerly of Wrexham, Rhyl, Servette and ICT.

[Morton win 5 - 0. Goals by McHugh, Bell, Tidser (2), Armour.]

[Final standings, Group E:

                         Pld  W  PW   PL   L    F    A   GD  Pts

Ayr United         4     4     0     0     0   12   1  +11   12

Partick               4     3     0     0     1    6    3   +3    9

Morton               4     2     0     0     2    9    5   +4    6

Stenny               4     1     0     0     3    4    9    -5    3

Albion Rovers    4     0     0     0     4    0  13  -13    0 ]

What was Albion Rovers' greatest League Cup moment?

September 8th, 1976 they beat Airdrieonians 3 - 1 in the second leg of the Supplemental Round to advance to the quarter-finals.

Albion Rovers' victorious Lanarkshire Cup finals:

1900/3/3      Albion Rovers 2 - 1 Royal Albert

1921/4/13    Albion Rovers 2 - 1 Hamilton Academical

1949/9/26    Airdrieonians 1 - 2 Albion Rovers

1951/5/19    Albion Rovers 2 - 1 Motherwell

1973/74       Albion Rovers W - L Motherwel

1975?/10/23    Albion Rovers 2 - 1 Motherwell

1981?/8/2    Motherwell 1 - 1 Albion Rovers (Rovers won on penalty kicks)

1987/4/20    Albion Rovers 2 - 1 Airdrieonians

Source.

Arthurlie vs Albion Rovers. These two clubs were nearly constant companions from 1890 until 1929.

Their home towns Coatbridge and Barrhead are fifteen miles apart, on opposite sides of Glasgow at three and seven o'clock, if Glasgow were a clock.

They were together in the Scottish Federation for two years. In the 1891-92 season Arthurlie finished first, Albion Rovers second. In 1892-93 Arthurlie were third, Albion Rovers fifth. The scores:

1891/9/19        Arthurlie 3 - 2 Albion Rovers

1892/4/16        Albion Rovers 6 - 1 Arthurlie

1892/10/22      Arthurlie 3 - 1 Albion Rovers

1893/2/25        Albion Rovers 3 - 3 Arthurlie

Source.

They were also both members of the Scottish Alliance in 1893-94, 1984-95 and 1895-96.

1893/9/15        Albion Rovers 1 - 0 Arthurlie

1894/3/3          Arthurlie 5 - 1 Albion Rovers

1894/10/13      Arthurlie 1 - 3 Albion Rovers

1895/3/30        Albion Rovers 4 - 1 Arthurlie

1895/9/7          Arthurlie 3 - 2 Albion Rovers

1896/3/14        Albion Rovers 1 - 0 Arthurlie

In 1893-94 Arthurlie finished third, Albion Rovers fourth. In 1894-95 Albion Rovers were second and Arthurlie sixth. In 1895-96 Albion Rovers were third and Arthurlie fourth.

Source.

They were also both members of the Scottish Combination for the four soccer seasons of 1897-98 to 1900-01.

1898/3/12        Arthurlie 6 - 0 Albion Rovers

1898/4/16        Albion Rovers 4 - 1 Arthurlie

1899/4/22        Albion Rovers 1 - 3 Arthurlie

1899/4/27        Arthurlie 4 - 2 Albion Rovers

1900/1/6          Arthurlie 4 - 0 Albion Rovers

1900/3/10        Albion Rovers 3 - 1 Arthurlie

1900/9/29        Arthurlie 3 - 1 Albion Rovers

One 1900-01 result is missing.

1897-98: Albion Rovers finished fourth, Arthurlie fifth. 1898-99: Arthurlie finished second, Albion Rovers tenth. 1899-1900: Arthulie finished third, Albion Rovers eighth. 1900-01: Arthurlie won the league, Albion Rovers finished sixth.

Source.

On the strength of winning the Scottish Combination, Arthurlie were elected to the Scottish League in 1901. Albion Rovers won the Scottish Combination the next two seasons and were elected to the Scottish League in 1903.

They played seventeen seasons together in the Scottish League Division Two: 1903-04 to 1914-15, and 1924-25 to 1928-19, a total of 34 games. Albion Rovers won 16, Arthurlie 11, with 7 draws. Scoring went 71 to 59 in the Wee Rovers' favour.

The Scottish League dropped its Division Two in 1915. Both Arthurlie and Albion Rovers joined the Western League. The scores:

1915/9/18        Arthurlie 2 - 2 Albion Rovers

1916/2/5          Albion Rovers 2 - 1 Arthurlie

1916/9/30        Albion Rovers 2 - 3 Arthurlie

1916/11/11       Arthurlie 1 - 1 Albion Rovers

1917/9/1          Arthurlie 0 - 2 Albion Rovers

1917/10/6        Albion Rovers 3 - 1 Arthurlie

1918/8/31        Arthurlie 2 - 4 Albion Rovers

1918/9/28        Albion Rovers 3 - 1 Arthurlie

Albion Rovers rejoined the Scottish League in the 1919-20 season.

The Western League also organized a league cup, called the Western Cup, which was played in a round robin format.

1917/11/10      Arthurlie 2 - 0 Albion Rovers

1918/3/2          Albion Rovers 3 - 1 Arthurlie

1918/12/21      Arthurlie 0 - 0 Albion Rovers

1919/1/4          Albion Rovers 2 - 0 Arthurlie

Source.

Elsewhere:

UEFA Champions League 2 QR, first leg (midweek):

Celtic 3 - 1 Rosenborg

Cluj 0 - 1 Malmö

UEFA Europa League 2QR, first leg (midweek):

Aberdeen 1 - 1 Burnley

Aberdeen finished 2nd in the Scottish League; Burnley finished 7th in the English League. This is only Burnley's third foray into European competition. They lost to Hamburger SV in 1960-61, and Eintracht Frankfurt in 1966-67, in the era of West Germany. This is the 33rd year of European competition for Aberdeen. Along the way they've beaten Ipswich Town, and lost to Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool.

Osijek (Croatia) 0 - 1 Rangers

Hibs 3 - 2 Asteras Tripolis (Greece)

Scottish teams are off to their best start in many years.

Also:

The New Saints 2 - 1 Lincoln Red Imps

F91 Dudelange 2 - 1 Drita

Olimpija Ljubljana 5 - 1 Crusaders

B36 0 - 2 Beşiktaş (Turkey)

Honvéd (Hungary) 1 - 0 Progrès Niederkorn

League of Ireland, First Division: Athlone Town [0 - 1] UCD

Regionalliga Südwest: 1. FC Saarbrücken [0 - 3] FSV Frankfurt

German football is a huge topic, and I don't even have a handle on 1. FC Saarbrücken yet, so Iet's follow them in Regionalliga Südwest for a second year.

This year the division consists of 18 teams, one less than last year. At the end of the season the top team will be promoted directly into 3. Liga instead of having to win a promotion playoff first.

Frankfurt are newly relegated from 3. Liga where they spent just two seasons after being relegated from 2. Bundesliga.

Allsvenskan: Malmö FF [2 - 1] IFK Norrköping

USL: Ottawa Fury [0 - 3] Louisville City

SJFA West Region League Cup group stage: Ardeer Thistle [0 - 6] Largs Thistle

A squad from Fortuna Düsseldorf play an Atlantic Provinces U-23 Selects team on the Wanderers Ground today. [The game ended at 2 - 2. Halifax won on penalty kicks. Match report.]

This winter I want to follow a club in the Danish leagues: FC Fredericia who play in the 1st Division, which is the second tier of Danish football. They play a 33-game league schedule plus however many games they can advance to in the Danish Cup. If you are like me then you know very little about Denmark or Danish football. So let's go. The season starts tomorrow with:

Naestved BK [3 - 2] FC Fredericia

Fredericia is a port town on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula, just across the bridge from the island of Fyn. It was fortified in the 17th Century by King Frederick III as a means of controlling Jutland from Copenhagen. During the 19th Century the border with Germany was quite close by, and there was a Battle of Fredericia in 1849. Today the two main tourist activities are visiting the fort and climbing to the top of the bridge.

Naestved is on the south coast of Zealand.

Swiss Challenge League: Winterthur [3 - 1] Aarau

J2: Mito HollyHock [4 - 1] Ehima FC

[Read a good article about Mito HollyHock at Lost in Football.]

JFL: Sony Sendai [2 - 1] Cobaltore Onagawa

Vanraure Hachinohe [4 - 1] ReinMeer Aomori

Kanto Soccer League: Tokyo 23 FC vs Vonds Ichihara [postponed due to Typhoon No. 12.]

A lot of Vanraure Hachinohe's marketing this year is built around images of manager Masahiro Kuzuno pointing at things. Kuzuno came over from local rivals ReinMeer Aomori in the off season.

Slim Tower

Broken Church Bells

These bells of St. Mary's Church in Lübeck fell from the bell tower the night of Palm Sunday, 1942, when the RAF firebombed the city. Source.

Derelict

Steeple Removal

Church Art by Sylvia Hahn

Mark, Jesus and Michael at the former St. Mark's Anglican, West Toronto. Source.

Last Days of Canadian Martyrs Church