Plenty of Nothing

LCBO East Bayfront

Rubble spills out the door during the demolition of the LCBO East Bayfront building in 2023. Source.

Princes Pier Demolition

Greenock marked Morton's 1967 promotion to the First Division by demolishing Princes Pier. Source.

Morton visit San Starko for a game against Raith Rovers. Morton are second in the division, Raith sixth. Both clubs finished second in their League Cup groups with 9 points and both progress to Round Two. (See A below.)

With this match "Raith away" becomes Morton's most frequently played fixture of the four-division era. (See B below.)

Since 1994 Raith Rovers have spent two seasons in tier I, twenty in tier II and eight in tier III.

Grant Gillespie played for Raith Rovers in 2018-19. No one on the current Raith roster has ever played for Morton, though Andrew Barrowman (Morton 2014-15) is now Raith CEO. Raith have a Polish goalkeeper, Kevin Dąbrowski, who has been playing in Scotland since 2017.

Championship clubs with a proper 2023-24 article on Wikipedia: Arbroath, Ayr United, Dundee United, Dunfermline Athletic, Queen's Park and Raith Rovers. Those without: Airdrieonians, Inverness CT, Morton, Partick Thistle. Raith Rovers have the most old-school website in the Championship.

[Raith Rovers 3 - 2 Morton. Goals by Muirhead and Crawford.]

Other Championship matches:

Airdrieonians [2 - 1] Partick Thistle

Ayr United [1 - 0] Inverness CT

Dundee United [1 - 1] Dunfermline

Queen's Park [2 - 1] Arbroath

It's the 2023-24 Scottish Cup First Preliminary Round. This extra round was added due to the increase in clubs with SFA membership. For the first time there will be no replays in any round of this cup. This is the 150th anniversary of the Scottish Cup, though this is only the 139th time it has been played.

Last year Darvel and Inverness CT each played six rounds in the Scottish Cup. Can Beith go seven?

The matches:

Abbey Vale (South of Scotland League) [0 - 5] Cupar Hearts (Kingdom of Fife Amateur League)

Carnoustie Panmure (Midlands League) [1 - 2] Beith (West of Scotland Premier Division)

Luncarty (East of Scotland Premier Division) [3 - 1] Loch Ness (North Caledonian League)

Other matches:

Rothes [2 - 2] Banks o' Dee

Linlithgow Rose [2 - 4] Cumbernauld Colts

East Stirlingshire [1 - 2] Berwick Rangers

I'm going to keep track of the Lowland League's four former SPFL clubs' matches against one another and make a table out of the results at season's end, and call it SPFL Division X.

Largs Thistle [0 - 2] Clydebank

East Craigie [2 - 2] Lochee United (August 9)

East Craigie [4 - 0] Coupar Angus

Carluke Rovers [3 - 5] Newmains United

FC Isle of Man [2 - 1] Padiham

The Cymru Premier League begins. Let's follow Cardiff Metropolitan University:

Aberystwyth Town [0 - 1] Cardiff Metropolitan University

The Northern Ireland Football League Premiership is also under way. Let's follow Carrick Rangers:

Carrick Rangers [0 - 2] Newry City

NPL2 Vic: Eastern Lions 2 - 1 Preston Lions

Cork City 1 - 1 UCD (yesterday)

Mito HollyHock [3 - 3] V-Varen Nagasaki

HFX Wanderers [3 - 0] Vancouver FC

[Goals by Morelli (twice) and Ferrin.]

HFX Wanderers have signed forward Jordan Perruzza on loan from Toronto FC.

BVB IA Waterloo 0 - 5 Scrosoppi (August 9)

There's a League1 Alberta in the works, due to begin next season. So far the men's and women's sections have five teams each: two in Edmonton, two in Calgary, and one in St Albert.

Morton Women 2 - 6 Glasgow City U18 (friendly) (August 8)

Morton Women 7 - 2 Stenhousemuir (friendly) (August 10)

Bonnyrigg Rose vs Morton Women (tomorrow) [abandoned]

Alex Jack Cup, round 1:

Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts [2 - 3] Peebles Rovers

East of Scotland Centenary Cup, semi-final one (August 8):

The EoS Centenary Cup features the winners of last year's Premier (Linlithgow Rose), First (Dunbar United), Second (Whitburn) and Third (Bo'ness Athletic) Divisions, and is in celebration of the league's 100th anniversary.

Linlithgow Rose 5 - 3 Bo'ness Athletic

2023-24 UEFA Champions League, 3QR, first leg (August 9):

Rangers 2 - 1 Servette

2023-24 UEFA Europa League, 3QR, first leg:

None of our teams are in this round.

2023-24 UEFA Europa Conference League, 3QR, first leg (August 10):

Rosenborg 2 - 1 Hearts

Hibs 3 - 1 Luzern

Tobol 1 - 0 Derry City

49th All Japan Municipal Officials Football Tournament:

QF: Fujieda City Hall 6 - 1 Suginami Ward Office (August 7)

SF: Fujieda City Hall 5 - 1 Ota City Hall (August 8)

Final: Fujieda City Hall 6 - 0 Gifu City Hall (August 9)

2023 Women's World Cup, QF (yesterday):

Japan 1 - 2 Sweden

A) Sort the 2023-24 Championship clubs by points earned in the League Cup group stage:

12        Airdrieonians (+5)

11        Ayr United (+8)

  9        Morton (+7)

  9        Raith Rovers (+3)

  9        Partick Thistle (+2)

  8        Dunfermline (+5)

  6        Dundee United (+2)

  5        Arbroath (-3)

  4        Queen's Park (+4)

  3        Inverness CT (-2)

bold = advanced to Round Two

B) Morton's most frequently-played fixtures of the four-division era, prior to 2023-24:

35 times    Queen of the South vs Morton

35 times    Raith Rovers vs Morton

34 times    Morton vs Queen of the South

33 times    Ayr United vs Morton

33 times    Morton vs Ayr United

31 times    Morton vs Raith Rovers

29 times    Dunfermline vs Morton

29 times    Morton vs Partick Thistle

28 times    Morton vs Dunfermline

28 times    Morton vs Falkirk

27 times    Partick Thistle vs Morton

26 times    Dumbarton vs Morton

26 times    Falkirk vs Morton

24 times    Morton vs Dumbarton

Historical matches:

1944/8/12    Third Lanark 2 - 3 Morton

This was the first match of the 1944-45 Southern League. It came 42 days after Morton's last Summer Cup match, making their close season even shorter than it is today.

1967/8/12    Queen of the South 0 - 4 Morton

This was the first match of the League Cup group stage. 

1995/8/12    Dundee United 1 - 1 Morton

First league match of the season. Goal for Alan Mahood.

Demolition of Moxham Castle

Demolition of Moxham Castle, Sydney Nova Scotia, 1966. The mansion was built in 1890 in Lorain, Ohio by steel magnate A. J. Moxham, and then dismantled and moved to Sydney in 1898 when he took charge of the Sydney steel plant. But the Moxhams abandoned the house in 1902 when their son was killed in an accident at the plant.  Source. See also.

Gaston Lagaffe

Source.

The Last Days of Lincoln Fields Mall

Komatsu excavators are coming for Lincoln Fields Mall, or Lincoln Fields Shopping Centre, or Lincoln Heights Galleria as I'll always call it because that was its name when I worked there. CBC story. You may recall that the Wendy's burned down a couple of months ago. It was never the best shopping centre, but it was the only one I've ever seen where, for a while in the Eighties, you could buy contraband Cypriot antiquities. See here for an article about the origins of the building. D.

So Long, Lincoln Heights Wendy's

Source.

The Sink #4

Dey's Arena Demolition 1927

Urbsite has a photo essay on the Federal District Commission's demolition of the rink, along with a bunch of coal sheds, and the filling of the Rideau Canal's turn basis, to make Confederation Park in 1927-28.

Last Days of an Unmemorable House

The Sink #3