Plenty of Nothing

Morton 1886-87

The Highlanders Academy opened in 1887, and there was a riot. Read about it at The Greenockian.

Morton host Raith Rovers in a Friday night game televised on BBC Scotland.

Coming into the game Raith are the only Championship side that can sweep Morton this season. [Wrong, ICT can too.] They won 0 - 1 at Cappielow and 2 - 1 at Stark's Park. Morton are in no position to sweep anyone in 2021-22.

Raith are fourth in the Championship with 35 points and a +7 goal difference. Morton are eighth with 20 points and a -7 gd. Raith Rovers beat Banks O' Dee last weekend in the Scottish Cup. Morton lost to Motherwell.

At present the gap between fifth place and sixth is 9 points. Today's match is the only one in the Championship this weekend that pits a top-five team against a bottom-five team. For the winner it will be like taking points from another division.

Raith's last four seasons have been winning seasons, though three of those were in League One. (See below.)

Morton once beat Raith Rovers 11 - 2. (See below.)

Raith have a Slovenian player, Matej Poplatnik, who played in Slovenia, Bulgaria, India and Hungary before moving to Scotland.

Morton have not been very streaky this season. Their longest streaks so far have been 2 wins, 2 losses, and 3 draws.

The Championship and League One have gone over to five subs for the rest of this season.

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

The other Championship matches (tomorrow):

Arbroath (1st) vs Partick Thistle (5th) (postponed -- weather)

Hamilton Accies (6th) [1 - 1] Ayr United (7th)

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

QoS (10th) [0 - 2] Dunfermline (9th)

Other matches:

East Kilbride [0 - 0] Vale of Leithen (tomorrow)

Deveronvale vs Clachnacuddin (tomorrow) (postponed -- weather)

Winterthur [3 - 0] Kriens (Sunday)

1.FC Saarbrücken 2 - 0 Dortmund II (January 26)

Magdeburg [2 - 1] 1.FC Saarbrücken (tomorrow)

Seraing 2 - 1 Beerschot (January 26)    Goal for Shankland.

Beerschot [3 - 3] Zulte Waregem (tomorrow)    Goal for Shankland.

SWF Championship South: Edinburgh Caledonia [1 - 3] Morton (Sunday)

FC Isle of Man [4 - 0] Barnton (tomorrow)

Largs Thistle vs Clydebank (tomorrow) (postponed -- weather)

Shelbourne [5 - 2] UCD (friendly) (tomorrow)

Canadian Premier League:

Pacific FC manager Pa-Modou Kah has left to coach North Texas SC.

League1 Ontario will restructure to a three-division format with relegation and promotion starting 2024.

HFX Wanderers have signed fullbacks Zachary Fernandez from AS Blainville and Obeng Tabi from LSU Eunice.

Raith Rovers' last ten winning seasons:

2020-21    27    12      7      8    45    36      +9    43    3rd, Championship

2019-20    28    15      8      5    49    33    +16    53    1st, League One

2018-19    36    16    12      8    74    48    +26    60    3rd, League One

2017-18    36    22      9      5    68    32    +36    75    2nd, League One

2015-16    36    18      8    10    52    46      +6    62    4th, Championship

2010-11    36    17      9    10    47    35    +12    60    2nd, First Division

2008-09    36    22    10      4    60    27    +33    76    1st, Second Division

2007-08    36    19      3    14    60    50    +10    60    3rd, Second Division

2006-07    36    18      8    10    50    33    +17    62    3rd, Second Division

2002-03    36    16    11      9    53    36    +17    59    1st, Second Division

Times that Morton scored eleven:

1886/11/6      Morton 11 - 0 Carfin Shamrock    Scottish Cup R4

1936/2/11      Morton 11 - 1 Blairgowrie             Scottish Cup R1

1936/4/18      Morton 11 - 2 Raith Rovers          league

1999-2000

January 29, 2000.    In Round Three of the Scottish Cup Clydebank beat Stirling Albion 1 - 0 at Cappielow. Morton traveled to Brechin and played to a 1- 1 draw, John Anderson scoring.

Greenock Morton results for 1886-87:

1887/5/28      Morton 5 - 2 Partick Thistle     Greenock Charity Cup final

1887/4/30      Morton 6 - 1 St Mirren             Greenock Charity Cup SF

1887/4/23      Morton 5 - 3 Queen's Park               

1887/4/16      Morton 3? - 1 Hearts                        

1887/4/9        Cowlairs 11 - 3 Morton***

1887/4/9        Abercorn 4 - 1 Morton***

1887/3/26      Ferndale 2 - 4 Cappilow XI (Greenock Morton) (at Queen's Park)

1887/3/26      Morton 0 - 4 Kilmarnock                   

1887/3/19      Morton 0 - 1 Abercorn              Renfrewshire Cup SF replay

1887/3/14      Greenock Charity Cup schedule published. (See below.)

1887/3/12      Morton vs Abercorn (postponed)    Renfrewshire Cup SF replay

1887/3/5        Dykebar 1 - 7 Morton                       

1887/2/26      3rd Morton 6 - 1 2nd Lochwinnoch

1887/2/26      St Mirren 4 - 1 Morton

1887/2/19      2nd Morton 1 - 4 2nd Abercorn                     

1887/2/19      Abercorn 3 - 3 Morton              Renfrewshire Cup SF

1887/2/12      Morton 3 - 1 Third Lanark                

1887/2/5        Morton 1 - 0 Dumbarton                  

1887/1/29      Renfrew 0 - 2 Morton              Renfrewshire Cup R4 replay

1887/1/22      Morton 3 - 3 Renfrew               Renfrewshire Cup R4 replay

1887/1/15      Cartvale 0 - 0 3rd Morton

1887/1/15      Ayr FC 6 - 1 Morton    2nd XI Cup R3 replay

1887/1/15      Morton 4 - 1 Queen's Park              

1887/1/8        Morton Strollers** 6 - 4 Morton

1886/12/25    3rd Morton 3 - 0 Hibernians

1886/12/25    Morton 2 - 2 Ayr FC    2nd XI Cup R3 replay       

1886/12/25    1st RRV 1 - 12 Morton (at Academy Field, Greenock)

1886/12/18    Ayr FC 4 - 4 Morton    2nd XI Cup R3

1886/12/18    Morton 7 - 0 Rockfield (Paisley)     

1886/12/11    Morton 3 - 2 Renfrew (protested)    Renfrewshire Cup R4

                      bye                                           Renfrewshire Cup R3

1886/12/4      Morton (Cappielow XI) 6? - 0 Wellington

1886/12/4      Johnstone 4 - 5 Morton    2nd XI Cup R2

1886/12/4      Hurlford 5 - 1 Morton                Scottish Cup R5

1886/11/27    Morton Strollers 6 - 1 2nd Clyde

1886/11/27    Clyde 5 - 1 Morton                         

1886/11/20    Morton 21 - 0 Howwood          Renfrewshire Cup R2

1886/11/13    Port Glasgow Athletic 2 - 3 Morton    2nd XI Cup R1

1886/11/13    Morton 4 - 4 Port Glasgow (protested)*   

1886/11/6      Morton 11 - 0 Carfin Shamrock    Scottish Cup R4

1886/10/30    Morton 12 - 0 Lochwinnoch     Renfrewshire Cup R1

                      bye                                            Scottish Cup R3

1886/10/23    Morton 1 - 1 St Mirren                    

1886/10/2      Thornliebank 0 - 2 Morton        Scottish Cup R2

1886/9/25      Port Glasgow 8 - 3 Morton             

1886/9/18      Hearts 5 - 0 Morton                        

1886/9/11      Lochwinnoch 0 - 6 Morton        Scottish Cup R1

1886/9/4        Morton 9 - 3 Clyde                        

1886/8/28      Morton 3 - 3 St Mirren                   

1886/8/21      Morton 6 - 2 Aston Villa                

1886/8/14      Morton 2 - 0 Port Glasgow       Morton FC amateur athletic sports

1886/8/7        Morton 2 - 0 Partick Thistle      Morton FC amateur athletic sports

1886/7/31      St Mirren 2 - 1 Morton                St Mirren FC athletic sports

1886/7/24      Morton "2 goals to 2 corners" Arthurlie    St Mirren FC athletic sports

1886/7/24      Morton "1 goal to 2 corners" Abercorn    St Mirren FC athletic sports

The matches at the St Mirren FC athletic sports were eleven-a-side but probably shortened.

(Sources: The Beautiful Dribbling Game for the Scottish Cup; SFHA for the Renfrewshire Cup, the 2nd XI Cup and the Greenock and District Charity Cup; the Glasgow Herald for ordinary matches.)

*"Another of those disgraceful scenes not infrequent at this game took place on Port's men leaving the field, one of them receiving a severe cut on the head from a stone thrown from the crowd." (Glasgow Herald, Nov. 15, 1886, p. 9.)

**These were Morton's second XI.

***Which of these is Morton's 2nd XI?

The Herald April 25, 1887 lists a club called Morton (Govan).

    GREENOCK CHARITY CUP.--A meeting of the committee of the Greenock Charity Cup was held on Friday evening, at which the drawings took place, with the following result:--First round -- Partick Thistle v. Rangers, 1st R.R.V., St Mirren and Morton, byes. Second round -- Partick Thistle or Rangers v. 1st R.R.V., Morton v. St Mirren. Final tie -- Partick Thistle, Rangers, or 1st R.R.V. v. Morton or St Mirren. It is expected that the first tie will be played early in April.

Glasgow Herald, March 14, 1887, page 10.

Rangers is Greenock Rangers.

Morton 1889-90

"Drying sails, Greenock," by Charles J. Lauder. Source.

Morton host Dunfermline Athletic. Dunfermline are ninth with 15 points, Morton tenth with 14. The Pars have scored 18 goals this season, the Ton 17. Both teams have allowed 31 goals. But Morton have a win and a draw against Dunfermline.

This game is crucial to both sides because the season could end at any moment, meaning the tenth-place club would be relegated while the ninth-place club stays safe, if 2019-20 is a precedent.

This is the Pars' sixth consecutive year in the Championship after coming up from League One, and Morton's seventh.

Nikolay Todorov, who scored 9 goals for ICT last season, has 2 for the Pars so far in 2021-22.

Read an interview with Peter Weatherson about his days with the club.

[Morton win 5 - 0. Goals by Oliver, Blues, Reilly and Muirhead, plus an own goal.]

The other Championship matches:

Ayr United (7th) [1 - 0] Arbroath (1st)

Both previous matches ended in a draw.

Ayr have hired Lee Bullen as manager. He was caretaker manager at Sheffield Wednesday on three occasions.

Hamilton (6th) [2 - 2] Partick (5th)

Partick won both previous games.

ICT (2nd) [1 - 1] Raith (3rd)

Raith have scored one goal since November.

QoS (8th) [0 - 2] Kilmarnock (4th)

KIllie have hired Derek McInnes as their new manager. He played for Morton from 1988 to 1995, and managed Aberdeen from 2013 to 2021.

Queen of the South have played four consecutive games in which one team or both scored three goals.

Other matches:

East Kilbride vs University of Stirling [postponed]

Clachnacuddin vs Lossiemouth [postponed]

FC Isle of Man [2 - 0] West Didsbury & Chorlton Wythenshawe Amateurs

Largs Thistle [1 - 0] Cumbernauld United

Eight of the ten Highland League fixtures scheduled for January 3rd were postponed due to Covid.

Alex Marshall, Jake Ruby, Eriks Santos, Pierre Lamothe, Marcello Polisi, Cory Bent and Samuel Salter will all be back with HFX Wanderers in 2022.

43rd Empress's Cup, semi-finals (January 5):

Match No. 45: Urawa Reds Ladies (WE) 1 - 0 Cerezo Osaka Sakai Ladies (N1)

Match No. 46: JEF United Ladies (WE) 1 - 0 Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Menina (Kanto)

None of these teams has won the Empress's Cup before, though Urawa Reds and JEF United have been finalists in recent years. Currently Urawa Reds are third and JEF United fourth in the WE League. Cerezo Osaka Sakai are third in N1. Menina are the Cinderella side of the tournament, having progressed farther than their parent club Beleza.

The final takes place at the end of February.

Sort the Championship clubs by number of scoreless draws so far this season:

5        Morton    (3 league matches + 2 cup ties decided on PK)

5        Raith Rovers    (2 league matches + 3 cup ties decided on PK)

4        Dunfermline    (4 league matches)

4        Partick Thistle    (4 league matches)

4        Inverness CT    (3 league matches + 1 cup tie decided on PK)

3        Arbroath    (3 league matches)

2        Queen of the South    (2 league matches)

2        Ayr United    (1 league match + 1 cup tie decided on PK)

1        Hamilton    (1 league match)

1        Kilmarnock    (1 league match)

Morton's last ten winning seasons:

2017-18    36    13    11    12    47    40      +7    50    7th, Championship

2016-17    36    13    13    10    44    41      +3    52    4th, Championship

2014-15    36    22      3    11    65    40    +25    69    1st, League One

2012-13    36    20      7      9    73    47    +26    67    2nd, First Division

2006-07    36    24      5      7    76    32    +44    77    1st, Second Division

2005-06    36    21      7      8    58    33    +25    70    2nd, Second Division

2004-05    36    18      8    10    60    37    +23    62    3rd, Second Division

2003-04    36    16    11      9    66    58      +8    59    4th, Second Division

2002-03    36    21      9      6    67    33    +34    72    1st, Third Division

1995-96    36    20      7      9    57    39    +18    67    3rd, First Division

Dunfermline Athletic's last ten winning seasons:

2020-21    27    10      9      8    38    34      +4    39    4th, Championship

2017-18    36    16    11      9    60    35    +25    59    4th, Championship

2015-16    36    24      7      5    83    30    +53    79    1st, League One

2013-14    36    19      6    11    68    54    +14    63    2nd, League One

2010-11    36    20    10      6    66    31    +35    70    1st, First Division

2009-10    36    17      7    12    54    44    +10    58    3rd, First Division

2008-09    36    14      9    13    51    43      +8    51    3rd, First Division

2007-08    36    13    12    11    36    41       -5    51    5th, First Division

2003-04    38    14    11    13    45    52       -7    53    4th, Premier League

1999-00    36    20    11      5    66    33    +33    71    2nd, First Division

('winning season' defined as more wins than losses)

1999-2000

January 8, 2000.    Morton traveled to Inverness and were trounced 6 - 2. Harry Curran and Craig MacPherson were the Morton scorers. Clydebank were at Falkirk where they fell 4 - 0.

Greenock Morton results for 1889-90:

1890/5/31      Dumbarton 9 - 0 Morton             Greenock Charity Cup final

1890/5/14      Morton 10 - 0 Carlton                 Greenock Charity Cup SF

1890/4/26      2nd Port Glasgow 1 - 0 2nd Morton

1890/4/26      Wishaw Thistle 6 - 5 Morton           

1890/4/19      St Mirren 2 - 4 Morton                    

1890/4/12      Morton Strollers 0 - 2 2nd Clyde

1890/4/12      Clyde 5 - 4 Morton                          

1890/4/5        Morton 1 - 2 Port Glasgow              

1890/3/29      Morton 6 - 1 Vale of Leven Wanderers    Greenock Charity Cup R1

1890/3/22      Partick Thistle 1? - 0 Morton        

1890/3/15      Morton 5 - 4 Dykebar                     

1890/3/8        Morton 6 - 2 Abercorn                    

1890/3/1        Morton 6 - 1 1st Renfrew RV (at Volunteer Park, Greenock)

1890/2/16      Morton 1 - 3 St Mirren                Renfrewshire Cup SF replay

1890/2/15      Morton 9 - 0 Dalry                          

1890/2/9        St Mirren 3 - 3 Morton                Renfrewshire Cup SF

1890/2/8        Morton 3 - 2 Ayr FC                       

1890/2/1        Morton 6 - 4 Northern                    

1890/1/25      Greenock Abstainers 0 - 4 Morton Strollers

1890/1/25      Morton 2 - 2 Albion Rovers             

1890/1/18      Ayr FC 2 - 1 Morton

1890/1/11      Morton 4 - 0 Clyde                         

1889/12/28    Morton Strollers 1 - 1 2nd Abercorn

1889/12/28    Abercorn 6 - 2 Morton                     

1889/12/21    Morton 4 - 0 Pollokshaws              

1889/12/14    Dykebar 5 - 6 Morton                     

1889/12/8      Lochwinnoch 2 - 4 Morton         Renfrewshire Cup R3

1889/12/7      Morton 3 - 1 Northern                    

1889/11/30    Morton Strollers 1 - 2 Kilmacolm

1889/11/30    Uddingston 2 - 1 Morton                

1889/11/23    Partick Thistle Swifts 8? - 1 Morton Strollers

1889/11/16    Morton 1 - 2 Kilmarnock                 

1889/11/9      Morton Strollers 2 - 0 Rangers Swifts

1889/11/9      Rangers 3 - 3 Morton                     

1889/10/27    Cartvale 0 - 3 Morton                 Renfrewshire Cup R1

1889/10/19    Morton 1 - 4 Ayr FC                    Scottish Cup R3

1889/10/12    Port Glasgow 3 - 3 Morton             

1889/10/5      Morton 3 - 2 Dykebar                    

1889/9/28      Morton Strollers 4 - 0 2nd Port Glasgow

1889/9/28      1st Renfrew RV 2 - 10 Morton    Scottish Cup R2

1889/9/21      Morton Strollers 1 - 2 2nd Abercorn

1889/9/21      Renton 3 - 2 Morton                       

1889/9/14      Lochwinnoch 4 - 3 Morton Strollers

1889/9/14      Morton 3 - 2 Rangers                    

1889/9/7        Morton 8 - 0 Carlton                    Scottish Cup R1

1889/8/31      Morton 0 - 5 Thistle                        

1889/8/24      Morton Strollers 6? - 0 Lochwinnoch

1889/8/24      Queen of the South Wanderers 1 - 10 Greenock "Morton"

I don't know why the typesetter decided to put Morton in scare quotes.

1889/8/17      Morton 4 - 3 Renton                      

1889/8/10      Morton 3 - 1 Port Glasgow       Morton Sports

1889/8/3        Morton 3 - 2 Dykebar                Morton Sports

This season the Glasgow Herald used the term 'ordinary match' to describe non-cup games. Though there was no Scottish league yet, you can see clubs behaving with the discipline associated with league membership, seeking out opponents at the same level, scheduling fixture and reverse fixture, and refraining from disputes.

(Sources: Wikipedia for the Scottish Cup; Scottish Football Historical Archive for the Renfrewshire Cup and Greenock and District Charity Cup; the Glasgow Herald for ordinary matches.)

Kursaal

Greenock had Cappielow, but Gourock had the Kursaal roller skating rink. Source.

Morton host Kilmarnock.

This is Killie's first visit to Cappielow since January 6th, 2007. That game was a Scottish Cup Third Round tie which Morton won 3 - 1. Just to confuse future sports historians, Morton wore blue and white vertical stripes that day while Killie wore yellow. BBC report.

Kilmarnock are top of the division, but only by a point. Morton are eighth with 12 points. This year's Championship is divided pretty neatly into top five and bottom five, with an eight-point gap in between. All of today's games are between a top-half team and a bottom-half team.

This is a Plenty of Nothing Championship League Cup Round Two match.

The Easdales are rumoured to be involved in a bid for English Championship side Derby County.

The other Championship matches:

Arbroath (3rd) [1 - 1] Queen of the South (9th)

Ayr United (6th) [0 - 4] Partick Thistle (5th)

Hamilton (7th) [0 - 3] Raith Rovers (4th)

Inverness CT (2nd) [1 - 2] Dunfermline (10th)

[Morton 0 - 2 Killie.]

John Hughes is the new Dunfermline manager. He previously managed Falkirk, Hibs, Livingston, Hartlepool United, ICT, Raith and Ross County.

Other matches:

J2: Mito HollyHock [1 - 3] Júbilo Iwata (tomorrow)

[Júbilo earn promotion with this win.]

JFL: ReinMeer Aomori [3 - 2] FC Kariya (tomorrow)

Dalbeattie Star 1 - 4 East Kilbride (November 10)

East Kilbride [2 - 1] East Stirlingshire

SWF Championship South: Rossvale [3 - 2] Morton (tomorrow)

Omiya Ardija Ventus [0 - 0] Elfen Saitama

Sandbach United 2 - 4 FC Isle of Man (November 9)

FC Isle of Man [2 - 1] Rocester

Troon [3 - 1] Largs Thistle

Canadian Premier League:

York United 1 - 3 Forge (November 9)

FC Edmonton [1 - 0] Forge (today)

Forge have one more rearranged league match Tuesday, and then the playoffs can begin.

The CPL has awarded a second franchise to the group that owns Pacific FC. The new club will play somewhere in the Lower Mainland starting in 2023.

CS Mont-Royal Outremont and Guelph United are the champions of the Quebec and Ontario leagues and will appear in the 2022 Voyageurs Cup.

HFX Wanderers versus everyone else all-time, league and cup:

Forge FC              12    2    6    4    11    16    -5

Valour FC             11    6    1    4    10      9    +1

York9/United         11    2    7    2    15    17    -2

Cavalry FC           10    1    3    6      5    12    -7

Pacific FC             10    2    4    4      8    16    -8

FC Edmonton         8    3    2    3      7      8    -1

Atlético Ottawa       7    4    2    1    12      6    +6

Vaughan Azzuri      2    1    0    1      3      3      0

Ottawa Fury           2    0    1    1      4      5     -1

AS Blainville           1    1    0    0      2      1    +1

CF Montréal           1    0    0    1      1      3     -2

João Morelli's goals for HFX Wanderers:

2020/8/15      12'    Alumni Field    Pacific                Wirth    league

2020/8/26      45'    Alumni Field    Edmonton        James    league

2020/8/26      76'    Alumni Field    Edmonton        James    league

2020/9/12      41'    Alumni Field    Cavalry        Carducci    league GS

2021/7/10        7'    IG Field    Edmonton               James    league

2021/7/10      55'    IG Field    Edmonton               James    league

2021/8/2        25'    W's Grounds    Atlético           Powley    league

2021/8/2        37'    W's Grounds    Atlético           Powley    league

2021/8/7        40'    W's Grounds    York United    Giantsopoulos    league

2021/8/17      72'    W's Grounds    Blainville    Yesli    Cdn Championship

2021/8/29        3'    Lansdowne    Atlético             Obadal    league

2021/8/29      51'    Lansdowne    Atlético             Obadal    league

2021/9/6        84'    W's Grounds    York United    Ingham    league

2021/9/6        87'    W's Grounds    York United    Ingham    league

2021/9/11      17'    Lansdowne    Atlético              Powley    league

2021/9/11      89'    Lansdowne    Atlético              Powley    league

2021/9/25      24'    W's Grounds    Edmonton        James    league

2021/9/29      45'    W's Grounds    Atlético            Powley    league

2021/9/29      54'    W's Grounds    Atlético            Powley    league

It's the Japan Regional Champions League, first round. The three groups are:

Group A: Okinawa SV, FC Ise-Shima, Fukui United, Fujieda City Hall

Group B: Cobaltore Onagawa, Ocacias Kyoto, Criacao Shinjuku, Baleine Shimonoseki

Group C: FC Tokushima, Mitsubishi Motors Mizushima, Artista Asama, Hokkaido Tokachi Sky Earth

The three group winners and the best second-place team will advance to the final round. At least one finalist will advance to a playoff with a bottom JFL club, the exact number depending on how many top JFL clubs get promoted to J3 at the end of the season.

Only Criacao, Fukui, Ocacias and Okinawa are here as a result of finishing first in a completed regional league this year.

Mitsubishi Mizushima were part of the JFL from 2005 to 2009. Cobaltore played one season in the JFL in 2018. Fujieda City Hall were members of the old JSL Division Two in 1988-89.

[FC Tokushima, FC Ise-Shima, Ococias Kyoto and Criacao Shinjuku advance.]

1999-2000

November 12, 1999.    Morton hosted Inverness Caley Thistle in a Friday-nighter before 812 spectators and took a resounding 5 - 1 victory. Morton goalscorers were: Graeme Morrison, Ross Matheson, Harry Curran, Keith Wright and Stephen Aitken.

November 14, 1999.    Clydebank were home to Falkirk in a Sunday afternoon match and lost 0 - 3. Attendance 561.

Port Glasgow Athletic results for 1891-92:

1892/5/21      Morton 3 - 1 Port Glasgow                      friendly

1892/5/7        Linthouse 3 - 1 Port Glasgow           Scottish Alliance

1892/4/30      Port Glasgow 4 - 1 King's Park       Scottish Alliance

1892/4/23      Port Glasgow 4 - 0 Thistle               Scottish Alliance

1892/4/16      Port Glasgow 4 - 0 Northern           Scottish Alliance

1892/4/2        Port Glasgow 2 - 0 Ayr FC              Scottish Alliance

1892/3/26      Johnstone 2 - 3 Port Glasgow                friendly

1892/3/12      St Bernard's 4 - 2 Port Glasgow        Scottish Alliance

1892/3/5        Port Glasgow 3 - 3 Airdrieonians      Scottish Alliance

1892/2/27      Northern 3 - 0 Port Glasgow             Scottish Alliance

1892/2/13      Port Glasgow 4 - 1 E. Stirlingshire    Scottish Alliance

1892/2/6        Port Glasgow 4 - 2 St Bernard's      Scottish Alliance

1892/1/30      King's Park 6 - 3 Port Glasgow         Scottish Alliance

1892/1/23      Port Glasgow 2 - 2 Partick Thistle     Scottish Alliance

1892/1/9        E. Stirlingshire 3 - 2 Port Glasgow    Scottish Alliance

1891/12/19    Port Glasgow 1 - 3 Abercorn        Renfrewshire Cup R3 replay

1891/12/12    Port Glasgow 3 - 3 Abercorn        Renfrewshire Cup R3

1891/12/5      Partick Thistle 2 - 1 Port Glasgow    Scottish Alliance

1891/11/28    Port Glasgow 4 - 1 Cameron Highlanders    friendly

1891/11/21    bye                                                    Renfrewshire Cup R2

1891/11/14    Port Glasgow 2 - 4 Linthouse            Scottish Alliance

1891/11/7      Morton 1 - 2 Port Glasgow               Scottish Alliance

1891/10/31    Port Glasgow 8 - 1 Bridge of Weir    Renfrewshire Cup R1

1891/10/24    Thistle 4 - 4 Port Glasgow                 Scottish Alliance

1891/10/17    Kilmarnock Athletic 5 - 4 Port Glasgow    Scottish Cup R3

1891/10/10    Kilmarnock 0 - 0 Port Glasgow          Scottish Alliance

1891/10/3      Fair City Athletic 4 - 5 Port Glasgow      friendly

1891/9/26      Port Glasgow 4 - 1 Glengowan        Scottish Cup R2

1891/9/19      Port Glasgow 5 - 5 Morton                Scottish Alliance

1891/9/12      Ayr FC 5 - 1 Port Glasgow                Scottish Alliance

1891/9/5        Port Glasgow 6 - 3 Lanemark          Scottish Cup R1

1891/8/29      Our Boys 5 - 5 Port Glasgow                   friendly

1891/8/22      Port Glasgow 3 - 6 Kilmarnock         Scottish Alliance

1891/8/15      Airdrieonians 1 - 1 Port Glasgow      Scottish Alliance

(Sources: The Beautiful Dribbling Game for the Scottish Cup; SFHA for the Scottish Alliance and Renfrewshire Cup; Glasgow Herald for friendlies.)

Roller soccer is a thing.

Ha Ha, Mr Wilson

Harold Wilson turns the sod at the former Caird shipyard in 1950 in hopes that someone will come along soon to finish the job. The place did eventually become the site of a Royal Bank of Scotland processing centre, which has since closed. Source. Harold Wilson was a fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. (See below.)

Morton host Arbroath. Arbroath are having a great season and are currently third in the division with 14 points and 14 goals scored. Morton are eighth with 5 points and 5 goals scored. Morton have not scored in a league match since August 21st.

Morton can finish the day as high as sixth place or as low as tenth.

Each side has a Jack Hamilton, Morton's goalkeeper and Arbroath's striker, so there is the possibility today of Jack Hamilton scoring on Jack Hamilton. This has happened once before:

2019/9/27        6'    Queen of the South 1 - 1 Dundee

In that game Jack Hamilton the striker for QoS scored against Jack Hamilton the goalkeeper for Dundee.

Which Morton players have appeared in every match this season, league and cup? Lithgow and Oliver. Though, strictly speaking none of them have because of that forfeited game against Stranraer in the League Cup group stage.

Morton Club Together became legal owners of Greenock Morton and Cappielow Park Tuesday. The transfer was to have happened June 1st, but some unforseen problems needed to be dealt with; for example, someone else owned a corner of the property.

Kilmarnock have loaned striker Innes Cameron to Queen of the South, another Championship club. QoS will be prohibited from fielding Cameron against Killie, but if he helps QoS finish higher than Killie, there will be egg on some East Ayrshire faces.

Jim Duffy is now officially manager of Ayr United.

[Morton 2 - 2 Arbroath. Jack Hamilton scores on Jack Hamilton. Oliver and Blues score for Morton.]

The other Championship matches:

Raith Rovers 1 - 1 Dunfermline (September 29)

Hamilton Accies (9th) [2 - 1] Inverness CT (1st)

Kilmarnock (2nd) [1 - 3] Raith Rovers (4th)

Partick Thistle (5th) [4 - 0] Ayr United (6th)

Queen of the South (7th) [1 - 0] Dunfermline (10th)

Other matches:

Wexford 2 - 1 UCD (last night)

J2: Sagamihara [4 - 4] Mito HollyHock (tomorrow)

JFL: Tiamo [3 - 1] FC Kariya (tomorrow)

Gwangju [2 - 3] Pohang Steelers (tomorrow)

Largs Thistle [1 - 3] Kilbirnie Ladeside

Gretna 2008 1 - 7 East Kilbride (September 29)

East Kilbride [2 - 3] Edinburgh University

Clachnacuddin [1 - 2] Fraserburgh

Winterthur [1 - 0] Yverdon

1.FC Saarbrücken [2 - 2] Braunschweig

HFX Wanderers 2 - 1 Atletico Ottawa (September 29)   Two goals for Morelli.

York United [2 - 2] HFX Wanderers (tomorrow) [Goals by Garcia and Camara.]

FC Isle of Man 2 - 2 New Mills (September 28)

Ellesmere Rangers [2 - 3] FC Isle of Man (today)

SWF Championship South: Edinburgh City 6 - 0 Morton (September 29)

Morton [4 - 0] BSC Glasgow (tomorrow)

Elfen Saitama [0 - 3] Mynavi Sendai

[Gnistan 1 - 2 TPS]

Europa League group stage, matchday 2 (September 30):

Sparta Praha 1 - 0 Rangers

Celtic 0 - 4 Bayer Leverkusen

Canadian Championship semi-finals (midweek):

Forge FC vs CF Montreal (postponed to October 27)

Toronto FC vs Pacific FC (postponed to November 3)

Pa-Modou Kah is not pleased.

Concacaf League, Round of 16, second leg (September 28):

Independiente 0 - 2 Forge

Forge advance.

Coupe de France, Round 4 (tomorrow):

Montenay ASO [0 - 4] USSA Vertou

Aberdeenshire Cup final (yesterday):

Formartine United 1 - 4 Banks O' Dee

North of Scotland Cup final:

Rothes [2 - 1] Brora Rangers

Which teams have won the Highland League, the Highland League Cup, and either the North of Scotland Cup or the Aberdeenshire Cup, all in the same year?

1947-48    Clachnacuddin (North of Scotland Cup)

1953-54    Buckie Thistle (Aberdeenshire Cup)

1956-57    Buckie Thistle (Aberdeenshire Cup)

1976-77    Caledonian (North of Scotland Cup)

1991-92    Ross County (North of Scotland Cup)

1993-94    Huntly (Aberdeenshire Cup)

1995-96    Huntly (Aberdeenshire Cup)

2018-19    Cove Rangers (Aberdeenshire Cup)

Harold Wilson general election returns:

1945         Ormskirk    won    30,126    46.3%

1950         Huyton       won    21,536    48.4%

1951         Huyton       won    23,582    51.3%

1955         Huyton       won    24,858    52.7%

1959         Huyton       won    33,111    54.9%

1964         Huyton       won    42,213    63.9%

1966         Huyton       won    41,122    66.4%

1970         Huyton       won    45,583    63.1%

1974/2      Huyton       won    31,767    56.7%

1974/10    Huyton       won    31,750    60.8%

1979         Huyton       won    27,449    51.9%

Source: Wikipedia Ormskirk and Huyton articles.

1999-2000

October 2, 1999.    Morton visited Ayr United and lost 3 - 0. Clydebank did not play. A quarter of the way into the season Morton were in seventh place, and Clydebank were tenth.

St Bernard's FC results for 1891-92:

1892/5/21      Leith Athletic 3 - 1 St Bernard's    Rosebery Charity Cup R1

1892/4/30      Northern 4 - 3 St Bernard's              Scottish Alliance

1892/4/23      Leith Athletic 2 - 1 St Bernard's              friendly

1892/4/16      St Bernard's 4 - 1 Airdrieonians     Scottish Alliance

1982/4/9        Kilmarnock 1 - 0 St Bernard's          Scottish Alliance

1892/4/2        St Bernard's 1 - 1 Morton                 Scottish Alliance

1892/3/26      St Bernard's 3 - 3 Linthouse             Scottish Alliance

1892/3/19      St Bernard's 3 - 1 Partick Thistle    Scottish Alliance

1892/3/12      St Bernard's 4 - 2 Port Glasgow     Scottish Alliance

1892/3/5        Thistle 1 - 2 St Bernard's                Scottish Alliance

1892/2/27      Hearts 2 - 0 St Bernard's              East of Scotland Shield final

1892/2/20      Johnstone Wanderers 7 - 3 St Bernard's    friendly

1892/2/13      St Bernard's 0 - 2 Leith Athletic               friendly

1892/2/6        Port Glasgow 4 - 2 St Bernard's       Scottish Alliance

1892/1/30      St Bernard's 6 - 0 Thistle                Scottish Alliance

1892/1/23      St Bernard's 7 - 2 Burnbank Swifts        friendly

1892/1/16      Leith Athletic 3 - 1 St Bernard's               friendly

1892/1/9        St Bernard's 4 - 1 Bathgate Rovers    East of Scotland Shield SF

1892/1/2        St Bernard's 2 - 1 Corinthians                friendly

1891/12/26    King's Park 0 - 2 St Bernard's         Scottish Alliance

1891/12/19    St Bernard's 4 - 1 Northern             Scottish Alliance

1891/12/12    St Bernard's 3 - 2 Raith Rovers      East of Scotland Shield R5

1891/12/5      St Bernard's 3 - 2 Aidrieonians               friendly

1891/11/28    Rangers 5 - 1 St Bernard's                Scottish Cup R1

1891/11/14    St Bernard's 2 - 2 Ayr FC                  Scottish Alliance

1891/11/7      Partick Thistle 0 - 7 St Bernard's     Scottish Alliance

1891/11/7      bye                                                    Scottish Cup PR4

1891/10/31    St Bernard's 6 - 4 Mossend Swifts          friendly

1891/10/24    E. Stirlingshire 3 - 3 St Bernard's      Scottish Alliance

1891/10/17    St Bernard's 5 - 1 Kirkintilloch Athletic    Scottish Cup PR3

1891/10/10    Morton 3 - 1 St Bernard's                  Scottish Alliance

1891/10/3      Vale of Gala 0 - 16 St Bernard's              friendly

1891/9/26      St Bernard's 7 - 1 Dunipace            Scottish Cup PR2

1891/9/19      St Bernard's 3 - 2 Kilmarnock          Scottish Alliance

1891/9/12      Linthouse 1 - 2 St Bernard's            Scottish Alliance

1891/9/5        Adventurers 0 - 5 St Bernard's        Scottish Cup PR1

1891/8/29      Airdrieonians 4 - 3 St Bernard's        Scottish Alliance

1891/8/22      St Bernard's 4 - 1 E. Stirlingshire    Scottish Alliance

1891/8/15      Ayr FC 6 - 2 St Bernard's                  Scottish Alliance

1891/8/8        St Bernard's 2 - 4 King's Park           Scottish Alliance

(Sources: The Beautiful Dribbling Game for the Scottish Cup; SFHA for the Scottish Alliance, East of Scotland Shield, and Rosebery Charity Cup

The Bay of Quick

"Burning the Bottom, Bay of Quick, Greenock" by John Fleming (1792-1845). Source. The Bay of Quick was filled in to make the Esplanade in the 1860s.

Raith Rovers visit Cappielow. Raith are sixth in the division with 4 points and a 0 goal difference. Morton are eighth with 4 points and a -4 goal difference.

Morton did not score a goal on Raith last season. The last Morton player to do so was Lee Kilday on February 7th, 2017.

Raith Rovers' Reghan Tumilty played for Morton from 2018 to 2020. Raith have a Canadian on their squad: Dario Zanatta. Morton's Gozie Ugwu played for Raith last season.

Some Inverclyde councillors are keen to have Greenock declared a city as part of the Queen's platinum (70th) jubilee celebrations next year.

Ayr United fielded a couple of ineligible players in their Challenge Cup match against Rangers B.

[Morton 0 - 1 Raith Rovers.]

The other Championship matches:

Hamilton Accies (9th) [0 - 2] Ayr United (7th)

Partick Thistle (4th) [0 - 2] Kilmarnock (2nd)

Queen of the South (5th) [0 - 2] Arbroath (3rd)

Dunfermline (10th) [0 - 0] Inverness CT* (1st)

*Plenty of Nothing Championship League Cup Round Two match. [Inverness advance on the yellow card rule.]

Arbroath are having one of their best years. Holding third place in the Championship makes them fifteen in all of Scottish football, not a very familiar position for the Red Lichties.

Arbroath's best seasons by league position:

1937-38    38    11    13    14    57    65      -8    35    11th, old Div. 1

1935-36    38    11    11    16    46    69    -23    33    11th, old Div. 1

1973-74    34    10      7    17    52    69    -17    27    13th, old Div. 1

1936-37    38    13      5    20    57    84    -27    31    14th, old Div.1

1972-73    34      9      8    17    39    63    -24    26    15th, old Div. 1

1975-76    26    11      4    11    41    39      +2    26    5th, new Div. 1 (15th overall)

It's the Scottish Cup, Round One:

The Highland and Lowland Leagues join in. There are 30 fixtures altogether in this round. Let's follow the preliminary round winners, plus Clachnacuddin and East Kilbride.

Blackburn United [1 - 2] Rothes

Clydebank [7 - 0] Dalkeith

Dunbar United [2 - 0] Camelon

Penicuik [1 - 3] Tranent

These are the top two clubs in the East of Scotland League.

Golspie Sutherland [0 - 3] Civil Service Strollers

Irvine Meadow XI [1 - 3] Auchinleck Talbot

An Ayrshire derby.

Inverurie Loco Works [0 - 3] Jeanfield Swifts

Banks O' Dee [1 - 0] Turriff United

An Aberdeenshire derby.

Coldstream [1 - 10] East Kilbride

Lossiemouth [0 - 3] Preston Athletic (See below.)

Tynecastle [0 - 6] Brora Rangers

Clachnacuddin [1 - 2] Dunipace

Other matches:

J2: Tochigi [0 - 0] Mito HollyHock

JFL: FC Kariya [0 - 1] Nara Club (tomorrow)

Faroes: B36 [5 - 0] IF (tomorrow)

TPS 3 - 0 Gnistan (September 15)

Klubi 4 [2 - 4] TPS (tomorrow)

[This ends the Ykkonen regular season. TPS finish second. They go into a promotion playoff once the top league finishes.] [No, that's wrong. The Ykkonen splits and each club plays five more games. So TPS can still finish top.]

WE League: JEF United Chiba [1 - 1] Elfen Saitama (Monday)

JEF finished 6th in Nadeshiko 1 last season.

Largs Thistle [2 - 2] Kilkintilloch Rob Roy

1.FC Saarbrücken [3 - 1] Turkgucu Munchen

The Strongest [3 - 1] Jorge Wilstermann (tomorrow)

York United [0 - 0] HFX Wanderers

Stockport Town [2 - 3] FC Isle of Man

SWF Championship Cup, Round Two (tomorrow):

Edinburgh City [7 - 0] Morton

AFC Champions League, Round of 16, East:

This round is one-legged.

Ulsan Hyundai 0 - 0 Kawasaki Frontale (September 14)   Ulsan win on PK.

Nagoya Grampus 4 - 2 Daegu FC (September 14)

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 1 - 1 BG Pathum United (September 15)    Jeonbuk win on PK.

Cerezo Osaka 0 - 1 Pohang Steelers (September 15)

UEFA Europa League group stage, matchday 1 (September 16):

Rangers 0 - 2 Lyon

Real Betis 4 - 3 Celtic

Coupe de France, Round Three: USSA Vertou [8 - 0] AS Saint Pierraise

Union sportive de la Sainte-Anne de Vertou have their home ground in Vertou, Loire-Atlantique. They play in National 3, the fifth tier of French football.

FAI Cup quarter-final (yesterday):

UCD 2 - 3 Waterford

Preston Athletic in the Scottish Cup:

2002-03    R1    Preston Athletic 0 - 1 Hamilton Academical

2005-06    R1    Preston Athletic 2 - 6 Gretna

2006-07    R1    Preston Athletic 2 - 0 Stenhousemuir

                 R2    Brechin City 2 - 1 Preston Athletic

2007-08    R1    Golspie Sutherland 3 - 1 Preston Athletic

2008-09    R1    Preston Athletic 3 - 1 Gala Fairydean

                 R2    East Stirlingshire 4 - 2 Preston Athletic

2009-10    R1    Selkirk 3 - 0 Preston Athletic

2010-11    R1    Newton Stewart 1 - 1 Preston Athletic

                         Preston Athletic 3 - 0 Newton Stewart

                 R2    Preston Athletic 0 - 0 Annan Athletic

                         Annan Athletic 5 - 0 Preston Athletic

2011-12    R1    Wigtown & Bladnoch 2 - 0 Preston Athletic

2012-13    R1    Preston Athletic 0 - 2 Nairn County

2013-14    R1    Huntly 3 - 4 Preston Athletic

                 R2    Queen's Park 2 - 2 Preston Athletic

                         Preston Athletic 1 - 2 Queen's Park

2014-15    R1    Preston Athletic 1 - 2 Threave Rovers

2015-16    R1    Preston Athletic 2 - 3 Fort William

2016-17    R1    Nairn County 2 - 3 Preston Athletic

                 R2    Preston Athletic 0 - 3 Montrose

2017-18   PR2   Colville Park 5 - 0 Preston Athletic

2018-19   PR1   Preston Athletic 3 - 1 Glasgow University

                PR2   Preston Athletic 0 - 2 Linlithgow Rose

2019-20   PR1   Linlithgow Rose 2 - 1 Preston Athletic

2020-21   PR2   Preston Athletic 3 - 2 Hawick Royal Albert United

                 R1    Stenhousemuir 4 - 1 Preston Athletic

2021-22    PR    Preston Athletic 2 - 0 Threave Rovers

                 R1    Lossiemouth [0 - 3] Preston Athletic

1999-2000

September 14, 1999.    Clydebank returned to Inverness for a Challenge Cup Round Three match with Caley Thistle. ICT 2 - 0 Clydebank.

September 18, 1999.    Morton were away to Love Street where St Mirren beat them 3 - 2. Paddy Connolly scored both Morton goals on penalties. Clydebank hosted Ayr United at Cappielow and lost 0 - 2.

Abercorn FC results for 1890-91:

1891/5/30      St Mirren 3 - 2 Abercorn    Paisley Charity Cup R1

1891/5/12      Celtic 2 - 0 Abercorn                        SFL

1891/4/28      Third Lanark 2 - 1 Abercorn            SFL

1891/4/25      Abercorn 1 - 0 Hearts                    SFL

1891/4/18      Morton 2 - 1 Abercorn                  friendly

1891/4/11      Cambuslang 4 - 5 Abercorn           SFL

1891/3/28      Hearts 1 - 1 Abercorn                     SFL

1891/3/21      Abercorn 1 - 0 Cowlairs                SFL

1891/3/14      Rangers 2 - 0 Abercorn                  SFL

1891/3/7        Abercorn 6 - 0 Vale of Leven        SFL

1891/2/28      Cowlairs 7 - 5 Abercorn                  SFL

1891/2/14      Abercorn 5 - 1 Kilmarnock          friendly

1891/2/7        Abercorn 1 - 1 Rangers                  SFL

1891/1/24      Abercorn 5 - 1 St Mirren                SFL

1891/1/17      Dumbarton 3 - 1 Abercorn    Scottish Cup SF

1891/1/10      Abercorn 3 - 3 Linthouse              friendly

1890/12/27    Abercorn 1 - 2 Dumbarton              SFL

1890/12/20    Leith Athletic 2 - 3 Abercorn    Scottish Cup QF

1890/12/13    St Mirren 1 - 0 Abercorn    Renfrewshire Cup R2

1890/12/6      Abercorn 2 - 5 Cambuslang           SFL

1890/11/22    St Mirren 2 - 2 Abercorn (abandoned)    Renfrewshire Cup R2

1890/11/15    Partick Thistle 1 - 4 Abercorn     friendly

1890/11/8      Abercorn 8 - 0 Bathgate Rovers    Scottish Cup R4

1890/11/1      Abercorn 7 - 1 Morton        Renfrewshire Cup R1

1890/10/25    Abercorn 1 - 5 Celtic                      SFL

1890/10/18    Linthouse 3 - 4 Abercorn    Scottish Cup R3

1890/10/11    Dumbarton 5 - 1 Abercorn             SFL

1890/10/4      Abercorn 2 - 4 Third Lanark          SFL

1890/9/27      Abercorn 12 - 0 Cathcart    Scottish Cup R2

1890/9/20      St Mirren 4 - 2 Abercorn                SFL

1890/9/13      Abercorn 4 - 2 Renton             SFL (nullified)

1890/9/6        Abercorn 8 - 0 Irvine    Scottish Cup R1

1890/8/30      Vale of Leven 2 - 1 Abercorn         SFL

1890/8/9        Abercorn 3 - 1 Port Glasgow (at Cappielow)    friendly

1890/8/2        Morton 2 - 5 Abercorn               friendly

(Sources: Fitbastats for most SFL fixtures; SFHA for the Renfrewshire Cup and Paisley Charity Cup; German Wikipedia for the Scottish Cup; the Glasgow Herald for some SFL fixtures, and friendlies)

2021-22 Championship strips: (top, left to right) Arbroath, Ayr United, Dunfermline Athletic, Hamilton Academical, Inverness Caledonian Thistle; (bottom, left to right) Kilmarnock, Morton, Partick Thistle, Queen of the South, Raith Rovers. (From their Wikipedia pages.)

Sheriff Court

Half the stories in the Greenock Telegraph are accompanied by a picture of this place. Source.

Morton host Queen of the South.

Morton enter today's game in fourth place with 4 points. QoS are tenth with 0 points. It has been two weeks since either team played; both are out of the League Cup and neither has started the Challenge Cup.

Morton players who have played for Queen of the South: Michael Ledger (2020), Kyle Jacobs (2015-19) and Gary Oliver (2015-16 and 2019-20). QoS players who have played for Morton: nobody.

Last season out of three league matches Morton took two wins and QoS one. They played to a 2 - 2 draw in the League Cup group stage last month, and QoS took the extra point.

Morton are now cleared to admit 5,000 spectators to Cappielow.

On Monday Morton signed 20-year-old striker Jimmy Knowles, who has played for Mansfield Town and Notts County.

[Morton 2 - 3 QoS. Kyle Jacobs scored for Morton, plus there was an own goal.]

The other Championship matches:

Raith Rovers vs Dunfermline (yesterday) (match abandoned)

Hamilton Accies [0 - 2] Kilmarnock

Inverness CT [1 - 0] Ayr United

Arbroath [3 - 1] Partick Thistle*

*Plenty of Nothing Championship League Cup Round One match

Other matches:

Cobh Ramblers [0 - 2] UCD

J2: Mito HollyHock [0 - 2] Kyoto Sanga (tomorrow)

JFL: FC Kariya [0 - 0] FC Osaka

Faroes: B36 [2 - 1] B68 Toftir

FC Seoul [2 - 2] Pohang Steelers (tomorrow)

TPS 2 - 3 RoPS (August 19)

Pollok 1 - 1 Largs Thistle (August 18)

Largs Thistle vs Hurlford United (postponed)

Vale of Leithen 1 - 7 East Kilbride (August 18)

Berwick Rangers [2 - 3] East Kilbride

Forres Mechanics [2 - 2] Clachnacuddin

Winterthur 3 - 0 Thun (yesterday)

Forge [1 - 1] HFX Wanderers (tomorrow)

Dortmund II [0 - 0] 1.FC Saarbrücken

Cheadle Town vs FC Isle of Man (August 18) (postponed)

FC Isle of Man [2 - 2] Cheadle Heath Nomads (today)

The Strongest 7 - 0 Nacional Potosi (August 18)

Oriente Petrolero [2 - 0] The Strongest

The Strongest are top club in the Bolivian league. CD San Jose are at the bottom of table with -12 points, the result of a 12-point deduction for getting behind on the payroll. They have 3 goals for and 51 goals against.

SWF Championship South: Morton [6 - 1] Airdrie Ladies (tomorrow)

North of Scotland Cup quarterfinals (August 18):

Clachnacuddin 0 - 4 Strathspey Thistle

Lossiemouth 4 - 1 Fort William

Rothes 2 - 0 Elgin City

Wick Academy 0 - 1 Brora Rangers

Aberdeenshire Cup quarter-finals (August 18):

Banks O' Dee 2 - 0 Inverurie Loco Works

Deveronvale 1 - 0 Dyce Juniors

Fraserburgh 6 - 0 Aberdeen University

Formartine vs Huntly (postponed)

2021-22 UEFA Europa League playoff, first leg:

Celtic 2 - 0 Alkmaar Zaanstreek (Netherlands) (August 18)

Rangers 1 - 0 Alashkert (Armenia) (August 19)

Alashkert are in Eurpean play for the seventh year in a row. They beat St Johnstone in 2015 and were beaten by Celtic in 2018.

2021-22 UEFA Europa Conference League playoff, first leg (August 19):

Qarabağ (Azerbaijan) 1 - 0 Aberdeen

Qarabağ haven't missed out on Europe since 2012-13. The lost to Celtic in 2015.

LASK (Austria) 1 - 1 St Johnstone

LASK beat Dundee United in 1984, and played Partick Thistle to a 2 - 2 in 1995.

Flora (Estonia) 4 - 2 Shamrock Rovers

These two met in 2011, Shamrock prevailing.

Scottish Junior Cup, Round One:

The Scottish Junior Cup carries on with 110 entrants this year as opposed to 132 two years ago. Let's follow the teams from the West of Scotland League Premier Division:

Auchinleck Talbot [3 - 1] Montrose Roselea

Beith Juniors [3 - 2] Maud

Dundee Downfield [0 - 1] Blantyre Victoria

Troon [1 - 1] Benburb    [Benburb win on PK.]

Cumbernauld United [2 - 0] Kilbirnie Ladeside

Lochee Harp [2 - 5] Glenafton Athletic

Colony Park [1 - 1] Hurlford United    [Colony Park win on PK.]

Irvine Meadow XI [4 - 0] Deveronside

Greenock Juniors [1 - 2] Kirkintilloch Rob Roy

Largs Thistle [2 - 1] Glasgow United

Pollok [7 - 0] Maybole Juniors

Historical matches:

On this day in 1886 Morton beat Aston Villa 6 - 2 at Cappielow.

1999-2000:

August 17, 1999.    Morton hosted Alloa Athletic in Round Two of the League Cup and lost 1 - 3. Harry Curran scored for Morton.

August 21, 1999.    Morton returned to East End Park for a league match against Dunfermline, and lost 1 - 2. Keith Wright scored for the Ton. Clydebank hosted Raith Rovers at Cappielow and held them to a 1 - 1 draw. Lee Gardner scored for Clydebank. Attendance 232.

Renton FC results for 1890-91:

Renton were one of the big three Dunbartonshire clubs of the 19th century, along with Dumbarton and Vale of Leven.

Renton were founding members of the SFL, but after five games they were turfed out on the charge of professionalism and their results were nullified. They were nevertheless readmitted to the league the next season. They did not get beyond Round One of the 1890-91 Scottish Cup, and did not participate in the 1890-91 Dumbartonshire Cup.

During their suspension they were able to get in some matches against junior clubs from Brechin, which were outside the authority of the SFA.

1891/5/23      Clyde 0 - 1 Renton                          friendly

1891/5/9        Celtic 2 - 1 Renton                           friendly

1891/4/25       return to practice

1891/1/17      Brechin Harp 6 - 5 Renton                friendly

1890/11/1      Brechin Harp 1 - 7 Renton               friendly

1890/10/6      Brechin Wanderers 10 - 1 Renton    friendly

1890/9/27      Renton 4 - 2 Edinburgh Saints*       friendly

1890/9/20      Vale of Leven 2 - 1 Renton                SFL

1890/9/13      Abercorn 4 - 2 Renton                       SFL

1890/9/6        Kilsyth Wanderers 2 - 1 Renton    Scottish Cup R1

1890/8/30      Rangers 4 - 1 Renton                        SFL

1890/8/23      Renton 2 - 2 St Mirren                       SFL

1890/8/16      Celtic 1 - 4 Renton                            SFL

*This match was played in defiance of a SFA ruling.

(Source: Glasgow Herald)

St Bernard's FC (aka Edinburgh Saints) results for 1890-91:

1891/5/23      Thistle 4 - 0 St Bernard's (at Beechwood Park)    friendly

1890/9/27      Renton 4 - 2 Edinburgh Saints       friendly

1890/9/20      St Bernard's (disqualified) 5 - 2 Clackmannan    East of Scotland Shield R1

1890/9/13      St Bernard's 2 - 2 Queen's Park    friendly

1890/9/6        St Bernard's (disqualified) 7 - 0 Adventurers   Scottish Cup R1

1890/8/30      St Bernard's 2 - 0 Hibs (halftime score)    friendly

1890/8/13      Leith Athletic 3 - 1 St Bernard's    Edinburgh Exhibition Contest

(Sources: The Beautiful Dribbling Game for the Scottish Cup, SFHA for the East of Scotland Shield and Edinburgh Exhibition Contests; Glasgow Herald for friendlies)

    The suspension of St Bernard's for professionalism was the main subject of conversation among footballers in Edinburgh on Saturday. While the general feeling is one of sympathy for the club. An impromptu meeting of members was held on Saturday, and it was decided to form a club under the name of the Edinburgh "Saints" who will play the St Bernard's fixtures till the term of suspension expires at the end of next month. The professional committee's punishment is thus narrowed down to disqualification in the Scottish and local ties and to the suspension of Ross for six weeks. On Saturday afternoon Clackmannan, who had been drawn against the St Bernards in the Shield ties, had a walk over, but as they had come to Edinburgh they played a friendly match with the "Saints." (Glasgow Herald, September 22, 1890, p. 10.)

    Among the ordinary football matches on Saturday the one to which most interest attaches was that in which the Renton had as their opponents the Edinburgh Saints. The feature of this friendly fixture was that it came off at Renton notwithstanding the decision of the Business and Professional Committee of the Scottish Football Association "that clubs under the jurisdiction of the association cannot play with the Edinburgh Saints--which they consider the same as the St Bernards--during the term of their suspension." Renton cannot be said to have gone into the matter blindfolded, as they had a visit a couple of days before from the Saints' secretary when the situation was discussed. Renton's committee were not unanimously in favour of playing, and several players were indisposed to run any risk in going against the Association. Of course the position the majority take up is that the Edinburgh Saints is a different club from St Bernards, with different officials, and not playing any of the suspended members. They also believe that they will be supported by the majority of the League clubs. The general opinion in Renton is that a conflict with the Scottish Football Association is inevitable. (Glasgow Herald, September 29, 1890, p. 10.)

    We understand that the League clubs propose to present a requisition to the Scottish Football Association asking that body to call a general meeting to consider the whole circumstances which led to the sentence of professionalism passed upon Renton and the St Bernard clubs, and if thought advisable to hear members of the suspended clubs on their defence, with a view of withdrawing or mitigating the sentence inflicted on them. (Glasgow Herald, October 20, 1890, p. 10.)

    The Scottish Football Association have a general committee meeting to-morrow night. There are several protests to dispose of, and these, no doubt, will monopolize a deal of time. Reference will be made to the Professional Committee, whose labours, we hear, are now near a close, and a full statement of which will be prepared and submitted soon ... . (Glasgow Herald, November 17, 1890, p. 12.)

    The settlement of the Renton case has given satisfaction everywhere. It is just a pity the spirit of compromise did not show itself a little sooner. There would have been a considerable saving of money, and feeling would not have reached the height it lately did over the attitude of the S. F. A. towards Renton. Now that a reasonable and dignified settlement has been made, it is to be hoped that Renton will lend their valuable help to the Scottish Football Association, and that it will be their aim, as it should be the aim of every affiliated club, to recognize the decisions of that body as final and given in the interests of the game. (Glasgow Herald, April 27, 1891, p. 11.)

The Cartsdyke Bottleworks

The Cartsdyke Bottleworks kiln was a feature of the East Greenock landscape from at the latest 1712, until 1881. It was located a little west of Cappielow, near the present-day Cartsdyke roundabout. Read about it in Colin MacDonald's "Searching for Landmarks in Robert Salmon's Painting, 'View of Greenock' (1816)," which you can find on his website.

It's the League Cup, Round Two. Eleven Premiership and five Championship clubs remain. Morton are already out. (See below.)

The matches are:

Rangers 5 - 0 Dunfermline (yesterday)

The last time Rangers lost to Dunfermline in this cup was 1951.

Ayr United [1 - 1] Dundee United (today) [Dundee United win on PK.]

The last time Ayr beat Dundee United in the League Cup was 1954.

Dundee [1 - 0] Motherwell (today)

Livingston [1 - 1] St Mirren (today) [Livi win on PK.]

Raith Rovers [2 - 1] Aberdeen (tomorrow)    Upset.

Raith beat Aberdeen in the group stage -- in 1960.

Arbroath [2 - 2] St Johnstone (tomorrow) [St Johnstone win on PK.]

Arbroath made it to Round Two last year as well. But St Johnstone won the cup.

Hibs [2 - 0] Kilmarnock (tomorrow)

Hibs knocked Killie out of the quarter-final in 2019.

Celtic [3 - 2] Hearts (tomorrow)

Developments:

Hamilton sacked their head coach after that loss to Morton.

Lawrence Shankland (Morton 2017) is moving from Dundee United to K Beerschot VA of the Belgian top league for a big fee.

Stephen Aitken (Morton 1993-2001) has left his post as manager of East Kilbride.

Today's League Two match between Cowdenbeath and Stranraer is postponed due to Covid.

Other matches:

UCD 6 - 0 Athlone Town (last night)

Mito HollyHock 1 - 1 Tokyo Verdy (August 9)

FC Ryukyu [0 - 1] Mito HollyHock

Faroes: TB [1 - 2] B36

Korean FA Cup QF (August 11):

Jeonnam Dragons 1 - 0 Pohang Steelers

Pohang Steelers [3 - 1] Suwon FC (tomorrow)

Tohoku Div 1: Dogizaka vs Saruta (tomorrow) (postponed)

MuSa [0 - 2] TPS

Irvine Meadow XI  2 - 1 Largs Thistle (August 11)

Largs Thistle [0 - 2] Darvel

East Kilbride [1 - 0] Bo'ness United

Clachnacuddin 4 - 1 Strathspey Thistle (yesterday)

1.FC Saarbrücken [2 - 0] Duisburg

Atlético Ottawa [2 - 1] HFX Wanderers [Akeem Garcia scored for Halifax. 12,000 attendance.]

This is Atlético's first game at Landsdowne.

FC Isle of Man [0 - 3] Alsager Town

SWF Championship South: Renfrew Ladies [3 - 0] Morton (tomorrow)

Always Ready 2 - 1 The Strongest (August 11)

The Strongest [1 - 2] Santa Cruz

2021-22 UEFA Champions League 3QR, second leg (August 10):

Rangers 1 - 2 Malmo

Rangers drop down to the Europa League.

2021-22 UEFA Europa League 3QR, second leg (August 12):

St Johnstone 2 - 4 Galatasaray

St Johnstone drop down to the Europa Conference.

Celtic 3 - 0 Jablonec

Celtic advance.

2021-22 UEFA Europa Conference 3QR, second leg (August 12):

Aberdeen 2 - 1 Breidablik

Rijeka 4 - 1 Hibs

Teuta 0 - 2 Shamrock Rovers

HB 1 - 0 Maccabi Haifa

Fola Esch 2 - 1 Linfield

Dundalk 1- 2 Vitesse

Viktoria Plzen 3 - 1 The New Saints (Plzen advance on PK.)

Larne 1 - 0 Pacos de Ferreira

PAOK 2 - 0 Bohemians

Hibs, Linfield, Larne, Dundalk, Bohemians, The New Saints, HB and Breidablik are out. Aberdeen and Shamrock Rovers advance.

2019-20 South Challenge Cup final (tomorrow):

Broomhill [1 - 3] Dunipace

[Our coverage of the year 2020 is now concluded.]

Broomhill are the former BSC Glasgow. There still is a BSC Glasgow in the West of Scotland League, but now they're separate organizations.

Concacaf League preliminary round, leg 1 (August 12):

Forge 3 - 1 CD FAS

Sort the Championship clubs by points earned in the League Cup group stage:

10        Ayr United

  9        Dunfermline

  9        Arbroath

  8        Raith Rovers

  8        Kilmarnock

  7        Hamilton

  6        Queen of the South

  6        Partick Thistle

  6        Morton

  4        Inverness CT

Teams in bold advanced to Round Two.

1999-2000

August 10, 1999.    Round One of the Challenge Cup was played midweek. Morton were away to East End Park where they played Dunfermline Athletic to a 2 - 2 draw, Warren Hawke and Kevin Thomas scoring. Morton took the win 5 - 4 on penalty kicks. Clydebank travelled to Firs Park where they beat East Stirlingshire 1 - 2. Joe McLaughlin and Peter Cormack scored for Clydebank. Attendance 227.

August 14, 1999.    Morton and Clydebank played each other to a scoreless draw at Cappielow. Morton were the official home team.

Morton before the Scottish Football League

This season I want to try to find out what Morton were up to from 1874, when they were founded, till 1893, when they joined the SFL Division Two. This autumn I'll concentrate on the early 1890s seasons of Morton and some of their opponents, and in the new year I'll publish as much of the 1880s and 1870s results as I can discover. The cup results are already compiled and available at the priceless Scottish Football Historical Archive, but the friendlies have not been given as much respect as they deserve because we put them in the same box as present-day friendlies, when in their time they were as weighty as league matches.

Greenock Morton in 1890-91:

1891/6/6        Dumbarton 5 - 1 Morton        Greenock Charity Cup final

1891/4/18*     Morton 3 - 1 Arthurlie            Greenock Charity Cup SF

1891/4/18*     Morton 2 - 1 Abercorn                    friendly

1891/4/11      Morton 3 - 1 Partick Thistle            friendly

1891/4/4        Cowlairs 4 - 5 Morton                    friendly

1891/3/28      Morton 2 - 0 Rutherglen                friendly

1891/3/21      Morton 1 - 4 Northern                     friendly

1891/3/7        Kilmarnock Athletic 4 - 2 Morton    friendly

1891/2/28      Port Glasgow 1 - 3 Morton            friendly

1891/2/21      Partick Thistle 2 - 3 Morton           friendly

1891/2/7        Morton 1 - 1 Thistle                        friendly

1891/1/31      Ayr FC 2 - 2 Morton                       friendly

1891/1/24      Morton 1 - 1 Clyde                         friendly

1891/1/17      Northern 3 - 1 Morton                    friendly

1891/1/10      Morton 5 - 4 Whitefield                  friendly

1890/12/27    Morton 1 - 1 Glasgow Wanderers    friendly

1890/12/20    Morton 1 - 2 Linthouse                  friendly

1890/12/13    Morton 0 - 1 Cowlairs                    friendly

1890/11/29    Hearts 5 - 1 Morton                Scottish Cup R5

1890/11/22    Morton 1 - 3 Dykebar                     friendly

1890/11/8      Morton 6 - 4 Dumfries Wanderers    Scottish Cup R4

1890/11/1      Abercorn 7 - 1 Morton            Renfrewshire Cup R1

1890/10/25    Thistle 5 - 2 Morton                        friendly

1890/10/18    Morton 10 - 0 Inveraray         Scottish Cup R3

1890/10/11    Morton 2 - 2 Port Glasgow             friendly

1890/10/4      Linthouse 4 - 1 Morton                   friendly

1890/9/27      Morton 3 - 2 Neilston             Scottish Cup R2

1890/9/20      Morton 6 - 2 Dykebar                     friendly

1890/9/13      Clyde 2 - 3 Morton                        friendly

1890/9/6        Morton 7 - 2 Ayr Athletic        Scottish Cup R1

1890/8/30      Arthurlie 6 - 3 Morton                     friendly

1890/8/2        Morton 2 - 5 Abercorn                    friendly

*They can't both be on this date.

(Sources: German Wikipedia for the Scottish Cup; Scottish Football Historical Archive for the Renfrewshire Cup and Greenock and District Charity Cup; the Glasgow Herald for friendlies.)

Golfing Greenock

The view from Greenock Golf Club, c. 1935.

Clyde visit Cappielow for their League Cup group stage match against Morton.

At this point Morton cannot win the group. Even if they beat Clyde and finish with six points, either Stranraer or Kilmarnock must finish with at least seven. As for the three second place slots, Groups B, C and D will each produce a second-place team with more than six points. So no League Cup for Morton this year.

Morton and Clyde have played one competitive match in the past decade. Contrast the 1910s when they played 20, the 1960s when they played 21 and, in what proves to be the heyday of their rivalry, the 1940s when they met 27 times.

One reason for that was that they were both members of the wartime Southern League, from which there was neither promotion nor relegation. Another was the Summer Cup, which added fixtures to what normally would have been the close season. They met five times in that competition during the war:

1941/6/7        Morton 1 - 2 Clyde

1941/6/14      Clyde 3 - 1 Morton

1943/5/29      Clyde 1 - 1 Morton

1943/6/5        Morton 8 - 3 Clyde

1944/7/1        Clyde 3 - 3 Morton (This was a semi-final. Clyde advanced, possibly after a coin toss.)

Clyde have made it to the League Cup semi-finals three times, in 1956, 1957 and 1968, but never the final. Morton made the semi-finals in 1963, 1964, 1967, 1979 and 2016, and the final in 1963.

Clyde defender Jonathan Page played for Morton in 2013-14, as did Adam Livingstone in 2019-20. Alan Lithgow played for Clyde from 2008 to 2011.

Morton hosted Clyde in the 2016-17 group stage and won 1 - 0.

John Sutton is back as Morton development team coach.

Falkirk forfeited their Wednesday match against Edinburgh City and also today's match against Ayr United, ensuring the Honest Men a place in Round Two. Six group stage matches have been awarded due to Covid, plus one for a suspended player.

[Morton win 2 - 1, on two goals by Muirhead.]

The other match:

Kilmarnock [2 - 1] Stranraer

East Kilbride are on Lowland League duty. (See below.)

Group G final table:

Kilmarnock      4    2    1    0    1    5    6   -1    8

Stranraer         4    2    0    0    2    5    3  +2    6

Morton             4    1    1    1    1    3    5   -2    6

East Kilbride    4    1    0    2    1    5    3  +2    5

Clyde               4    1    1    0    2    5    6   -1    5

What was the last time Kilmarnock played a league match against the other 2021-22 Championship clubs?

2021/5/16      Hamilton Academical

2018/4/7        Partick Thistle

2017/5/13      Inverness CT

2012/5/12      Dunfermline

1997/3/5        Raith Rovers

1993/3/20      Ayr United

1993/3/9        Morton

1990/4/21      Queen of the South

1990/2/17      Arbroath

Canadian Premier League:

HFX Wanderers [1 - 0] Valour FC

[Goal by Pierre Lamothe.]

Valour are the surprise team of 2021, leading the league from the first day. You'll recall that they finished 2019 in 7th place and 2020 in 6th.

The Kickoff is over. Wanderers proceed to the next phase, in which they get to play the three eastern teams at the Wanderers Grounds. There has not been a CPL game in Halifax since October 9, 2019.

The schedule for the 2021 Canadian Championship is out. HFX play AS Blainville first, and if they win, CF Montreal.

Winnipeg Fury versus Nova Scotia Clippers in the Canadian Soccer League:

1991/5/28      Nova Scotia Clippers 2 - 0 Winnipeg Fury

1991/6/23      Winnipeg Fury 2 - 2 Nova Scotia Clippers

1991/7/24      Winnipeg Fury 1 - 1 Nova Scotia Clippers

1991/8/30      Nova Scotia Clippers 1 - 2 Winnipeg Fury

Source.

Other games:

JFL: Suzuka Point Getters [2 - 1] FC Kariya (tomorrow)

Jeonbuk vs Pohang Steelers (July 21) (postponed)

Pohang Steelers [0 - 1] FC Seoul

Tohoku Div 1: Ganju Iwate [2 - 0] Dogizaka (tomorrow)

Jaro [0 - 2] TPS

Largs Thistle [4 - 2] Rossvale

Celtic B [1 - 1] East Kilbride

Rangers [2 - 1] Real Madrid (friendly) (tomorrow)

3.Liga begins: TSV Halelse [0 - 1] 1.FC Saarbrücken

FAI Cup, Round One (yesterday): UCD 2 - 0 Shelbourne

The Strongest [3 - 1] Bolivar (tomorrow)

2021-22 UEFA Europa Conference 2QR, first leg (July 20 - 22):

Aberdeen 5 - 1 Hacken

Hibs 3 - 0 Santa Coloma

HB 4 - 0 Budućnost Podgorica (Montenegro)

Linfield 4 - 0 Borac Banja Luca (Bosnia)

Prishtina 4 - 1 Connah's Quay Nomads

Valur 0 - 3 Bodø/Glimt (Norway)

Dundalk 2 - 2 FCI Levadia (Estonia)

Kauno Žalgiris (Lithuania) 0 - 5 The New Saints

Larne 2 - 1 AGF (Denmark)

F91 Dudelange 0 - 1 Bohemians

Austria Wien 1 - 1 Breiðablik

FH 0 - 2 Rosenborg

The Highland League starts today. Let's follow Clachnacuddin, as we tried to do last year:

Inverurie Loco Works [5 - 0] Clachnacuddin

The Swiss Challenge League begins. Missing are Grasshoppers (promoted) and Chiasso (relegated). New this year are Vaduz (relegated) and Yverdon-Sport (promoted).

Lausanne-Ouchy 1 - 1 Winterthur (yesterday)

Olympic Women's Soccer, group stage:

Chile [1 - 2] Canada (July 24) [2 goals by Janine Beckie.]

Japan [0 - 1] Great Britain (July 24)

Coupe de France, Round Two:

AS Saint Pierraise [2 - 1] AS Miquelonaisse

Other developments:

The Scottish Cup draw is about due.

The 2021-22 Scottish Women's Championship South fixtures are out, partly.

1999-2000

In the summer of 1999 homeless Clydebank FC moved out of Boghead Park, where they had been groundsharing with Dumbarton FC, and moved in with Greenock Morton at Cappielow. The Bankies would play there for three seasons, after which they were purchased and relocated to Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie to operate under the name Airdrie United. In 1999-2000 both Morton and Clydebank were members of the First Division and took turns being 'visitor' whenever they met in league play, though they were both home.

The 1999-2000 calendar mostly lines up with 2021-22's. 2000 was a leap year, so the games from March to May 2000 will be one day off. Let's follow Morton and Clydebank through 1999-2000 as they channel Oscar and Felix at Cappielow.

A note about sources. Fitbastats covers most events. Clydebank have a 1999-2000 season article on Wikipedia for further detail, but Morton have not. Even better for Clydebank statistics is The Bankies Archive. Online access to the Greenock Telegraphs of the day would be ideal, but isn't available. The Glasgow Herald archive at Google Books only goes up to about 1990, and accessing BBC Football reports from 1999 is a hit and miss process.

July 24, 1999.    (Friendly)    Clydebank visited Gala Fairydean of the East of Scotland League at Netherdale and beat them 5 - 0.

Apparently Morton were scheduled to play a friendly at Clyde, but Clyde do not list it on their website, and I haven't found the score. It was a rainy day, so maybe the match was abandoned. But there's this:

Source.

R34

Airship R34 flew over Greenock on March 14th, 1919. The dirigible was constructed by William Beardmore and Company at Inchinnan, made an Atlantic crossing in July 1919, and ended her short career with a crash landing in Yorkshire in 1920. Source. Also.

After the airship craze ended the Beardmore factory site was acquired by India of Inchinnan.

It's Morton versus Montrose in the second leg of their Championship playoff semifinal.

Montrose won the first leg 2 - 1, meaning Morton need to win today. If the aggregate score is equal at the end of extra time it'll go to penalty shots. There's no away goal rule in this cup.

This is the sixth time Morton have played a competitive match on May 11th. The other times were in 1940, 1946, 1963, 1985 and 1991. The details are here.

This is the 36th competitive match of 2020-21 for Morton, and the 18th at Cappielow. Those 36 games have been compressed into a period of about seven months. Normally they would play about 43 games over nine and a half months. Montrose have played 31 games in six months, including eight in April.

If Morton win this playoff, they will face the winner of Airdrie versus Cove Rangers, starting next Tuesday. If Morton lose, it's season over plus demotion to League One.

All the playoffs:

Premiership semifinals:

Raith Rovers [0 - 3] Dundee (tomorrow)

Championship semifinals, 2nd leg:

Morton [3 - 1] Montrose

[Morton win a playoff! Goals by Oliver, Salkeld and McGuffie.]

Airdrieonians [3 - 2] Cove Rangers

[It's Morton versus Airdrie in the next round.]

League One semifinals, 2nd leg:

Dumbarton [1 - 0] Stranraer

Edinburgh City [2 - 2] Elgin

[Dumbarton and Edinburgh City advance.]

Other matches:

Kilmarnock [3 - 3] St Mirren (tomorrow)

Ross County [2 - 1] Hamilton Accies (tomorrow)

This will be matchday 37 of the Premiership. Killie, Ross County and Hamilton are all trying to avoid relegation.

Swiss Challenge League: Winterthur 2 - 1 Grasshoppers (yesterday)

Developments

Major League Soccer began its 2021 season on April 16th. Due to border restrictions the Canadian teams are playing their home games in the US. Toronto FC are operating out of Orlando, CF Montreal Miami, and Vancouver Whitecaps Salt Lake City.

League1 Ontario has postponed its 2021 start date to July 2.

The West, South and East of Scotland Leagues are opposed to the inclusion of Old Firm colt teams in the Lowland League. But the Lowland League clubs have voted for it.

Ray MacKinnon is leaving Queen's Park.

Seasons in which Morton played both Montrose and Motherwell:

1934-35, 1963-64, 2020-21

Tasman United in the NZ Football Championship:

                  G    W    D    L    F      A     GD    P    Pos

2019-20    16    6    2     8    27    26     +1    20    5th

2018-19    18    3    5    10   22    36    -14    14    8th

2017-18    18    6    5     7    34    39      -5    23    6th

2016-17    18    4    5     9    29    42    -13    17    8th

Vertiginous Greenock

Steeplejacks hang out atop Victoria Tower at Greenock Town Hall. Source.

Morton (in ninth place) host Alloa (in tenth and already relegated).

Morton are on a four-game winless streak, league and cup. Alloa have a five-game winless streak of their own.

Morton enter this match with 27 points, equal to Ayr United except 5 goals below them on goal difference. Morton need to win today and to run up the score as well, though this season they have not been the sort of team that runs up the score. Morton are without an effective striker, and Mark Farrell's award-winning pitch has been allowed to deteriorate into a turnip patch this season, favouring low-scoring games.

Best-case scenario: Morton win, and Ayr and Arbroath lose. Morton would be a point up on Arbroath and 3 points up on Ayr, and would need only a point (or a loss or a draw by Ayr) next weekend to evade ninth place.

Worst-case scenario: Morton lose, and Ayr and Arbroath win. Arbroath would then be uncatchable, and Morton would have to win against them next weekend and hope that Ayr lose and that a goal difference of 7 or more evaporates.

But Ayr could lose both of their remaining games (against QoS and ICT), which would certainly work in Morton's favour.

It's the second-last day of the schedule and there is no team that can say for certain that it'll be in next season's Championship. Three Premiership clubs might be, five League One clubs might be, and eight Championship clubs might be.

Queen of the South will book a place in the 2021-22 Championship today if they and Morton both lose. If Dunfermline win and Caley Thistle lose then ICT will also remain in the Championship.

Alloa's manager Peter Grant will leave the club after next weekend's season finale.

Falkirk have fired co-managers David McCracken and Lee Miller, who were League One managers of the month just last month.

Hearts' match at Cappielow Tuesday was their fifth consecutive away league fixture to end in a draw, which sets a club record.

Dundee FC's The Dee Archive is stats paradise.

The other Championship matches:

Ayr United [0 - 0] QoS

Dundee [2 - 1] Raith

Dunfermline [4 - 3] Arbroath

Hearts [3 - 0] Inverness CT

[Morton 1 - 1 Alloa. Morton goal by Fjørtoft.]

Meanwhile it's the 2020-21 Scottish Cup quarter-finals.

Hibs [2 - 2] Motherwell    [Hibs win on PK.]

Rangers [1 - 1] St Johnstone (tomorrow)    [St Johnstone win on PK.]

Aberdeen [0 - 3] Dundee United (tomorrow)

Kilmarnock [3 - 3] St Mirren (Monday)    [St Mirren win on PK.]

Four of these clubs, Rangers, Hibs, St Johnstone and St Mirren, also made it to the League Cup quarter-finals.

Celtic are out of the quarter-finals for the first time since 2013-14. And 2020-21 will be their first season without any silverware at all since 2009-10.

Since 1975, which Scottish Cup quarter-finals have been all-Premiership?

1985-86, 2020-21

The last ten Scottish Cup matches between Athletic clubs:

2020/11/28    Penicuik Athletic 2 - 3 Musselburgh Athletic

2017/1/21      Alloa Athletic 2 - 3 Dunfermline Athletic

2011/10/29    Annan Athletic 2 - 0 Alloa Athletic

2011/10/22    Alloa Athletic 2 - 2 Annan Athletic

2010/10/30    Annan Athletic 5 - 0 Preston Athletic

2010/9/29      Preston Athletic 0 - 0 Annan Athletic

1997/1/13      Forfar Athletic 0 - 1 Alloa Athletic

1992/2/5        Dunfermline Athletic 3 - 1 Forfar Athletic

1992/1/25      Forfar Athletic 0 - 0 Dunfermline Athletic

1984/1/9        Dunfermline Athletic 1 - 0 Forfar Athletic

Other matches:

Kilmarnock 3 - 0 Dundee United (April 21)

Peterhead [3 - 0] Clyde

Luxembourg: Swift Hespernage 1 - 1 Progrès Niederkorn (April 21)

Progrès Niederkorn [3 - 2] Victoria Rosport (tomorrow)

3.Liga: 1.FC Saarbrücken 5 - 0 Mannheim (April 21)

FC Bayern II  [0 - 4]  1.FC Saarbrücken (Monday)

Aarau 3 - 3 Winterthur (yesterday)

J2: Mito HollyHock 0 - 1 JEF United Chiba (April 21)

Blaublitz Akita [1 - 0] Mito HollyHock (tomorrow)

HollyHock enter this game 9th and Blaublitz 10th.

JFL: FC Kariya [0 - 1] Honda FC (tomorrow)

FC Kariya have held 17th place since the season began, and they're unlikely to break out against Honda who are top of the table.

Galway United 2 - 2 UCD (last night)

Faroes: B36 [2 - 1] Streymur (tomorrow)

Copa Libertadores, group stage, matchday 1:

Group B: Always Ready 2 - 0 Internacional (Brazil) (April 20)

Group C: The Strongest 0 - 1 Boca Juniors (Argentina) (April 21)

Copa Sudamericana, group stage, matchday 1:

Group B: Guabira 1 - 3 Independiente (Argentina) (April 21)

Group C: Ceara (Brazil) 3 - 1 Jorge Wilstermann (April 21)

Bolivar 2 - 1 Arsenal (Argentina) (April 22)

The Tohoku League Division 1 starts tomorrow. This year there are twelve clubs in it. Let's follow one of the new ones, Dogizaka FC from the Tsugaru area of Aomori prefecture.

Sendai University vs Dogizaka

(Source.)

[The Tohoku League schedule has been pared back and won't start till June 6th.]

Developments:

All six of its English founding members dropped the European Super League like a hot potato Tuesday.

Postponed matches:

SWF Championship South: United Glasgow vs Morton

Morton vs Clyde (tomorrow)

This is the end of the 2020-21 SWF schedule, none of which was ever played.

This weekend would have seen the South Challenge Cup quarter-finals.

Morton's worst goalless runs:

Nine games:

1988/2/6        Dundee United 2 - 0 Morton

1988/2/16      Morton 0 - 0 Falkirk

1988/2/20      Hearts 2 - 0 Morton

1988 2/27      Celtic 1 - 0 Morton

1988/3/5        Dundee 1 - 0 Morton

1988/3/19      Morton 0 - 2 St Mirren

1988/3/23      Morton 0 - 3 Dunfermline

1988/3/26      Hearts 2 - 0 Morton

1988/4/2        Motherwell 1 - 0 Morton

Eight games:

1987/11/7      Morton 0 - 0 Aberdeen

1987/11/14    Falkirk 2 - 0 Morton

1987/11/18    Hibs 0 - 0 Morton

1987/11/21    Morton 0 - 1 Dundee United

1987/11/24    Morton 0 - 3 Rangers

1987/11/28    Motherwell 1 - 0 Morton

1987/12/5      Morton 0 - 4 Celtic

1987/12/12    Aberdeen 4 - 0 Morton

Six games:

1910/3/19      Morton 0 - 1 Motherwell

1910/3/26      Morton 0 - 2 Queen's Park

1910/4/2        Aberdeen 1 - 0 Morton

1910/4/6        Celtic 3 - 0 Morton

1910/4/9        Morton 0 - 2 Third Lanark

1910/4/21      Clyde 1 - 0 Morton

Morton had 5-game goalless runs in 2013-14, 1984-85 (twice), 1982-83, 1950-51 and 1902-03.

Historical matches:

April 24, 1915: Kilmarnock 2 - 2 Morton. End of league schedule. Morton finished fourth with a record of 18 wins, 12 draws and 8 losses for 48 points.

April 24, 1993: Hamilton 2 - 1 Morton. Jim Tolmie scored.

SFL Division Three results, April 25, 1925:

Beith 5 - 0 Leith Athletic

Dykehead 2 - 0 Lochgelly United

Galston 1 - 1 Montrose

Royal Albert 3 - 0 Vale of Leven

Source: Glasgow Herald, April 27, p. 13.

That's the last table the Herald published for this season, but you can see there are several fixtures left to be fulfilled. The others can be found at this site:

1925/4/20      Peebles Rovers 1 - 1 Leith Athletic

1925/4/21      Clackmannan 1 - 1 Dykehead

1925/4/27      Royal Albert 1 - 1 Galston

1925/4/28      Dykehead 2 - 0 Montrose

1925/4/29      Beith 3 - 2 Montrose

1915/4/29      Peebles Rovers 4 - 0 Galston

The final fixture between Brechin and Dykehead was never played.

Nithsdale Wanderers and Queen of the South were promoted.

Dumbarton Harp disbanded as soon as they were dropped from the league in January.

But the collapse of Vale of Leven is the story of this season. They lead the league until February but were unable to finish better than fourth in the end. Had they escaped Division Three their history might have been very different. As it was they were dissolved in 1929 and it was Queen of the South who went on to become a permanent feature of the SFL.

Vale of Leven were one of the big clubs in the early years of the SFA. Next month I'll start to dig into their results from the 1870s and 1880s.

Where are the 1924-25 Division Three clubs now?

Nithsdale Wanderers    South of Scotland League (tier VI)

Queen of the South      SPFL Championship (tier II)

Solway Star                  defunct

Vale of Leven               West of Scotland League, Conference C (tier VII)

Lochgelly United          defunct

Helensburgh                defunct

Leith Athletic                East of Scotland League, Conference A (tier VII)

Peebles Rovers           East of Scotland League, Conference B (tier VII)

Clackmannan              defunct

Royal Albert                West of Scotland League, Conference B (tier VII)

Galston                        defunct

Dykehead                    defunct

Beith                           West of Scotland League, Premier Division (tier VI)

Brechin City                SPFL League Two (tier IV)

Mid-Annandale           South of Scotland League (tier VI)

Montrose                     SPFL League One (tier III)

I think you'll agree that Progrès Niederkorn have the better insect.