Plenty of Nothing

In Full Cry

In Full Cry (1931) by Sybil Andrews. Source. Put this on the cover of Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man.

George and the Dragon

Best & Goes Farthest

The Greenock and Port Glasgow Tramways Company, Horsecar No. 3, 1898. Source.

Dunfermline Athletic visit Cappielow.

The Pars finished atop League One last season, following in the footsteps of Morton (2014-15), Rangers (2013-14), and Queen of the South (2012-13). To win your division you pretty much have to assemble a team that can compete in the division above it, so then the question becomes, can you keep that squad together? The Pars' top scorers last season were Faissal El Bakhtaoui (30 goals), Joe Cardle (15), Michael Moffat (15), and Ryan Wallace (10). El Bakhtaoui went to Dundee, Wallace to Albion Rovers. Dunfermline have signed former Hibs striker Farid El Alagui. El Alagui has also played for Falkirk and Dundee United.

Currently Dunfermline are 8th, with a win and four losses for 3 points. They are out of the League Cup, but still in the Challenge Cup.

Morton are ninth, with three draws and two losses, for 3 points. Both Morton and Dunfermline have a goal difference of -5, but Dunfermline have more goals for. Morton have four goals in five games.

Depending on other results, Morton can finish the day anywhere from sixth to tenth.

Morton have signed Gavin Gunning, also ex-Dundee United.

What years did Morton go farthest into the calendar before gaining a win in league play? And what position did they hold at the end of the season?

Oct. 28, 1972        Finished 12th of 18

Oct. 26, 1901        Finished 10th of 10

Oct. 21, 1939*       Finished 5th of 16

*There was no league play between Sept. 2 and Oct. 21, 1939.

Oct. 20, 1973        Finished 14th of 18

Oct. 18, 1975        Finished 11th of 14

Oct. 18, 2008        Finished 6th of 10

Oct. 8, 1960          Finished 19th of 19

Sept. 29, 1990      Finished 9th of 14

Sept. 26, 1925      Finished 15th of 20

Sept. 22, 1924      Finished 14th of 20

What were the results of Morton's first five league matches each year this century? And what position did they hold at the end of the season?

2000-01    LLWWL           = 6 pts             9th (relegated)

2001-02    WDDDL           = 6 pts            10th (relegated)

2002-03    DWLWD           = 8pts             1st (promoted)

2003-04    WWDWW        = 12 pts           4th

2004-05    LWWLW           = 9 pts            3rd

2005-06    WWWDL         = 10 pts           2nd

2006-07    WWDWW        = 12 pts          1st (promoted)

2007-08    WWDLL           = 7 pts            8th

2008-09    DDLLL             = 2 pts            6th

2009-10    LLWLL             = 3pts             8th

2010-11    DLWLL             = 4 pts            7th

2011-12    DWDWW         = 11 pts           8th

2012-13    DDLWW          = 8 pts             2nd

2013-14    WLLDD           = 5 pts            10th (relegated)

2014-15    LWWLW          = 9 pts            1st (promoted)

2015-16    DLDWW          = 8 pts            5th

2016-17    DDDLL            = 3 pts

Conclusion: It's lower-middle or bottom for Morton this year.

[But Morton win 2 - 1, with goals by Oliver and Quitongo. Morton move up to seventh place. Match summary.]

1898-99. On this date in 1898 Morton travelled the two miles to Port Glasgow Athletic's Clune Park, and lost 7 - 3.

Port Glasgow Athletic's kit was a white shirt with blue knickerbockers and socks.

How is the Austrian Erste Liga like the Scottish Championship?

Both are winter leagues with 36-games schedules. The Erste Liga includes a reserve team, FC Liefering, the farm club for Red Bull Salzburg of the Bundesliga. There are no reserve teams in the four SPFL divisions. The greatest travel distance, as the crow flies, is 509 km from Lustenau to Vienna. The oldest club is 117, the youngest 8, with an average of 72. Average stadium capacity is 10,747. There are no playoffs.

Austria plans to go over to first and second tiers of 12 and 16 teams in 2018-19.

UEFA Champions League Group C: Barcelona 7 - 0 Celtic. Five more games.

Prior to this match Celtic and Barcelona had met twelve times in UEFA competition, Barca taking 7 wins, Celtic 2, with 3 draws. And they played that friendly on July 30th. Listen to the Champions League Theme.

Yesterday: UCD 0 - 1 Cobh Ramblers

CAF Champions League semifinals, first leg:

Zamalek [4 - 0] Wydad Casablanca

ZESCO United [2 - 1] Mamelodi Sundowns

Wydad won the CAF Champions League in 1992.

Largs Thistle [1 - 3] Kilwinning Rangers

Kalmar [2 - 0] Östersund

Tomorrow: B36 [2 - 2] HB

Mohun Bagan [0 - 1] Mohameddan Sporting. [That ends the brief Calcutta Football League season. MB finish third.]

Is it all too stressful? Why not just watch the harbour traffic at Gourock.

Remember that new home strip that caused a fan uprising back in May? The Morton U20s are wearing it now.

Hansom Cab

The Hansom cab was an English invention, but they had them in France too. Source.

Capitán Haddock

Game day posters are making a comeback. Here's a Tintin parody for a match between CF Reus Desportiu and RCD Espanyol B of the Spanish third flight. CFRD won 3 - 1.

How many years has it been since anyone used a football with a surface divided into black pentagons and white hexagons? Yet it remains the standard sign of footballness, the way an incandescent lightbulb still represents a bright idea.

The SPFL is in action this weekend, all except Greenock Morton and Queen of the South, who got this fixture out of the way two months ago to create a holiday break.

How often have Morton played on Saturday, December 26th, and how did they do?

2015        no game

2009        no game

1998        Morton 1 - 1 Clydebank

1992        Dumbarton 3 - 1 Morton

1987        Morton 0 - 0 Hearts

1981        no game

1970        Morton 0 - 3 Celtic

1964        Dundee 1 - 1 Morton

1959        Morton 1 - 1 East Stirlingshire

1953        Morton 5 - 0 Cowdenbeath

1942        Celtic 0 - 2 Morton (Southern League)

1936        Brechin 1 - 3 Morton

1931        Morton 4 - 1 Dundee

1925        no game

1914        Morton 3 - 0 Ayr United

1908        Morton 1 - 1 Third Lanark

1903        Morton 2 - 3 Motherwell

1896        Linthouse 2 - 5 Morton

1891        no game

1885        no game

1874        no game

Six wins, five draws, three losses, 29 goals for, 17 goals against.

Morton have two fixtures against Hibs that need to be rearranged: the December 5th game that was rained out; and the January 30th game that will be bumped by Hibs' League Cup semi final.

Tomorrow: Karşıyaka [0 - 1] Altınordu.

I'll put all the Emperor's Cup and Empress's Cup updates in the January 1st post.

Cheval de Renfort, Rue des Martyrs

The cheval de renfort was an extra draught horse added to the team of a horsed-drawn omnibus to get it up a steep slope, like the one on Rue des Martyrs in Paris. The horse and its attendant, or côtier, would tramp up and down the hill all day. Source.

Northern Dancer

Canada's most famous horse, Northern Dancer. Source.

Falkirk Morton

In addition to the Falkirk Wheel, the rejuvenated Forth and Clyde Canal is now home to this equestrian statue, The Kelpies. Scottish Canals.

Morton visit Falkirk. These two clubs played to a 1 - 1 draw in their first meeting. So far this season Morton have played to a draw against Falkirk, St Mirren, Dumbarton, and Queen of the South. Within the double round robin format, have Morton ever played a division rival to four draws? Yes. Montrose, Division One, 1991-92.

Falkirk are presently 4th in the Championship, with 15 points. In the first quarter they earned four wins (Raith, Livi, Dumbarton, St Mirren), three draws, and suffered only one loss (Rangers). Morton are 6th, and have lost three in a row. However, Morton are still alive in the League Cup, while the Bairns were knocked out by Ross County 7 - 0.

Morton have failed to score in five of their ten league matches this season.

The word 'nil' comes from the Latin nihil, denoting nothingness. The word 'love' in tennis is from the French l'oeuf, the egg.

If Morton lose today it will be for the first time they have lost four in a row since the dreaded 2013-14 season in which they lost eight in a row from November to January and then six in a row from February to March.

Derek Gaston has signed a new contract that will keep him with the club until 2018. Jordan Cairnie has been loaned out to East Stirlingshire.

A few seasons ago I made a list of the First Division shirt sponsors, to see what kind of money the Scottish second tier could attract. See it here. Who are this year's Championship shirt sponsors?

Alloa Athletic: Marshall Construction

Dumbarton: Baxter Ramsay (business consultants)

Falkirk: Central Demolition

Hibs: Marathon Bet (sport betting)

Livingston: Krafty Brew

Morton: Millions (sweeties)

QoS: Palmerston Café

Raith: Val McDairmid (crime novelist)

Rangers: 32Red (sport betting)

St Mirren: JD Sports

The best shirt sponsor pairing has to be the yin and yang dynamic of Alloa's Marshall Construction versus Falkirk's Central Demolition. How has that worked out on the pitch? A 1 - 1 draw.

[Falkirk 1 - 0 Morton.]

UEFA Women's Champions League this week: Glasgow City 0 - 3 Chelsea. [City are out.]

Montedio Yamagata [0 - 1] Ventforet Kofu.

UCD AFC visit Waterford United for the last league game of the season. [UCD win 0 - 1 and advance to the promotion playoffs.]

Largs Thistle [2 - 0] Clydebank.

Kardemir Karabükspor 2 - 1 Karşıyaka. Karabük is a steel town on the Black Sea.

The poster for today's Montedio game:

The club is out to attract more female supporters by marketing some of its younger players as if they were a boy band. M5 are Takumi Yamada, Higa Atsutaira, Hidaka Keita, Koya Yuruki, and Settsu Hayato. Source.

Epona of Bliesbruck

Source.

Cappielow Park the Horse

The horse named Cappielow Park. Check your guide.

Brechin City FC visit Greenock Morton. Forfar visit Stenhousemuir, and Stranraer host Ayr. So far this season Forfar have taken three wins from Stenny, and Stranraer have swept Ayr.

Morton definitely have a tough match. Brechin are stronger on the road than at home. They are also the team most likely to play you to a draw. In their three meetings with Morton this season Brechin have won one with two draws. But there are hopeful signs. The Greenock Tele described the Ton as "rampant" following last week's victory in Dunfermline. Declan McManus leads all League One scorers with 15 goals. And Cappielow Park the horse has won three races during the 2014-15 football season.

It's a vital game for Brechin too. If they lose, and Airdrieonians beat Stirling, Brechin fall out of the final playoff spot.

[Brechin win 0 -2. Stranraer and Forfar both win, leaving Morton in third place, four points out of first.]

Peterhead and Dunfermline play each other. They each have 44 points and a hope of fourth place. [1 - 1.]

Tomorrow is the final of the coveted Scottish Challenge Cup: Livingston versus Alloa Athetic. Alloa won the cup in 1999; Livingston were runners-up in 2000; Alloa were runners-up in 2001. But that's ancient history. Anything can happen tomorrow. The game is at McDiarmid Park in Perth, St Johnstone's home ground.

Both Challenge Cup finalists are in danger of relegation at the end of the season. Has a Challenge Cup winner ever gone on to relegation? Yes. Ross County in 2006-07.

[Livingston win emphatically.]

Yesterday UCD AFC hosted Finn Harps. Harps take their name from the River Finn in Donegal. Final score: 2 - 2.

Brora Rangers are Highland League champions. They will meet Edinburgh City of the Lowland League in a playoff in May to see which of them will try to unseat the SPFL's 42nd club.

But it seems Brora don't want to be promoted.

There's one other pyramid playoff in the offing. The winners of the East of Scotland Football League and the South of Scotland Football League will meet to see which one gets to try to replace the bottom Lowland League club. As of now there is no promotion playoff connecting the Highland League and the little North Caledonian Football League.

I asked my cousin from Istanbul which Turkish club I should support, the only condition being that it must be just like Greenock Morton. Karşıyaka Spor Kulübü from Izmir. They were founded in 1912, wear red and green, and are, as he says, no-hopers. They are nicknamed The 35 and a Half because another Izmir club are The 35. They play in the TFF First League, which is actually the second league. It's a winter league so the season is about two thirds over, and we must join the action in media res. At present Karşıyaka are in eighth place, six points out of a promotion playoff spot. Today the 35.5 play host to second-place Adana Demimspor. [And Karşıyaka win 6 - 5. What a goalfest!]

Montedio Yamagata host Shonan Bellmare. [Shonan win 1 - 2.]