
So clean and new! Painting by Thomas Carsell (1810-1860). Source.
Alloa Athletic visit Cappielow.
This is Alloa's fifth Championship campaign this decade, which puts them one ahead of Ayr United.
Morton's record against Alloa this decade has been 5 wins, 1 draw, and 8 losses.
Morton's first game against Alloa was a 1 - 0 victory at Cappielow on December 30th, 1922, in Division One. Morton were Scottish Cup holders at the time.
The Wasps did all right against lower division clubs in the preseason, beating Albion Rovers 2 - 1 and Clyde 3 - 2. In the League Cup group stage they played Elgin City to a 3 - 3 draw but then lost the shootout, lost to Hibs, and then beat Stirling Albion and Arbroath. Their 7 points were not enough to get them into Round Two. Last weekend they played to a 1 - 1 draw against Partick Thistle.
Alloa midfielder Alan Trouten played for Morton in 2003-04.
The oldest player on the Alloa roster is captain Andy Graham, age 35. The oldest member of the Morton squad is Chris Millar, 36.
The situation: It's the snakes and ladders part of the season when a single result can transport a team to the top or bottom of the standings. Morton enter today's game in ninth place, which would put them in the relegation playoffs if they are still there in May 2020. If Morton lose today and ICT win or draw, it's the odium of tenth for the Ton.
When else have Morton played their league home opener against Alloa, and how did it go?
1977/8/20 Morton 4 - 2 Alloa
1958/9/3 Morton 4 - 1 Alloa
When was the last time Morton started the league season with a 4 - 2 loss?
A: It never happened before last weekend.
How many times last season did Morton score twice and still lose the game?
A: Zero.
Is scoring up?
Scoring is way up. In the eighteen games Morton played from January to May 2019, there were 34 goals scored for an average of 1.88 per game (counting both teams' goals). In Morton's first five games of 2019-20 there have been 28 goals scored, or 5.6 per game.
Morton are feuding with the Greenock Telegraph, which is too bad for both as they are basically in a symbiotic relationship.
Meanwhile, Buchanan's Toffees are big in Iraq.
Sort the Championship teams by points earned in the League Cup group stage:
10 Dundee
10 Partick
9 Dunfermline
8 Morton
7 Ayr United
7 Inverness CT
7 Dundee United
7 Alloa
6 Arbroath
6 Queen of the South
(Teams in bold progressed to Round Two.)
If group stage points counted in the league standings, would they have made any difference to the 2018-19 Championship table?
71 + 9 = 80 Ross County
65 + 5 = 70 Dundee United
56 + 9 = 65 Inverness CT
54 + 12 = 66 Ayr United
46 + 6 = 52 Morton
43 + 9 = 52 Partick
41 + 12 = 53 Dunfermline
39 + 8 = 47 Alloa
38 + 9 = 47 QoS
38 + 6 = 44 Falkirk
Yes they would. Ayr would have finished 3rd instead of 4th, Dunfermline 5th instead of 7th, and QoS would have finished 8th instead of 9th and avoided the playoffs, as they had a better GD than Alloa.
The other Championship matches:
Partick 1 - 2 Dundee United (last night)
With this win DUFC surpass Brechin's record low finish in '17-18.
Dundee [1 - 0] Ayr United
Inverness CT [2 - 1] Arbroath
Queen of the South [1 - 1] Dunfermline
[Morton win 4 - 1. Goals by McHugh (3) and Lyon. Morton jump from 9th place to 3rd.]
League One:
East Fife [1 - 1] Peterhead
Falkirk [6 - 0] Dumbarton
Former Morton managers McKinnon and Duffy go head to head.
Forfar [1 - 0] Stranraer
Montrose [0 - 1] Airdrieonians
Raith Rovers [5 - 2] Clyde
How have Morton fared in Match No. 2 this decade?
2018/8/11 Alloa 0 - 2 Morton
2017/8/12 Morton 4 - 1 St Mirren
2016/8/13 Morton 1 - 1 Falkirk
2015/8/15 Hibs 1 - 0 Morton
2014/8/16 Morton 4 - 0 Stranraer
2013/8/17 Falkirk 3 - 1 Morton
2012/8/18 Hamilton 1 - 1 Morton
2011/8/13 Morton 2 - 1 Livingston
2010/8/14 Dunfermline 2 - 0 Morton
4 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses.
1963-64: Morton began their season with a League Cup group stage match against Ayr United, winning 0 - 1 at Somerset Park.
Port Glasgow Athletic versus Hibs. Twenty league matches: Hibs won twelve, Port one, with seven draws. Hibs knocked Port Glasgoq out of the 1901-02 Scottish Cup.
A few months ago there was talk of expanding the Championship to 12 clubs with a 44-game schedule. Morton have only ever played five 44-game seasons. They were:
G W D L GD Pts Pos Z
1986-87 44 24 9 11 +32 57 1st Div 1 47
1987-88 44 3 10 31 -73 16 12th Prem 47
1991-92 44 17 12 15 +7 46 7th Div1 51
1992-93 44 19 10 15 +9 48 6th Div 1 50
1993-94 44 6 17 21 -31 29 11th Div 1 50
Z = total games, league + cup
The League Cup group stage was not played during any of these years, but the Challenge Cup was introduced in 1990-91, which accounts for the uptick in Z.
How have East Stirlingshire fared since relegation?
G W D L F A GD P Pos
2016-17 30 21 5 4 107 43 +64 68 2nd
(SC: R2 LC: GS ChC: R1 LLC: QF SChC: SF)
2017-18 30 19 7 4 67 31 +36 64 4th
(SC: R2 LC: ---- ChC: R1 LLC: R1 SChC: R3)
2018-19 28 11 6 11 57 47 +10 39 6th
(SC: R2 LC: ---- ChC: R1 LLC: F SChC: QF)
(SC = Scottish Cup, LC = League Cup, ChC = Challenge Cup, LLC = Lowland League Cup, SChC = South Challenge Cup.)
East Stirlingshire look very good this year, due in large part to the former Morton players on their roster: Bobby Barr, Willie Dyer and Peter MacDonald. Will they yoyo back into League Two? Today they play wunderkinds Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic. [Bonnyrigg Rose 3 - 1 East Stirlingshire.]
It's the Scottish Cup, first preliminary round. A bunch of East of Scotland League sides were granted SFA licenses this summer, bumping the size of this round up to thirteen matches. Let's follow the clubs (in italics) that are in the cup for the first time:
Hill of Beath Hawthorn [2 - 0] Blackburn United
Broxburn Athletic [2 - 0] Tynecastle
Dundonald Bluebell [2 - 2] Auchinleck Talbot
Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare [1 - 6] Penicuik Athletic
Coldstream [1 - 9] Jeanfield Swifts
Camelon Juniors [4 - 0] Newton Stewart
Canadian Premier League:
HFX Wanderers [0 - 0] Cavalry
York 9 [0 - 2] Valour
Edmonton [3 - 1] Pacific
Swiss Challenge League: Vaduz [0 - 1] Winterthur (tomorrow)