Plenty of Nothing

2019-20 Scottish League Cup, Round Two

The Queen's Visit to the Clyde, 17 August 1847, by William Clark (1803-1883). Source.

Morton visit Hibs. The last time these two clubs met in the League Cup, August 26th 2008, it was also Round Two, and it was also at Easter Road, and Morton won.

In preseason friendlies Hibs lost at Arbroath, and won in Dunfermline, Carlisle, and Newcastle.

In the League Cup group stage Hibs beat Alloa, Arbroath and Elgin City, and won a shootout against Stirling Albion. Their eleven points put them in the pot of seeded clubs.

To date in Premiership play they have beaten St Mirren and been trounced by Rangers. Hibs colts were knocked out of the first round of the Challenge Cup by Elgin.

Those two years that Morton and Hibs were both in the Championship Hibs won 3 times, Morton once, with 4 draws.

The oldest player on the Hibernian roster is Steven Whittaker, 35. He started out with Hibs and had stints with Rangers and Norwich City.

This will be the fifteenth time Morton have played Hibs since the Ton last played Hearts.

Morton have released goalkeeper Brendan Pearson and signed goalkeeper Danny Rogers on loan from Aberdeen.

[Hibs 5 - 3 Morton after extra time. Morton goal by McHugh, plus two own goals. David Hopkin is awarded a red card.]

The other matches:

Motherwell 1 - 2 Hearts (yesterday)

Partick [3 - 2] Ross County

Dundee [1 - 2] Aberdeen (tomorrow)

Celtic [2 - 1] Dunfermline

Forfar [1 - 2] Livingston

Kilmarnock [1 - 0] Hamilton

East Fife [0 - 3] Rangers (tomorrow)

East Fife have not defeated Rangers since 1973.

This round includes ten Premiership, four Championship, and two League One clubs.

League One:

Airdrieonians [3 - 1] Clyde

Falkirk [2 - 1] Montrose

Forfar vs East Fife (postponed)

Peterhead [2 - 3] Dumbarton

It's McInally versus Duffy. (See below.)

Stranraer [3 - 2] Raith Rovers

Scottish Cup, Round One:

LTHV [5 - 0] Wigtown & Bladnoch

Colville Park [0 - 4] Whitehill Welfare (tomorrow)

Auchinleck Talbot [6 - 1] Dundonald Bluebell

1907-08: Morton began their 1907-08 Division One season with a Thursday August 15 visit to Ibrox, where they lost 0 - 3 to Rangers. Two days later Morton returned to Glasgow for a match against Partick Thistle. 2 - 2.

1963-64: On August 14, 1963, Morton handed Stranraer a 5 - 0 defeat at Cappielow in League Cup group stage action. On the 17th Clyde came to call and lost 3 - 1.

Port Glasgow Athletic versus Motherwell. These two played thirty-two league matches from 1893 to 1910. Motherwell won eighteen of them, Port Glasgow eleven, and there were three draws.

Jim Duffy's managerial record against Jim McInally:

2011/11/5      Peterhead 0 - 0 Clyde        league

2012/1/21      Clyde 0 - 1 Peterhead        league

2012/4/21      Peterhead 1 - 1 Clyde        league

2012/8/18      Clyde 0 - 2 Peterhead        league

2012/11/17    Peterhead 1 - 0 Clyde        league

2013/3/2        Clyde 2 - 0 Peterhead        league

2013/4/27      Peterhead 3 - 0 Clyde        league

2013/10/12    Peterhead 1 - 1 Clyde        league

2013/12/7      Clyde 1 - 3 Peterhead        league

2014/2/15      Peterhead 2 - 0 Clyde        league

2014/4/12      Clyde 0 - 2 Peterhead        league

2018/11/24    Morton 1 - 1 Peterhead      Scottish Cup

2018/11/27    Peterhead 0 - 3 Morton      Scottish Cup

(Clyde and Morton = Duffy; Peterhead = McInally)

7 wins McInally, 2 wins Duffy, 4 draws.

When was the last time each 2019-20 Championship club hosted a Premiership side in a competitive match?

today             Partick Thistle vs Ross County    LC R2

today             Dundee vs Aberdeen                   LC R2

2019/7/13      QoS 0 - 3 Motherwell                   LC GS

2019/5/23      Dundee United 0 - 0 St Mirren     playoff

2018/8/18      Dunfermline 0 - 1 Hearts              LC R2

2018/2/11      Ayr United 1 - 6 Rangers              SC R5

2018/1/30      Inverness CT 0 - 1 Dundee          SC R4

2017/7/29      Arbroath 0 - 0 Ross County         LC GS

2017/7/19      Alloa 0 - 3 Hibs                            LC GS

2015/10/27    Morton 1 - 3 St Johnstone           LC QF

When was the last time each 2019-20 Championship club hosted a Premiership side in a competitive match, and won?

2018/12/5      Dundee 4 - 0 Hamilton                 Premiership

2018/4/21      Partick 2 - 1 Hamilton                   Premiership

2017/7/14      Ayr United 1 - 0 Kilmarnock          LC GS

2017/5/20      Inverness CT 3 - 2 Motherwell     Premiership

2016/8/9        Dundee United 3 - 1 Partick         LC R2

2016/7/26      Alloa 3 - 2 Ross County               LC GS

2015/9/22      Morton 3 - 2 Motherwell               LC R3

2015/8/25      Dunfermline 3 - 1 Dundee            LC R2

2015/2/7        QoS 2 - 0 St Johnstone                SC R5

1979/8/22      Arbroath 2 - 1 Aberdeen               LC R1

Canadian Premier League:

Cavalry [0 - 0] Edmonton (yesterday)

York9 [0 - 2] Pacific

Valour [1 - 3] Forge

The Winnipeg stadium grounds crew have had just two days to convert the field from CFL football to CPL soccer.

HFX Wanderers have signed centre back Duran Lee previously of Vaughan Azzurri.

SWFL2 W/SW: Stewarton United Ladies [0 - 8] Morton Women (tomorrow)

Tohoku Soccer League: Blancdieu Hirosaki [1 - 1] Iwaki FC (tomorrow)

Swiss Cup, Round One: SC YF Juventus [0 - 3] FC Winterthur

Years that Morton finished higher than Hibs:

1905-06    Morton (9th, Div 1), Hibs (11th, Div 1)

1911-12    Morton (6th, Div 1), Hibs (13th, Div 1)

1913-14    Morton (4th, Div 1), Hibs (13th, Div 1)

1914-15    Morton (4th, Div 1), Hibs (10th, Div 1)

1915-16    Morton (3rd, Div 1), Hibs (19th, Div 1)

1916-17    Morton (2nd, Div 1), Hibs (16th, Div 1)

1917-18    Morton (3rd, Div 1), Hibs (16th, Div 1)

1918-19    Morton (3rd, Div 1), Hibs (18th, Div 1)

1919-20    Morton (6th, Div 1), Hibs (18th, Div 1)

1920-21    Morton (9th, Div 1), Hibs (13th, Div 1)

1925-26    Morton (15th, Div 1), Hibs (16th, Div 1)

1930-31    Morton (16th, Div 1), Hibs (19th, Div 1)

1931-32    Morton (15th, Div 1), Hibs (7th, Div 2)

1932-33    Morton (19th, Div 1), Hibs (1st, Div 2)

1942-43    Morton (2nd, Southern League), Hibs (3rd, Southern League)

1968-69    Morton (10th, Div 1), Hibs (12th, Div 1)

1970-71    Morton (8th, Div 1), Hibs (12th, Div 1)

1979-80    Morton (6th, Premier Div), Hibs (10th, Premier Div)

1980-81    Morton (8th, Premier Div), Hibs (1st, Div 1)

2019-20 Scottish Challenge Cup, Round Two

Antigua GFC and Forge FC in the CONCACAF League earlier this month. Neither club is in the Scottish Challenge Cup ... yet. Source.

It's the Scottish Challenge Cup, Round Two. In this round the 12 winners from Round One mix it up with the top six clubs from League Two and the ten from League One. Again, it's divided into North and South sections. Seven of twelve colt teams are still in it.

Last year I pledged allegiance to Dumbarton after they knocked Morton out of the Challenge Cup. I'll follow them both, though Morton don't start till the next round.

The matches:

Hearts colts [3 - 1] Cowdenbeath

Ross County colts [2 - 3] Raith Rovers

Brora Rangers [1 - 2] Cove Rangers

Peterhead [0 - 0] Formartine [Formartine win on PK.]

East Fife [0 - 2] Stirling Albion

Brechin [4 - 5] Elgin

Montrose [2 - 1] Forfar

Forfar beat Montrose 4 - 1 in the League Cup group stage.

Clyde [4 - 0] Motherwell colts

Annan [1 - 1] Kelty Hearts [Guilty Hearts win on PK.]

Hamilton colts [0 - 1] Airdrieonians

Dumbarton [0 - 1] St Mirren colts

Stenhousemuir [2 - 1] Edinburgh City

Stenny have beaten Edinburgh City five times in five meetings.

Falkirk [1 - 1] Celtic colts [Falkirk win on PK.]

Stranraer [0 - 2] Rangers colts

Who are the most consistently successful Challenge Cup clubs?

Falkirk have won the cup the most times (four), but they tend to show poorly when not actually taking the cup. Which club is most consistently successful? Let's assign points for going deep into the tournament: 4 points for a cup win, 3 for runners-up, 2 for semi-final losers and 1 to quarter-final losers. This gives:

24    (12 + 6 + 2 + 4)    Ross County

24    (8 + 6 + 4 + 6)      Queen of the South

20    (16 + 0 + 0 + 4)    Falkirk

19    (4 + 3 + 8 + 4)      Livingston

19    (0 + 3 + 12 + 4)    Morton

16    (8 + 6 + 2 + 0)      Hamilton Academical

Which colt team has been most successful in the Challenge Cup?

A: Motherwell's:

2016-17    R1    Motherwell colts 2 - 1 Edinburgh City

                 R2    Motherwell colts 1 - 2 Airdrieonians

2017-18    R1    Motherwell colts 2 - 1 Queen's Park

                 R2    Crusaders 3 - 2 Motherwell colts

2018-19    R1    East Stirlingshire 0 - 3 Motherwell colts

                 R2    Dundee colts 1 - 2 Motherwell colts

                 R3    Motherwell colts 2 - 0 Sligo Rovers

                 QF    Motherwell colts 1 - 2 Ross County

2019-20    R1    Motherwell colts 1 - 0 Spartans

Port Glasgow Athletic versus Falkirk. They played ten games in Division One, Falkirk taking six wins, Port Glasgow two, with two draws. In the Scottish Cup each eliminated the other once.

UEFA Champions League 3QR, second leg:

Celtic [3 - 4] Cluj

Rosenborg [3 - 1] Maribor

[Celtic and Maribor drop into the Europa League.]

UEFA Europa League 3QR, second leg:

Rangers [3 - 1] Midtjylland

Aberdeen [0 - 2] Rijeka (Croatia)

Linfield [3 - 2] Sutjeska (Montenegro)

The New Saints [0 - 4] Ludogorets Razgrad

Dundalk [1 - 3] Slovan Bratislava

Eintracht Frankfurt [1 - 0] Vaduz

Zrinjski Mostar [1 - 0] Malmö

2019 Canadian Championship, semi-finals, second leg:

Toronto FC [3 - 0] Ottawa Fury

Cavalry FC [0 - 1] Montreal Impact

Peter Schaale has quit HFX Wanderers to return to Cape Breton University and finish his degree.

Greenock Central Station (1841)

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)

2019-20 Scottish Challenge Cup, Round One

It's the Scottish Challenge Cup, Round One. This round involves 24 teams: twelve 2019-20 Premiership colt teams, the top four 2018-19 Highland League teams, the top four 2018-19 Lowland League teams, and the bottom four 2018-19 League Two teams. (So in terms of 2019-20 positions there are actually five teams from the Lowland league, four from League Two, and three from the Highland League.)

The 24 teams are divided into North and South sections. As usual the border between North and South is haywire, with Fife in the South, and Lanarkshire in the North. Every colt team is unseeded, so each match in this round is between an authentic club and a colt team.

Last year's top attendance in Round One was 700. (See below.) Can Berwick vs Rangers colts beat that? [No.]

The matches:

Fraserburgh [2 - 3] Ross County colts

Hibs colts [3 - 4] Elgin City

Brora Rangers [6 - 0] Aberdeen colts

Livingston colts [1 - 3] Formartine United

Albion Rovers [1 - 4] Hearts colts

St Johnstone colts [1 - 4] Cove Rangers

Kelty Hearts [4 - 0] Kilmarnock colts

Hamilton colts [4 - 0] BSC Glasgow (tomorrow)

This season Hamilton's New Douglas Park is operating under the name Fountain of Youth Stadium.

Berwick Rangers [1 - 2] Rangers colts

St Mirren colts [1 - 0] East Kilbride

Queen's Park [2 - 2] Celtic colts [Celtic win on PK.]

Motherwell colts [1 - 0] Spartans (tomorrow)

What are the attendance figures from games involving colt teams in last year's cup?

  150    East Stirlingshire vs Motherwell U21s    (Aug 14)

  191    Dundee U21s vs Hibs U21s    (Aug 14)

  208    Kilmarnock U21s vs St Mirren U21s    (Aug 14)

  266    Annan vs Celtic U21s    (Aug 14)

  297    Hamilton U21s vs Clyde    (Aug 14)

  344    Hearts U21s vs Ross County    (Aug 14)

  479    Raith Rovers vs Aberdeen U21s    (Aug 14)

  636    Rangers U21s vs Falkirk    (Aug 14)

  700    Dundee Utd vs St Johnstone U21s    (Aug 15)

  460    Livingston U21s vs Forfar    (Aug 21)

  208    Dundee U21s vs Motherwell U21s    (Sept 6)

  316    St Mirren U21s vs Hamilton U21s    (Sept 8)

  408    Sligo Rovers vs Livingston U21s    (Sept 8)

  507    St Mirren U21s vs Queen's Park    (Oct 13)

  950    Motherwell U21s vs Sligo Rovers    (Oct 13)

1209    Motherwell U21s vs Ross County    (Nov 17)

Average: 457

Past sponsors of the Challenge Cup:

1990-95        B&Q (building supplies)

1995-98        nobody

1999-2006    Bell's (whisky)

2006-08        nobody

2008-11        MG Alba (Gaelic media)

2011-14        Ramsdens (pawnbroker)

2014-16        Petrofac (oil drilling)

2016-19        Irn-Bru (soft drink)

2019-            Tunnock's (biscuits)

Port Glasgow Athletic versus Stranraer. Port Glasgow defeated Stranraer 3 - 0 in round one of the 1904-05 Scottish Cup.

UEFA Champions League 3QR, first leg:

Cluj [1 - 1] Celtic (tomorrow)

Maribor [1 - 3] Rosenborg (tomorrow)

UEFA Europa League 3QR, first leg:

Midtjylland [2 - 4] Rangers (Aug 8)

Rijeka (Croatia) [2 - 0] Aberdeen (Aug 8)

Sutjeska (Montenegro) [1 - 2] Linfield (today)

Ludogorets Razgrad [5 - 0] The New Saints (Aug 8)

Slovan Bratislava [1 - 0] Dundalk (tomorrow)

Vaduz [0 - 5] Eintracht Frankfurt (Aug 8)

Malmö [3 - 0] Zrinjski Mostar (Aug 8)

2019 CONCACAF League, preliminary round, second leg:

Antigua GFC [0 - 0] Forge FC (Aug 8) [Forge advance.]

Capoise [1 - 1] Robinhood (tomorrow) [Robinhood advance.]

2019 Canadian Championship, semi-finals, first leg:

Ottawa Fury [0 - 2] Toronto FC (tomorrow)

Montreal Impact [2 - 1] Cavalry FC (tomorrow)

James Watt

James Watt, the first man to apply steam power to football.

The 2019-20 Scottish Championship season begins. Morton are at Somerset Park to play Ayr United.

On paper Ayr are not as good a team as last year. Lawrence Shankland has signed with Dundee United. Declan McDaid has signed with Dundee. Goalkeeper Ross Doohan has gone back to Celtic.

In the preseason Ayr visited Queen's Park and won 0 - 2. In the League Cup group stage Ayr trounced Berwick, beat Falkirk, were beaten by Livingston, and were held to a draw against Stranraer. Their 7 points were not enough to get them into Round Two.

The Honest Men are facing the realities of operating in the Championship. In late June the Ayr United board issued a detailed statement about the club's financial state and prospects.

Near the end of last season it looked as if the 2019-20 Championship would include both St Mirren and Falkirk, but with one in the Premiership and the other in League One it's hard for a Morton supporter to know who to hate. If only Port Glasgow were still in the league.

This season the Championship includes the Dundee Derby. But you won't see is Dundee and Dundee United playing home games on the same day. For crowd control reasons the police don't allow it.

The savants at Pie and Bovril have Dundee United as overwhelming favourites to win the Championship. And since the Tangerines got Lawrence Shankland it seems likely. But this is the Championship, where anything can go wrong. This will be Dundee United's fourth straight year as favourites for promotion.

Today's starting lineup is [Ramsbottom, Tumilty, Van Schaik, Brian McLean, Grant, Jacobs, McAlister, Muirhead, Nesbitt, Cadden, Sutton.]

Compare last year's: Scully, Kilday, Buchanan, Telfer, Millar, McAlister, McHugh, Tidser, Tumilty, MacLean, McKeown.

The other Championship matches:

Alloa [1 - 1] Partick Thistle

Arbroath [0 - 0] Queen of the South

Dundee United [4 - 1] Inverness CT

Dunfermline 2 - 2 Dundee (last night)

[Ayr 4 - 2 Morton. Morton goals by Tumilty and Cadden.]

When have Morton started the league with a game against Ayr United, and how did that go?

2014/8/9        Ayr United 1 - 0 Morton

1997/8/2        Ayr United 1 - 2 Morton

1971/9/4        Ayr United 1 - 0 Morton

1939/10/21    Ayr United 0 - 1 Morton

1930/8/9        Ayr United 2 - 2 Morton

1920/8/18      Ayr United 0 - 2 Morton

How did the 2019-20 Championship clubs fare against each other in the group stage?

Arbroath 2 - 3 Alloa

Dundee 1 - 0 ICT

Morton 3 - 3 QoS

It's not really enough to build a table out of.

When did the current Championship clubs most recently join the division, and did they come from above or below?

2019    Dundee (above)

2019    Arbroath (below)

2018    Partick (above)

2018    Ayr United (below)

2018    Alloa (below)

2017    Inverness CT (above)

2016    Dundee United (above)

2016    Dunfermline (below)

2015    Morton (below)

2013    QoS (below)

When did they confirm their places in the 2019-10 Championship?

Arbroath                April 13

Morton                   April 27

Dunfermline           April 27

Partick                   May 4

Alloa                      May 4

Dundee                 May 4

Ayr United             May 11

Inverness CT        May 17

QoS                      May 18

Dundee Utd          May 26

In which divisions have the 2019-2020 Championship teams played since 1994?

Dundee Utd        ABAAAA     AAAAAAAAAA      AAAAAABBBB

Dundee               BBBBAA     AAAAABBBBB     BBABAAAAAB

Inverness CT     DDDCCB     BBBBAAAAAB      AAAAAAABBB

Dunfermline        BBAAAB     AAAAAAABBB      BABCCCBBBB

Partick                AABBCC     CBAABCBBBB      BBBAAAAABB

Morton                CBBBBB     BCDCCCCBBB     BBBBCBBBBB

QoS                    CCCCCC    CCBBBBBBBB      BBCBBBBBBB

Ayr Utd               BCCBBB     BBBBCCCCCB     CBCCCCBCBB

Alloa                   DDDDCC    BCBCCCCCCC     CDCBBBCCBB

Arbroath             DDDDCC    CBBCCDDDCC     DCCCDDDCCB

(A = top tier, B = second tier, etc.)

Which SPFL clubs have spent at least a dozen years in tier II since 1994, including 2019-20?

18            Falkirk

18            Morton

17            Queen of the South

16            Raith Rovers

14            St Mirren

13            Dundee

13            Ayr United

13            Partick Thistle

12            Ross County

12            Dunfermline

What are Plenty of Nothing's objectives for Morton this season?

1) Play a Premiership club at Cappielow.

2) Play a non-Scottish club.

3) Make the promotion playoffs.

4) Win the Challenge Cup.

5) Score 50 goals in league play.

6) Knock Falkirk out of any cup.

7) Finish above Ayr United.

8) Finish above Queen of the South.

League One matches:

Airdrieonians [0 - 2] Forfar

Clyde [1 - 1] East Fife

Dumbarton [0 - 1] Raith Rovers

Peterhead [0 - 0] Falkirk

Stranraer [2 - 2] Montrose

League One is so much like an alternate Championship this year that I'm going to follow every game.

What year did Falkirk last play a league match against the other 2019-20 League One teams?

2018        Dumbarton

2017        Raith Rovers

2013        Airdrieonians

2005        Clyde

1999        Stranraer

1997        East Fife

1991        Forfar

1986        Montrose

never       Peterhead

Port Glasgow Athletic versus Heart of Midlothian. Of sixteen league matches, Hearts were the winner eleven times, Port Glasgow twice, with three draws. Hearts knocked Port Glasgow out of the Scottish Cup three times.

Lowland League: Edusport Academy have changed their name to Caledonian Braves.

SWFL2 W/SW: Morton Women vs East Kilbride Thistle Ladies (tomorrow)

East Kilbride Thistle have dropped out of the league.

2019 CONCACAF League preliminary round, first leg:

Forge FC 2 - 1 Antigua GFC (Aug 1)

Antigua GFC are winners of the 2019 Guatemalan League clausura. They wear green and white stripes. Antigua was the capital city of Guatemala from 1543 to 1775.

Antigua have been north once before. They made it to the 2016-17 CONCACAF Champions League group stage, where they played Alianza of El Salvador and the New York Red Bulls. On August 3rd, 2016 they visited Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, and lost 3 - 0.

Robinhood 0 - 0 Capoise (July 31)

Robinhood have been in it since the Caribbean Club Shield, so we must follow them.

Canadian Premier League:

Cavalry vs Forge (postponed)

Valour 2 - 2 Pacific (July 31)

Edmonton 2 - 0 HFX Wanderers (July 31)

Forge vs York9 (postponed)

HFX Wanderers [1 - 0] Valour (August 5) [Goal by Arnone.]

UEFA Champions League 2QR, second leg (July 30 and 31):

Nõmme Kalju (Estonia) 0 - 2 Celtic

Copenhagen 1 - 0 The New Saints

AIK 3 - 2 Maribor

Qarabağ 3 - 0 Dundalk

UEFA Europa League 2QR, second leg (August 1):

Progrès Niederkorn 0 - 0 Rangers

Aberdeen 5 - 0 Chikhura Sachkhere (Georgia)

Sūduva (Lithuania) 5 - 0 Tre Penne

Ludogorets Razgrad 4 - 0 Valur

Linfield 1 - 0 HB

Stjarnan 1 - 3 Espanyol

Vaduz 2 - 0 Fehérvár

KÍ 0 - 1 Luzern

Malmö 3 - 2 Domžale (Slovenia)

Apollon Limassol (Cyprus) 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers

Crusaders 1 - 4 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Partizan 3 - 0 Connah's Quay Nomads

Swiss Challenge League: Winterthur vs Lausanne Sport

Numeralia: Two years from now it will be the beginning of the season named 2021-22, which comes exactly 101 years after the similarly sequential 1920-21.

About Port Glasgow Athletic

Port Glasgow Athletic FC 1909-1910.

It's the fifth and final matchday of the League Cup group stage. Morton host Queen of the South.

QoS are managed by Allan Johnston who was sacked by Dunfermline in January when it became clear that the Pars were going to miss the promotion playoffs, and hired by QoS in May when it became clear that the Doonhamers were not going to avoid the relegation playoffs.

This year's Queen of the South roster includes these former Morton players: Robby McCrorie, Lee Kilday and Gary Oliver. Kyle Jacobs, who signed with Morton this summer, is formerly of QoS.

Kyle Jacobs' goals against Morton:

                  club    venue             goalie                    time

2017/2/4    QoS    Palmerston    Derek Gaston        83'

2019/4/6    QoS    Palmerston    Robbie McCrorie    42'

Other transfers: Dylan Dykes has been loaned out to Stenhousemuir. Morton have signed Cameron Blues and Henk Van Schaik, both from Livingston.

Also today: Motherwell [4 - 0] Annan

Dumbarton are off.

Coming into today's play three of eight groups have been won. Ross County won Group B with a perfect 12 points. Hibs won Group C with 11. And Partick Thistle won Group F with 10.

The only other team that can finish with 12 points is Motherwell, and they'll probably do it. [They do.]

If East Fife can beat Hearts in regulation time they win Group A. [East Fife win in the shootout and must wait for the ICT/Dundee result.]

Inverness CT and Dundee play tomorrow. The winner of that game wins Group D. [Dundee 1 - 0 ICT.]

Livingston will very probably win Group G. Today they play Berwick Rangers, who have not scored a goal since March. [Livi 5 - 0 Berwick. Berwick Rangers finish with 0 points and a -21 goal difference.]

East Kilbride have a chance to knock Dunfermline off and win Group H. What a coup that would be. [Pars 4 - 0 EK.]

For Morton to finish second in Group E they can either win in regulation time, win in the shoot-out, or lose in the shoot-out. Even if they lose in the shoot-out their superior goal difference will put them ahead of QoS, but with only 7 points they would undoubtedly not progress.

For Queen of the South to finish second they must win in regulation time. That would give them 8 points and possibly allow them to scrape into Round Two, depending on how games in the other groups play out.

The permutations and combinations are too multivarious to predict the top four second-place finishers. I'll just report on them when the dust has settled.

If Morton do get to Round Two, who will they face? Before the Round Two matches are drawn the sixteen entrants will be divided into two pots: (1) a seeded pot made up of the four European clubs plus the four best first-place teams from the group stage, and (2) an unseeded pot containing the other four first-place teams plus the four best second-place teams.

Morton almost certainly will be in the unseeded pot. Therefore they will be drawn against one of the seeded eight: Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen, Kilmarnock, plus Ross County and three others.

The prize pairing for Morton would be Hearts, either at home or away. Morton have not played them in 31 years. Celtic or Rangers at Cappielow would be the most lucrative. [Hearts are also in the unseeded pot, so they'll have to meet in Round Three.]

[Morton 3 - 3 QoS. Morton win the shootout 4 - 3. Regulation time scorers for Morton are: Sutton, Cadden, McHugh. Shootout goals by Nesbitt, Jacobs, Tumilty and Cadden. Morton finish with eight points, but this year that's enough, and they go to Round Two.]

The Highland League begins today, with 17 teams. Banks O'Dee of the SJFA North Superleague ignored a strong hint to apply for membership, and the league rebuffed a proposal for a Inverness CT colt team. ICT will stock Fort William with young players instead.

The Lowland League, East of Scotland League and South of Scotland League also begin today.

2019 Canadian Championship, Round Three, second leg (July 24):

Ottawa Fury 2 - 2 HFX Wanderers (HFX goals by Skublak and Perea.)

Montreal Impact 1 - 0 York9

Vancouver Whitecaps 1 - 2 Cavalry

HFX Wanderers and York9 are eliminated, but Cavalry knock Vancouver out of the cup.

Canadian Premier League:

York9 [6 - 2] HFX Wanderers [Two for Skublak.]

Valour [1 - 1] Cavalry

Edmonton [1 - 1] Forge

Swiss Challenge League: FC Stade Lausanne-Ouchy [1 - 2] FC Winterthur (tomorrow July 30)

It's the 55th All Japan Senior Football Championship Tohoku qualifying tournament, in which sixteen clubs from Tohoku compete for two spots in the 55th All Japan Senior Football Championship in October. The task for Iwaki FC this weekend is to get to and win Match No.13.

Match No. 1: Iwaki FC [14 - 0] Parafrente Yonazawa (July 27)

Match No. 2: Morioka Zebra [0 - 4] Ganju Iwate (July 27)

Match No. 9: Iwaki FC or Parafrente [3 - 0] Morioka Zebra or Ganju Iwate (July 28)

Match No. 13: [Iwaki FC 5 - 1 Blancdieu Hirosaki] (July 29)

See the whole bracket here.

Victory in this qualifying tournament leads to the 55th All Japan Senior Championship, and victory in that leads to the Regional Champions League in November. But Iwaki FC will probably advance to the Regional Champions League anyway, as winners of the Tohoku league, which they currently lead. Victory in the Regional Champions League would put them first in line for promotion to the JFL.

About Port Glasgow Athletic

Port Glasgow Athletic FC was founded in 1878.

Port Glasgow Athletic were in the Scottish Alliance in 1891-92. Their record was 22 games played, 7 wins, 6 draws, 9 losses, 54 goals for, 56 against, for 20 points. They played three present-day members of the SPFL in the Alliance that season: Kilmarnock, Morton and Partick Thistle.

They entered the Scottish Football League in 1893-94, along with Morton. They dropped out of the league after the 1910-11 season.

The club's final season was spent in the Scottish Football Union where they finished tenth out of ten. They played 13 matches, with 2 wins, 3 draws, 8 losses, 9 goals for and 33 against, for 7 points. Johnstone FC, another lost Renfrewshire club, was also in this league. They played each other twice in it:

1911/8/26    Port Glasgow Athletic 1 - 1 Johnstone

1912/2/10    Johnstone 3 - 0 Port Glasgow Athletic

Port Glasgow Athletic never played Queen of the South.

There's a picture postcard of Clune Park here.

I'll sprinkle statistics of Port versus the current SPFL clubs through the first half of the 2019-20 season.

Port Glasgow Athletic in the Scottish Cup:

1881-82        R1        Paisley Athletic 6 - 1 Port Glasgow Athletic

1882-83        R1        Port Glasgow Athletic 3 - 2 Lochwinnoch

                     R2        Sir John Maxwell 5 - 3 Port Glasgow Athletic

                                  Sir John Maxwell 2 - 6 Port Glasgow Athletic

                     R3        Port Glasgow Athletic 2 - 5 Kilmarnock Athletic

1883-84        R1        Port Glasgow Athletic wo/scr Lochwinnoch

                     R2        Port Glasgow Athletic 1 - 3 Arthurlie

1884-85        R1        Port Glasgow Athletic 6 - 1 1st Renfrew RV

                     R2        Port Glasgow Athletic 2 - 2 Thornliebank

                                  Port Glasgow Athletic 2 - 2 Thornliebank

                                  Thornliebank 1 - 0 Port Glasgow Athletic

1885-86        R1        Port Glasgow Athletic 4 - 1 1st Renfrew RV

                     R2        Neilston 1 - 1 Port Glasgow Athletic

                                  Port Glasgow Athletic 2 - 0 Neilston

                     R3        Cartvale 1 - 1 Port Glasgow Athletic

                                  Port Glasgow Athletic 4 - 2 Cartvale

                     R4        bye

                     R5        Third Lanark 1 - 1 Port Glasgow Athletic

                                  Third Lanark 1 - 1 Port Glasgow Athletic

                                  Third Lanark 4 - 1 Port Glasgow Athletic

1886-87        R1        Port Glasgow Athletic 10 - 1 Johnstown Harp

                     R2        St Mirren 2 - 3 Port Glasgow Athletic

                     R3        Abercorn 1 - 5 Port Glasgow Athletic

                     R4        bye

                     R5        Port Glasgow Athletic 6 - 2 St Bernard's

                     R6        Port Glasgow Athletic 1 - 3 Vale of Leven

1887-88        R1        Port Glasgow Athletic 11 - 0 Greenock Rangers

                     R2        Renfrew 3 - 3 Port Glasgow Athletic

                                  Port Glasgow Athletic 5 - 3 Renfrew

                     R3        Ayr FC 4 - 0 Port Glasgow Athletic

1888-89        R1        Port Glasgow Athletic 3 - 7 Morton

1889-90        R1        Port Glasgow Athletic 2 - 1 Neilston

                     R2        Port Glasgow Athletic 8 - 0 Greenock Abstainers

                     R3        Port Glasgow Athletic 3 - 4 Kilbirnie

1890-91        R1        Port Glasgow Athletic 0 - 2 Monkcastle

1893-94        R1        Port Glasgow Athletic 7 - 5 Airdrieonians

                     R2        Renton 2 - 2 Port Glasgow Athletic

                                  Renton 1 - 3 Port Glasgow Athletic

                     R3        Third Lanark 2 - 1 Port Glasgow Athletic

1895-96        R1        Port Glasgow Athletic 4 - 2 Arthurlie

                     R2        Queen's Park 8 - 1 Port Glasgow Athletic

1897-98        R1        Leith Athletic 2 - 0 Port Glasgow Athletic

1898-99        R1        Port Glasgow Athletic 3 - 2 Renton

                     R2        Port Glasgow Athletic 3 - 1 West Calder Swifts

                     R3        Port Glasgow Athletic 7 - 3 Partick Thistle

                     SF        Celtic 4 - 2 Port Glasgow Athletic

1899-00        R1        Port Glasgow Athletic 7 - 1 Falkirk

                     R2        Port Glasgow 1 - 5 Celtic

1900-01        R1        Port Glasgow Athletic 9 - 1 Newton Stewart Athletic

                     R2        Leith Athletic 0 - 3 Port Glasgow Athletic

                     R3        Port Glasgow Athletic 1 - 5 Hearts

1901-02        R1        Arthurlie 1 - 1 Port Glasgow Athletic

                                  Port Glasgow Athletic 3 - 1 Arthurlie

                     R2        Port Glasgow Athletic 1 - 5 Hibs

1902-03        R1        St Bernard's 1 - 2 Port Glasgow Athletic

                     R2        Celtic 2 - 0 Port Glasgow Athletic

1903-04        R1        Port Glasgow Athletic 1 - 2 Leith Athletic

1904-05        R1        Port Glasgow Athletic 3 - 0 Stranraer

                     R2        Airdrieonians 3 - 0 Port Glasgow Athletic

1905-06        R1        Port Glasgow Athletic 6 - 1 Dunblane

                     R2        Kilmarnock 2 - 2 Port Glasgow Athletic

                                  Port Glasgow Athletic 0 - 0 Kilmarnock

                                  Kilmarnock 0 - 0 Port Glasgow Athletic

                                  Kilmarnock 0 - 1 Port Glasgow Athletic

                     R3        Port Glasgow Athletic 1 - 0 Rangers

                     SF        Port Glasgow Athletic 0 - 2 Hearts

1906-07        R1        Dumfries 2 - 2 Port Glasgow Athletic

                                  Port Glasgow Athletic 2 - 0 Dumfries

                     R2        St Mirren 4 - 0 Port Glasgow Athletic

1907-08        R1        Port Glasgow Athletic 7 - 2 Ayr Parkhouse

                     R2        Hearts 4 - 0 Port Glasgow Athletic

1908-09        R1        Port Glasgow Athletic 5 - 0 Dunblane

                     R2        Celtic 4 - 0 Port Glasgow Athletic

1909-10        R1        Falkirk 3 - 0 Port Glasgow Athletic

Sources: Fitbastats, Danish and English Wikipedia

Port Glasgow Station, c. 1910. Source.

To Annan

Galabank Stadium, Annan. Source.

It's the League Cup group stage, matchday four. Morton visit Annan Athletic.

Annan Athletic have only been in the Scottish League since 2008. Today's game is the first ever League Cup match between them and Morton. The two clubs have never been members of the same division. Annan have never played at Cappielow, not even a friendly.

Morton and Annan, the historical record:

2006/12/9      Annan 0 - 3 Morton        Scottish Cup R2

2009/7/11      Annan 1 - 1 Morton         friendly

2013/7/27      Annan 1 - 0 Morton        Challenge Cup R1

2016/2/6        Annan 1 - 4 Morton        Scottish Cup R5

The situation: To stay in contention for a spot in Round Two Morton must take all three points today and run up the score in order to rebuild their goal difference, which was at +5 but is now +1. And then they must take three points off Queen of the South on Saturday.

Forty clubs entered the group stage, and twelve will progress. If you treat 9 points as the threshold for advancement to Round Two, then nineteen clubs are already eliminated: Cowdenbeath, Stenhousemuir, Montrose, Brechin, Elgin, Alloa, Stirling Albion, Cove Rangers, Raith Rovers, Annan, Dumbarton, Queen of the South, Queen's Park, Falkirk, Berwick, St Johnstone, Clyde, St Mirren and East Kilbride. That leaves twenty-one teams chasing twelve Round Two berths.

Kyle Wilkie, who played for Morton in 2012-13, signed for Annan two weeks ago.

Also today: Dumbarton [0 - 2] Motherwell.

[Annan 0 - 5 Morton. Goals by Nesbitt (2), Cadden (2) and Muirhead.]

Queen of the South are off.

[Group E after tonight's games:

                      P  W  PW PL   L   F    A    GD Pts

Motherwell    3    3    0    0    0    9    0    +9    9

Morton          3    2    0    0    1   11    5   +6    6

QoS              3    1    1    0    1    7    7      0    5

Dumbarton   4    1    0    0    3    3   12    -9    3

Annan           3    0    0    1    2    3    9     -6    1 ]

Since the group stage was introduced, which unseeded teams have gone to Round Two?

2016-17        Alloa, Ayr United, Peterhead

2017-18        Ayr United, Livingston

2018-19        Ayr United

Best showings in the group stage since 2016:

12 pts, +12 gd    Falkirk (2017-16)

12 pts, +12 gd    Ayr United (2017-18)

12 pts, +12 gd    Dunfermline (2018-19)

12 pts, +11 gd    Ayr United (2018-19)

12 pts, +10 gd    Rangers (2016-17)

12 pts, +10 gd    Motherwell (2017-18)

Worst showings in the group stage since 2016:

0 pts, -13 gd    Albion Rovers (2018-19)

0 pts, -12 gd    Buckie Thistle (2017-18)

0 pts, -11 gd    Elgin City (2017-18)

0 pts, -11 gd    Elgin City (2018-19)

0 pts, -10 gd    East Stirlingshire (2016-17)

0 pts, -10 gd    Berwick Rangers (2018-19)

Berwick could set a new low this week.

UEFA Champions League, 2QR, first leg (today and tomorrow):

Celtic [5 - 0] Nõmme Kalju (Estonia)

The New Saints [0 - 2] Copenhagen

Maribor [2 - 1] AIK

Dundalk [1 - 1] Qarabağ

UEFA Europa League, 2QR, first leg (July 25 mostly):

Rangers [2 - 0] Progrès Niederkorn

This is like a dream.

Aberdeen [1 - 1] Chikhura Sachkhere (Georgia)

Tre Penne [0 - 5] Sūduva (Lithuania)

Valur [1 - 1] Ludogorets Razgrad

HB [2 - 2] Linfield

Espanyol [4 - 0] Stjarnan

Fehérvár [1 - 0] Vaduz

Luzern [1 - 0] KÍ

Domžale (Slovenia) [2 - 2] Malmö

Shamrock Rovers [2 - 1] Apollon Limassol (Cyprus)

Wolverhampton Wanderers [2 - 0] Crusaders

Connah's Quay Nomads [0 - 1] Partizan

Canadian Premier League. At their game Sunday York9 wore their white and green home colours, and Cavalry wore their green and white away colours, somewhat missing the point of having home and away colours.

Morton, Motherwell, Montrose

Morton visit Motherwell in League Cup Group E action. Tonight's match is televised.

The situation: Tuesday's 6 - 1 win against Dumbarton gave Morton goal difference power, and it could be the thing that tips them into Round Two. (See below.) If Morton can get one or two points off Motherwell today, even better.

Morton and Motherwell met at Fir Park two years ago in the group stage and Motherwell cleaned up 4 - 0.

Tomorrow: Dumbarton [1 - 4] QoS

Annan are off.

[Motherwell 4 - 0 Morton again.]

Teams that have taken points off top-seeded opponents so far this group stage:

(3 points) Dunfermline, Montrose

(2 points) Queen's Park

(1 point) Dundee United, Stirling Albion, Falkirk, Cove Rangers

On Tuesday Montrose beat St Johnstone for the first time since 1978. It was also their first win against a Premiership side since 1986. On Wednesday they signed Kerr Waddell, who played for Morton last season.

Declan McManus has gone over to Falkirk.

[Group E after this weekend:

                     P   W  PW PL  L    F    A   GD  Pts

Motherwell    2    2    0    0    0    7    0    +7    6

QoS              3    1    1    0    1    7    7     0     5

Morton          2    1    0    0    1    6    5    +1    3

Dumbarton    3    1    0    0    2    3  10    -7     3

Annan           2    0    0    1    1    3    4     -1    1 ]

What points total and goal difference has allowed the fourth-best second-place team into Round Two since the group stage was introduced?

2016-17        9 points, +3 goal difference

2017-18        9 points, +6 goal difference

2018-19        9 points, +3 goal difference

It seems to be League Cup doctrine that the first seed in a group must always be at home to the second seed. For Morton, who so far have always been second seed, it means one less chance per year to face a Premiership club at Cappielow than the old straight knockout format would have allowed. No Premiership club has played a competitive match at Morton's park since 2015.

The SPFL website printed a cumulative group stage table the other day. You would think that some Premiership side that has been in the group stage every year, like Motherwell, would be at the top, but in fact it's Ayr United.

Morton's 6 - 1 wins:

2019/7/17      Morton 6 - 1 Dumbarton        League Cup

2004/9/25      Alloa 1 - 6 Morton                  league

2003/11/1      Airdrieonians 1 - 6 Morton     league

1999/2/13      Morton 6 - 1 Clyde                Scottish Cup

1987/1/24      Morton 6 - 1 Montrose           league

1967/4/29      Morton 6 - 1 Hamilton            league

1964/2/29      Morton 6 - 1 Forfar                league

1963/10/5      Morton 6 - 1 East Fife            league

1963/5/11      Morton 6 - 1 Cowdenbeath    league

1963/4/3        Morton 6 - 1 Ayr United         league

1958/8/30      Morton 6 - 1 Dundee Utd      League Cup

1958/1/11      Morton 6 - 1 St Johnstone     league

1955/11/5      Morton 6 - 1 Third Lanark      league

1953/4/11      Morton 6 - 1 Ayr United         league

1952/10/11    Morton 6 - 1 Dumbarton        league

1946/10/19    Morton 6 - 1 St Mirren          League Cup

1945/8/25      Morton 6 - 1 Kilmarnock       Southern League

1945/5/26      Morton 6 - 1 Hamilton           Summer Cup

1937/1/30      Morton 6 - 1 Murrayfield Amateurs    Scottish Cup

1936/9/19      Morton 6 - 1 Stenhousemuir    league

1936/8/8        Morton 6 - 1 Cowdenbeath    league

1930/1/4        Morton 6 - 1 Dundee Utd       league

1920/9/18      Morton 6 - 1 Aberdeen           league

1898/12/24    Morton 6 - 1 Hamilton            league

1898/1/15      Morton 6 - 1 Motherwell         league

All but two of Morton's 6 - 1 wins have come at Cappielow.

Canadian Premier League:

York9 2 - 1 Pacific (July 17)

Forge 2 - 0 HFX Wanderers (July 17)

Edmonton 0 - 0 Valour (July 17)

Forge [3 - 1] Valour (July 20)

Pacific [3 - 1] HFX Wanderers (July 20) [HFX goal by Arnone. It was the Wanderers' first away goal in league play.]

Cavalry [1 - 0] York9 (July 21)

Valour FC have released the guy who scored their first goal, Stephen Hoyle, and signed Spanish midfielder José Galán, who has played for nineteen clubs including Santa Coloma and RoPS.

Tohoku Soccer League: Iwaki FC [1 - 1] Cobaltore Onagawa (July 21)

The Swiss Challenge League starts tomorrow: FC Winterthur [1 - 1] FC Aarau

Winterthur's preseason games:

Luzern 2 - 4 Winterthur (June 26)

Winterthur 5 - 1 YF Juventus (July 6)

YF Juventus is the result of a merger between the former Young Fellows Zurich and SCI Juventus Zurich. Winterthur are scheduled to meet them in the first round of the Swiss Cup.

Winterthur 3 - 1 VfB Stuttgart (July 10)

Winterthur 5 - 0 Brühl (July 12)

Forge FC's hammer emblem makes no sense. The sparks don't fly off the top side of a hammer. They fly off the object being forged between the hammer and the anvil.

This is what you get when you leave industrial design to men with no experience of the shop floor.

God Speed Greenock

"... and hurry up with those barrels." A commemorative medal struck for the coronation of Edward VII. Source. See more about Greenock's coat of arms and seal here.

It's the return of Jim Duffy as Morton host Dumbarton. This is the 175th competitive match between Morton and Dumbarton but their first League Cup meeting since 1982. Morton and Dumbarton have now met five straight years in competitive league or cup play.

The situation: If Morton don't take three points from this game they are unlikely to make it to Round Two.

Former Morton players Connor Brennan, Ruaridh Langan and Stefan McCluskey are with Dumbarton, and Jai Quitongo's brother Rico.

Yesterday Morton signed centre-back Brian McLean, formerly of Rangers, Motherwell, Falkirk, Preston North End, Dundee United, Ross County, DRMM FC of Brunei, Hibs, ÍBV, and most recently Dumbarton.

This is Morton's fourth year in four as second seed. The second seed should expect to take nine points, beating the lower seeds and losing to the top seed. However, the Ton have yet to do that:

2016-17      11 points (3 wins + 1 penalty win)

2017-18        8 points (2 wins + 1 penalty win + 1 loss)

2018-19        6 points (2 wins + 2 losses)

[Morton 6 - 1 Dumbarton. It's Morton's biggest win against the Sons since a 6 - 0 win in 1967. Morton goals by Grant, Sutton, Strapp, Jacobs, McHugh, plus an own goal.]

Also today: Queen of the South [3 - 3] Annan Athletic [QoS win the shoot-out.]

Motherwell are off.

[Group E standings after today's games:

                     P     W  PW PL  L     F    A    GD  Pts

Morton          1      1    0    0    0     6    1    +5     3

Motherwell    1      1    0    0    0     3    0    +3     3

Dumbarton    2     1    0    0    1      2    6    -4     3

QoS              2      0    1    0    1     3    6     -3     2

Annan           2      0    0    1    1     3    4     -1     1 ]

Jim Duffy's managerial record against Morton:

1988/9/17      Falkirk 0 - 1 Morton        league

1988/11/19    Morton 1 - 5 Falkirk        league

1989/2/21      Morton 2 - 2 Falkirk        league

1994/10/4      Morton 1 - 2 Dundee     Challenge Cup

1995/9/9        Morton 2 - 2 Dundee      league

1995/11/11    Dundee 0 - 0 Morton       league

1996/1/13      Morton 1 - 0 Dundee      league

1996/3/30      Dundee 1 - 1 Morton      league

UEFA Champions League, 1QR, second leg:

(The teams in bold advance.)

Celtic [2 - 1] Sarajevo

Sarajevo knocked Genk out of the 2007-08 Champions League.

Rosenborg [4 - 0] Linfield

Maribor [2 - 0] Valur

Riga [0 - 0] Dundalk [Dundalk win on PK.]

Feronikeli [0 - 1] The New Saints

HB Tórshavn [2 - 2] HJK

UEFA Europa League, 1QR, second leg (Thursday mostly):

Ballymena United [0 - 4] Malmö 

Kilmarnock [0 - 2] Connah's Quay Nomads

KR [0 - 0] Molde

Norrköping [2 - 1] St Patrick's Athletic

Shamrock Rovers [2 - 1] Brann

Progrès Niederkorn [1 - 2] Cork City

Levadia Tallinn [3 - 2] Stjarnan

Rangers [6 - 0] St Joseph's (Gibraltar)

Greenock has a larger population than Gibraltar.

RoPS [1 - 2] Aberdeen

B36 [2 - 3] Crusaders

Vaduz [2 - 1] Breiðablik

KÍ [0 - 0] Trakai

Haugesund [5 - 1] Cliftonville

2019-20 Scottish League Cup Group Stage

Morton appeared in the 1963-64 League Cup final only two and a half years after earning the wooden spoon in Division Two.

The 2019-20 Scottish League Cup group stage begins. Morton are in Group E with Motherwell, Queen of the South, Dumbarton and Annan Athletic. Today's games are:

Annan vs Dumbarton

Annan and Dumbarton were together in Group E two years ago. They played to a 0 - 0 draw, and Annan won the shootout. [Annan 0 - 1 Dumbarton.]

Queen of the South vs Motherwell

Morton will be hoping that QoS take some points off Motherwell. Last year Motherwell and QoS were both in Group G and Motherwell won 2 - 0. [QoS 0 - 3 Motherwell.]

Morton are off today, as are seven other group stage teams, so you'd think that Morton could get a friendly in. But they've just played St Johnstone, and they will play Alloa and ICT four times each this year, and Clyde and Stranraer already have friendlies lined up, so call up Stenny or Edinburgh City why don't you somebody.

Group B includes three of the four senior Angus clubs. Suppose there were a group made up of all four Angus clubs plus one of the Dundee clubs -- every year. It would be as good as the Forfarshire Cup. And what if there were a group made up of the four Fife clubs plus a Dundee side or Alloa -- every year?

[Group E standings after today's games:

                      P  W  PW  PL  L    F   A   GD  Pts

Motherwell    1    1    0    0    0    3    0    +3    3

Dumbarton    1    1    0    0    0    1    0    +1    3

Morton           0    0    0    0    0    0    0      0    0

Annan            1    0    0    0    1    0    1    -1    0

QoS               1    0    0    0    1    0    3    -3    0]

Transfers: Jack Purdue, who came up through the Morton system and played one game for the senior team, has signed with Queen's Park. Ben Armour has signed with Peterhead.

Manageria: Alloa have appointed Peter Grant. He is a different Peter Grant from the one Morton just signed.

Partick boardroom coup.

Europe: All four Scottish clubs involved in UEFA competition won their games this week, the first time that's happened since the year 2000.

Canadian Premier League:

HFX Wanderers [0 - 1] Cavalry [Goddammit!]

Pacific [2 - 3] Forge

York 9 [2 - 1] Edmonton (tomorrow)

MLS: Montreal Impact [0 - 2] Toronto FC

Toronto FC II have a player named Tsubasa Endoh.

Tohoku Soccer League: Ganju Iwate [1 - 8] Iwaki FC (tomorrow)

With this game the Tohoku Member-of-Society Soccer League Division 1 schedule is half over.

About Ganju Iwate

Ganju Iwake are based in Hachimantai, Iwate Prefecture. They were founded in 2006 with an eye to the J League. They wear orange.

Ganju Iwate seasons:

                GP    W    D    L     F     A     GD    P     Pos

2007        10    10    0    0    130   0   +130    30    1st, Iwate Div 4

2008        10    10    0    0    100   1     +99    30    1st, Iwate Div 3

2009        10      9    1    0      96    3    +93    28    1st, Iwate Div 2

2010        10    10    0    0      68    2    +66    30    1st, Iwate Div 1

2011        10      9    0    1      51    5    +46    27    2nd, Tohoku Div 2

2012        14    13    0    1      88   13   +75    39    1st, Tohoku Div 2 North

2013        18    13    1    4      67   17   +30    40    3rd, Tohoku Div 1

2014        18    16    2    0    129    5  +124    50    1st, Tohoku Div 1

2015        18    15    2    1    107   11   +96    47    1st, Tohoku Div 1

2016        18      9    5    4     48    31   +17    32    3rd, Tohoku Div 1

2017        18      5    0   13    31    58    -27    15    8th, Tohoku Div 1

2018        18    11    3    4     71    29    +42    36    2nd, Tohoku Div 1

Ganju Iwate in the Emperor's Cup:

87回    R1    Ganju Iwate 2 - 3 Saitama SC

Ganju Iwate in the All Japan Senior Football Championship:

52回    R1    Matsue City 5 - 1 Ganju Iwate

Ganju Iwate in the National Regional Football Champions League:

38回    GS    Tokachi Fair Sky 0 - 9 Ganju Iwate

            GS    Urayasu SC 2 - 0 Ganju Iwate

            GS    FC Osaka 4 - 2 Ganju Iwate

39回    GS    FC Kariya 1 - 0 Ganju Iwate

            GS    Matsue City 2 - 0 Ganju Iwate

            GS    ReinMeer Aomori 2 - 2 Ganju Iwate

Source: Japanese Wikipedia.