Plenty of Nothing

Mourners

Source.

Maria Pita

Maria Pita, heroine of the siege of Coruña, Galicia during the English Counter Armada of 1589. Source.

Bear and Strawberry Tree, Madrid

Source. The coat of arms of Madrid includes a bear eating out of a strawberry tree or madroño.

Magellan

A ceramic muarl in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain, commemorating Fernanando de Magallanes and Juan Sebastian Elcano, who between them captained the first circumnavigation of the earth. The five ship fleet set sail 500 years ago today. Source.

Vaga de La Canadenca

On this day in 1919 workers at the Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company (known locally as La Canadenca because it was founded by Canadian interests) went on strike. It developed into a general strike lasting 44 days and shutting down much of Catalonia. Source.

Forte Spagnolo

The Spanish Fort was built in L'Aquila, Abruzzo, in 1534 by Viceroy Don Pedro de Toledo to nail down the northern edge of Spain's Italian empire. Source.

Put That in Your Pipe

A Victorian football-themed clay pipe. The reverse side has rugby. Source.

Morton visit Dunfermline.

Morton are riding a seven-game winless streak. This outsmells their five-game winless streak of the beginning of the season, and is the worst since they went nine games without a win January-March 2014, the year they were relegated.

Morton have to win today and next weekend if they are to have any chance of finishing in second place. They also need to win today to even up their season against Dunfermline. To date the Pars have two wins, Morton one.

What was Morton's best result against Dunfermline? 5 - 0, Feb 16, 1980, at Cappielow. What was Dunfermline's best result against Morton? 6 - 0, Feb 10, 1965, at East End Park.

Both the 3rd-place finisher and the 4th-place finisher have a 1/8 chance of earning promotion (though McBookie have Morton at 14 to 1.) What is the advantage of finishing 3rd then? The 3rd-place team gets the Saturday home gate. 2nd place gets a bye through to the playoff semi-final, doubling the chance of promotion.

Even though 10th-place Ayr are playing 1st-place Hibs, the Honest Men can't be relegated today because 8th-place Raith are playing 9th-place St Mirren and they can't both win. [St Mirren win 5 - 0.]

Dundee United host Dumbarton. [2 - 2] Falkirk are home to Queen of the South. [2 - 2]

[Dunfermline 3 - 1 Morton. Goal by Shankland. Morton can finish no better or worse than fourth place.]

Yesterday was the fiftieth anniversary of Third Lanark's final game.

1898-99. On April 26th, 1899, Morton hosted Abercorn in G&WofSFL action and beat them 9 - 2. Then, on April 29th, the Ton travelled to Underwood Park in Paisley to face St Mirren in front of 8,000 adherents in the final of the Renfrewshire Cup. The match ended 1 - 1, necessitating a replay.

Which other Championship club is most like Greenock Morton?

1) Any club that was founded in the 1870s gets a point. 2) Any club whose ground is bounded by railway tracks gets a point. 3) Any club that has won one major cup once gets a point. 4) Any club that has been to Europe only once gets a point. 5) Any club that has peaked at 2nd place in the second flight in this century gets a point. 6) Any club from a town best known for what they used to make there gets a point. 7) Any club whose ground has a view of the water gets a point. 8) The club whose stadium capacity is closest to Cappielow's gets a point. 9) Any club that has spent time this season in both the relegation zone and the promotion zone gets a point. 10) Any club that plays on grass gets a point. 11) Any club that does not play in an all-seater gets a point.

Ayr United             2) 5) 7) 10) 11)

Dumbarton           1) 3) 7) 10)

Dundee United     6) 10)

Dunfermline          6) 8) 9) 10)

Falkirk                   1) 2) 9)

Hibs                      1) 7)

QoS                      5) 11)

Raith                     2) 4) 5) 6) 7) 10) And they might yet earn a 9). [They do.]

St Mirren               1) 2) 4) 6) 10)

Conclusion: Raith Rovers are most like Greenock Morton.

Was getting on television good for Morton's scoreline?

Oct 22, 2016                Morton 0 - 2 Aberdeen       BT Sport

Dec 17, 2016               Morton 1 - 1 Hibs               BBC Alba

Jan 28, 2017                Ayr 1 - 4 Morton                BBC Alba

Feb 12, 2017               Rangers 2 - 1 Morton         Sky Sports

March 11, 2017            Morton 1 - 0 QoS              BBC Alba

March 18, 2017            Falkirk 0 - 1 Morton          BBC Alba

Three wins, one draw, two losses.

How did the Pars fare against Gretna?

They played one game. Gretna knocked the Pars out of the second round of the 2005-06 League Cup.

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, they say. Since 1994, what have been the strongest showings by tenth-place clubs in the First Division/Championship?

2008-09        39 pts        Clyde

2006-07        37 pts        Ross County

2001-02        35 pts        Raith

1997-98        34 pts        Stirling Albion

2000-01        32 pts        Alloa

2011-12        32 pts        Queen of the South

Coming into today's action, Ayr have 33 pts.

Edusport Academy have won the South of Scotland League.

Forfar can win League Two today, and at the same time consign Cowdenbeath to tenth place and the pyramid playoffs. [1 - 1. Cowdenbeath are still alive, and Forfar slip to second behind Arbroath.]

Today it's the first leg of the first round of the pyramid playoffs: Buckie Thistle [2 - 2] East Kilbride

Round Five of the AFC Champions League group stage.

Group E: Ulsan Hyundai 0 - 4 Kashima Antlers

Group F: Urawa Red Diamends 6 - 1 Western Sydney Wanderers

Group G: Suwon Samsung Bluewings 0 - 1 Kawasaki Frontale

Group H: Gamba Osaka 3 - 3 Adelaide United

Urawa advance to the Round of 16.

Kawasaki Frontale in the AFC Champions League:

2013        R16        lost to FC Seoul

2010        GS

2009        QF          lost to Nagoya Grampus

2007        QF          lost to Sepahan

OFC Champions League final, leg one: Auckland City [3 - 0] Team Wellington

Winterthur [3 - 2] Aarau

Tokyo Musashino City [0 - 0] ReinMeer Aomori

Honda Lock Soccer Club [0 - 3] Vanraure Hachinohe. Honda Lock wear red and black hoops.

[Vanraure continue in first place, undefeated in six. Aomori are fifth.]

Wednesday in SWFL Div 2 West action Morton visited Kilwinning and won 0 - 5. Morton are in first place.

League1 Ontario begins its 2017 schedule today, and goes till October 8th. The league winner will have a place in the 2018 Canadian Championship.

Tomorrow it's the Barcelona derby: RCD Espanyol [0 - 3] FC Barcelona.

By Opisso.

Horse and Rider

A Celtiberian horse and rider brooch at the Museo Numantino in Soria, Spain. Source.

Ricard Opisso

Ricard Opisso (1880-1966) was a prolific Catalonian cartoonist and illustrator. His crowd scenes of 20th-Century Barcelona street life are tremendous fun to explore. I've left this jpeg very large: you can have a good look if you click on it. Source.

Blast Furnace No. 2, Sagunto

The restoration work on this Spanish blast furnace won the 2012 Europa Nostra Grand Prix. Source. See here.