Plenty of Nothing: Statues

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.