Plenty of Nothing

Cinema Stamps

These Swiss stamps celebrating the history of cinema won the prestigious Asiago Award for philatelic art in 2021. Source.

Dietrich and the Dragon

Dietrich saves Sintram from a dragon on a capital in Basel Minster. Source.

Caspar Wolf

Caspar Wolf (1735-83), View from the Muntigalm across Lake Seeberg toward the Stockhorn Chain.  Source.

Reformation Wall Reformed

Source.

Schloss Habsburg

Schloss Habsburg in Aargau, Switzerland was the original Habsburg castle, and gave the family its name. They loaded up the truck and moved to Austria in 1276 and in 1415 it was taken over by the Swiss Confederacy. Source.

Yverdon-les-Bains

Les bains de Yverdon-les-Bains. Source.

Morton are at Stark's Park to play Raith Rovers. Raith come into the game in second place with 26 points. Morton are eighth with 12. Raith have lost two league matches so far this season. Morton have won two.

Morton have not scored on the Rovers since 2017. Granted, Raith were in League One for three years, but they were in the Championship last year and outscored Morton 7 - 0. Morton wasted their first opportunity to get a goal September 18th when Raith won 0 - 1 at Cappielow.

The gap between fifth and sixth in the Championship is now 11 points.

Morton's Jimmy Knowles is out for the rest of the season due to injury.

[Raith 2 - 1 Morton. Goal by Ledger.]

The other Championship matches:

Queen of the South (9th) 1 - 2 Inverness CT (3rd)* (yesterday)

Kilmarnock (1st) [0 - 1] Arbroath (5th)*

Dunfermline (10th) [3 - 0] Ayr United (6th)

Partick Thistle (4th) [1 - 0] Hamilton Accies (7th)

*Plenty of Nothing Scottish Championship League Cup semi-final matches.

It's the League Cup semi-finals:

Celtic [1 - 0] St Johnstone

Rangers [1 - 3] Hibs (tomorrow)

These four have never appeared together in the League Cup semi-finals until now. Rangers have won the Cup 27 times, Celtic 19 times, Hibs 3 times, and St Johnstone only once, but that was last year.

Other matches:

Yverdon [2 - 1] Winterthur

Buckie Thistle [4 - 1] Clachnacuddin

J2: Omiya Ardija [1 - 3] Mito HollyHock (tomorrow)

JFL: Tokyo Musashino United [3 - 2] FC Kariya

Elfen Saitama [1 - 1] Urawa Reds

Bolivar [0 - 1] The Strongest (tomorrow)

Verl  2 - 4  1.FC Saarbrücken (yesterday)

SWF Championship South: Morton [0 - 3] Livingston (tomorrow)

FC Isle of Man [2 - 2] Maine Road

Forge 0 - 1 Cavalry (November 16)

That ends the Canadian Premier League regular season and leads straight to the playoff semi-finals:

Cavalry [1 - 2] Pacific

Forge [3 - 1] York United (tomorrow)

The final is scheduled for next weekend. But if Forge win their semi-final and the Hamilton Ti-Cats finish second in the CFL East, both teams will want use of the Hamilton stadium at the same time, in which case the soccer game will go a week later.

MLS playoffs, Round One:

Sporting KC [3 - 1] Vancouver Whitecaps

Canadian Championship final (tomorrow):

CF Montreal [1 - 0] Toronto FC

League of Ireland First Division playoff final (yesterday):

Bray Wanderers 0 - 2 UCD

Copa Sudamericana final:

Athletico Paranaense [1 - 0] Red Bull Bragantino

Two Brazilian teams. [And victory for the red and the black.]

South Challenge Cup Round Three:

(We're still just following West of Scotland League Premier Division clubs, plus some others.)

Bo'ness Athletic 2 - 0 Glenafton Athletic (yesterday)

Auchinleck Talbot [7 - 1] West Calder United

Beith Juniors [2 - 1] Rossvale

Blantyre Victoria [3 - 3] Broxburn Athletic [Blantyre win on PK]

Bonnyrigg Rose Athletics [4 - 0] Coldstream

Cumbernauld United [1 - 0] Glasgow United

Glenrothes [1 - 6] Clydebank

Hurlford United [2 - 1] Blackburn United

Irvine Meadow XI [5 - 2] Penicuik Athletic

Kilbirnie Ladeside [3 - 4] Caledonian Braves

Largs Thistle [1 - 2] Troon

Newmains United [0 - 4] East Kilbride

Petershill [5 - 0] Greenock Juniors

Pollok [2 - 1] Harthill Royal

Aberdeenshire Shield quarter-finals (November 17):

Keith 0 - 6 Banks O' Dee

Deveronvale 0 - 2 Huntly

Buckie Thistle 3 - 0 Formartine United

Inverurie Loco Works 5 - 0 Dyce Juniors (October 26)

Which clubs are in the 2021-22 Challenge League, when did they most recently join the second tier, and was it from above or below?

2021    Vaduz (above)

2021    Yverdon (below)

2020    Thun (above)

2020    Xamax (above)

2019    Lausanne-Ouchy (below)

2018    Kriens (below)

2015    Aarau (above)

2013    Schaffhausen (below)

2004    Wil (above)

1999    Winterthur (below)

Recent seasons of Yverdon-Sport:

2020-21    15    11      3      1    47    13    +34    36    1st, regular stage (III)

                 22    13      7      2    60    25    +35    46    1st, Promotion playoff (III)

2019-20    17    11      5      1    45    15    +30    38    1st, Promotion League (III)

2018-19    30    17      9      4    55    22    +33    60    2nd, Promotion League (III)

2017-18    30    18      2    10    64    48    +16    56    3rd, Promotion League (III)

2016-17    26    18      5      3    63    30    +33    59    1st, 1.Liga (IV)

2015-16    26    10      8      8    37    34      +3    38    5th, 1. Liga (IV)

2014-15    26    13      8      5    58    42    +16    46    2nd, 1. Liga (IV)

2013-14    26      9      6    11    38    36      +2    33    7th, 1. Liga Classic (IV)

2012-13    30      2      5    23    25    85     -60    11    16th, 1. Liga Promotion (III)

2011-12    27    14      6      7    44    40      +4    48    3rd, 1. Liga (III)

2010-11    30      6      2    22    27    64     -37    20    16th, Challenge League (II)

2009-10    30    10      9    11    50    38    +12    39    9th, Challenge League (II)

2008-09    30    14      9      7    52    41    +11    51    4th, Challenge League (II)

2007-08    34    10    13    11    39    35      +4    43    10th, Challenge League (II)

2006-07    34    12      6    16    45    60     -15    42    11th, Challenge League (II)

2005-06    36      9      5    22    38    64     -26    32    10th, Super League (I)

2004-05    34    20    10      4    59    26    +33    70    1st, Challenge League (II)

2003-04    32    12    10    10    50    37    +13    70    7th, Challenge League (II)

2002-03    22    10      6      6    36    21    +15    36    5th, NL B fall (II)

                 14      4      4      6    17    18       -1    34    4th, NL B relegation

2001-02    22    10      5      7    37    31      +6    35    5th, NL B fall (II)

                 14      8      1      5    30    26      +4            1st, NL B relegation

2000-01    22      5      6    11    27    43     -16    21    10th, NL A fall season (I)

                 14      4      7      3    23    20      +3    19    5th, NL A relegation

(Source: RSSSF, French Wikipedia.)

1999-2000

November 20, 1999.    Morton visited Livingston and lost 2 - 1. David Murie scored for Morton. Clydebank visited St Mirren and lost 2 - 1. Ian Cameron got the Clydebank goal.

Greenock Morton 1892-93:

1893/5/27      Morton 4 - 7 Partick Thistle    Greenock Charity Cup final

1893/5/6        Port Glasgow 4 - 0 Morton          friendly

1893/5/3        Morton 5 - 2 Johnstone          Greenock Charity Cup R1

1893/4/22      Hibs 2 - 3 Morton                        friendly

1893/4/15      Abercorn 5 - 3 Morton                  friendly

1893/4/1        Morton 2 - 2 Port Glasgow           friendly

1893/3/11      Johnstone 3 - 2 Morton                friendly

1893/3/4        Morton 2 - 4 Rangers                   friendly

1893/2/25      Morton 3 - 0 St Mirren           Renfrewshire Cup final

1893/2/18      Morton 1 - 0 Cambuslang           friendly

1893/1/21      Port Glasgow 4 - 2 Morton           friendly

1893/1/14      Morton 4 - 3 Saltcoats Victoria    friendly

1892/12/24    Morton 7 - 3 Dykebar                  friendly

1892/12/17    Dykebar 3 - 6 Morton            Renfrewshire Cup SF

1892/11/19    Morton 6 - 0 Renton                    friendly

1892/10/29    Morton 5 - 2 Arthurlie            Renfrewshire Cup R2

1892/10/22    Morton 5 - 1 Port Glasgow          friendly

1892/10/8      Morton 2 - 0 Kilbarchan        Renfrewshire Cup R1

1892/8/27      Renton 4 - 2 Morton                    friendly

1892/8/6        St Bernard's 5 - 0 Morton            friendly

Morton played no league football in 1892-93 and did not participate in the Scottish Cup, yet at the end of that season they were elected to the SFL. They won the Renfrewshire Cup, but that does not seem a huge accomplishment on a national scale until you consider that St Mirren, whom they beat 3 - 0, went on to finish third in the SFL. If this Renfrewshire Cup final was indeed what commended Morton to the league, then it stands out as one of Morton's most important wins.

(Sources: Glasgow Herald for the friendlies; SFHA for the Renfrewshire Cup and Greenock and District Charity Cup)

EHC Winterthur

Keep track of Wintherthur on their webcam.

EHC Winterthur was founded in 1929. In 1963 they merged with EHC Veltheim to form Rot-Weiss Winterthur, but in 1980 they reverted to their original name.

Winterthur take their red and white colours from the city's coat of arms, like EHC Visp, and have a lion on their crest, like most of the league.

Both EHC Winterthur and FC Winterthur play in the second tier of their respective sports.

[Ajoie 5 - 2 Winterthur.]

Winterthur in the NLB/Swiss League:

2019-20    44    10    0    0    33    1    0    101    207    -106    31    11th, SL

2018-19    44      7    0    2    31    2    2      99    153      -54    29    10th, SL

2017-18    46      7    1    0    27    8    3    109    194      -85    34    10th, SL

2016-17    48    14    1    0    31    1    1    121    195      -74    46      9th, NLB

2015-16    45      6    1    0    34    2    2      99    196      -97    24    10th, NLB

1969-70    14      3    1          10                  48      91      -43      7      7th, NLB East

1962-63    14      2    0          12                  23      86      -63      4      8th, NLB East

1961-62    14      2    0          12                  32    101      -69      4      8th, NLB East

Sources: Wikipedia, Hockey Archive

EHC Winterthur in the Swiss Cup:

1957/11/17    R1    Veltheim 3 - 5 Petit-Huningue

1958/11/16    R1    Bienne 6 - 1 Winterthur

1958/11/23    R1    Gottéron 7 - 0 Veltheim

1959/11/?      R1    Veltheim 0 - 5 Bassersdorf

1959/11/14    R2    Winterthur 3 - 8 Gottéron

1960/11/12    R1    Kloten 8 - 4 Veltheim

1960/11/13    R1    Winterthur 20 - 3 Aarau

1960/11/18    R2    Winterthur 1 - 12 Bern

1961/10/28    R1    Veltheim 0 - 11 Illnau

1961/11/4      R1    Lugano 3 - 2 Winterthur

1962/11/3      R2    Lucerne 7 - 2 Winterthur

1963/10/26    R1    Rot-Weiss Winterthur 8 - 3 Petit-Huningue

1963/10/30    R2    Rot-Weiss Winterthur 1 - 5 Dübendorf

1964/10/24    R2    Dübendorf 1 - 4 Rot-Weiss Winterthur

1964/10/31    R3    Rot-Weiss Wintherthur 3 - 5 Uzwil

2014/10/1      R1    Winterthur 1 - 7 Zug

2015/9/30      R1    Winterthur 1 - 2 Lugano

2016/9/27      R1    Winterthur 2 - 5 Rapperswil-Jona Lakers

2017/9/19      R1    Winterthur 0 - 2 Rapperswil-Jona Lakers

2018/9/19      R1    Winterthur 1 - 4 Zug

2019/9/10      R1    Winterthur 0 - 9 ZSC Lions

Source: French Wikipedia

Visp

EHC Visp in the Sixties. Source.

Ajoie visit the shiny new Lonza Arena in Visp for a game against EHC Visp.

EHC Visp was founded in 1939, was Swiss champion in 1962 and won the Swiss Cup in 1964. They have been in the NLB/Swiss League since 1999.

Visp is a town in German-speaking half of the southern Swiss canton of Valais. The club takes its colours from the town's coat of arms: red and white with lions. Reminder: lions are not native to Switzerland. The French name of the town is Viège.

Sepp Blatter is from Visp.

[Visp 3 - 2 Ajoie.]

2020-21 Swiss Cup results:

2021/2/7        Bern 3 - 2 Genève-Servette        semi-final

2021/2/28      ZSC Lions [2 - 5] Bern                     final

Visp in the Swiss Cup:

1956/11/21    PR    Visp 31 - 1 Blue Stars Lausanne

1956/11/24    R1    Visp 9 - 6 Bern

1957/1/9        R2    Servette 3 - 2 Visp

1957/11/24    R1    Lugano 4 - 5 Visp

1957/11/28    R2    Visp 4 - 3 Ambrì-Piotta

1958/1/14      QF    Visp 2 - 3 ZSC Lions

1958/11/16    R2    Visp 6 - 3 Bern

1959/1/13      QF    ZSC Lions 6 - 2 Visp

1959/11/14    R2    Visp 11 - 0 Urania Genève Sport

1959/12/29    QF    Visp 6 - 2 La Chaux-de-Fonds

1960/2/2        SF    Visp 8 - 2 Lausanne

1960/3/12        F    Visp 2 - 5 ZSC Lions

1960/11/24    R2    Visp 4 - 3 Servette

1960/11/30    R3    Sierre 0 - 7 Visp

1961/1/12      QF    La Chaux-de-Fonds 1 - 8 Visp

1961/1/26      SF    Visp 6 - 1 Villars

1961/2/23        F    ZSC Lions 5 - 3 Visp

1961/11/5      R2    Breitlachen 1 - 10 Visp

1961/11/12    R3    Crans-Montana 3 - 7 Visp

1961/11/28    QF    Villars 6 - 2 Visp

1963/1/2        R4    Langnau 4 - 5 Visp

1963/1/7        QF    Visp 6 - 4 Bern

1963/2/5        SF    Young Sprinters 6 - 4 Visp

1963/11/13    R3    Genève-Servette 2 - 3 Visp

1963/12/26    QF    Ambrì-Piotta 4 - 5 Visp

1964/1/6        SF    Lugano 0 - 4 Visp

1964/3/4          F    Visp 5 - 2 ZSC Lions

1964/12/1      R4    Gottéron 4 - 6 Visp

1965/1/20      QF    Villars 2 - 0 Visp

1965/12/8      R4    Visp 7 - 4 Lugano

1965/12/26    QF    Villars 3 - 5 Visp

1966/1/18      SF    Visp 2 - 4 Grasshoppers

1972/2/5        R2    Villars-Champéry 4 - 2 Visp

1972/2/8        R2    Visp 6 - 7 Villars-Champéry

2014/10/1      R1    Visp 6 - 4 Red Ice

2014/10/29    R2    Visp 4 - 2 Davos

2014/12/15    QF    Visp 2 - 6 ZSC Lions

2015/9/30      R1    Brandis 1 - 4 Visp

2015/10/27    R2    Dübendorf 2 - 7 Visp

2015/11/25    QF    Visp 2 - 3 Bern

2016/9/27      R1    Visp 4 - 8 Langnau Tigers

2017/9/19      R1    Visp 3 - 2 La Chaux-de-Fonds

2017/10/22    R2    Visp 2 - 4 Davos

2018/9/19      R1    Visp 2 - 4 Genève-Servette

2019/9/10      R1    Visp 6 - 3 La Chaux-de-Fonds

2019/10/20    R2    Visp 1 - 4 Zug

2020/10/4      R1    Thun 3 - 6 Visp

2020/11/7      R2    Visp 1 - 4 Fribourg-Gottéron

(Source: French Wikipedia)

Thurgau

HC Thurgau emerge from the lion's mouth. Source.

Ajoie visit HC Thurgau at the Eishalle Güttingersreuti in Weinfelden, Thurgau Canton, in the Swiss northeast.

Formed from three earlier clubs, HC Thurgau bill themselves as representatives of the whole canton. They wear green and yellow with a lion emblem, drawn from the cantonal coat of arms. Unfortunately this makes them look a lot like EHC Olten, and when they play GCK it's a case of lion versus lion, so taking one thing with the other they come across as a bit of a generic Swiss hockey club.

They entered the NLB in 1992, and since then they have played every season but one in the second tier.

Ajoie have made up most of their games in hand and are now in second place, five points behind Kloten. Thurgau are fifth.

[Thurgau 3 - 4 Ajoie.]

Thurgau in the Swiss Cup:

2014/10/1      Thurgau 0 - 4 Davos

2015/9/29      Thurgau 1 - 5 Kloten

2016/9/28      Thurgau 0 - 7 Lugano

2017/9/19      Thurgau 2 - 6 Kloten

2018/9/19      Thurgau 0 - 5 Ambrì-Piotta

2019/9/10      Thurgau 0 - 6 Zug

2020/10/4      Thurgau 1 - 3 Kloten

Olten

EHC Olten, big in the Eighties. Source.

EHC Olten dress in green and white, and their present-day uniform looks a bit like IF Björklöven from Sweden, except that in place of a birch leaf they have three fir trees. The club was founded in 1934, and won the NLB in 1981 and 1988. Their rink the Kleinholz Stadion can hold 6,500 spectators. The head coach is Fredrik Söderström. They have a mouse mascot.

Olten is a town in Solothurn, a canton that has the appearance of having been gerrymandered at some point in history.

At the moment Ajoie are third in the Swiss League, Olten fourth.

[Ajoie 3 - 1 Olten.]

The rise and fall of EHC Olten:

                  G     W     T      L       F       A      GD     P    Pos

1979-80    28      4    10    14    112    131    -19    18    6th, NLB East

1980-81    28    19      4      5    161      88   +73    42    1st, NLB West

1980-81    10      2      0      8      39      57    -18      4    6th, Promotion/Relegation

1981-82    28    19      0      9    159    103   +56    38    2nd, NLB West

1981-82    10      2      1      7      46      59    -13      5    6th, Promotion/Relegation

1982-83    28    16      4      8    143    109    -34    36    2nd, NLB East

1982-83    10      3      2      5      53      57      -4    10    3rd, Promotion/Relegation

1983-84    28    14      3    11    127     111   +16    31    4th, NLB East

1984-85    26    15      4      7    114      92    +22    34    4th, NLB

1984-85    14      7      1      6      55      60      -5    15    4th, Promotion/Relegation

1985-86    36    12      2    22    132    215    -83    26    9th, NLA

1986-87    36      8      2    26    119    209    -90    18    10th, NLA

1987-88    36    21      1    14    176    143   +33    43    3rd, NLB (won playoffs)

1988-89    36      9      4    23    125    169    -44    22    7th, NLA

1989-90    36    16      3    17    138    161    -23    35    5th, NLA

1990-91    36      8      1    27    111    189    -78    17    10th, NLA

1990-91    10      7      1      2      57      37   +20    15    1st, Promotion/Relegation

1991-92    36      8      3    25    102    191    -89    19    9th, NLA

1991-92    10      6      2      2      42      31   +11    14    3rd, Promotion/Relegation

1992-93    36    21      4    11    166    114   +52    46    2nd, NLB (won playoffs)

1993-94    36     8       4    24      96    176   -80    20    9th, NLA (lost playouts)

1994-95    36    12      6    18    133    173   -40    30    8th, NLB

The Swiss Cup final will be February 7th. [No it won't.]

ZSC Lions vs Bern or Genève-Servette

Source.