Plenty of Nothing

21st-Century Steamroller

The Mito Bus

All your Japanese team buses are here.

Mito HollyHock visit Ehime. After sitting atop the table in week four Mito have drifted to a more familiar 17th place. Ehime are 21st, in the relegation zone. There are 22 teams in J2, and the bottom two will be relegated. At the moment both relegation spots are occupied by teams from Shikoku: Ehime and Kamatamare Sanuki. Last season there was only one relegation spot at the bottom of J2. The increase to two this year can be taken as a sign that J3 is now regarded as a quality league. [Ehime 0 - 1 Mito.]

Shikoku is a modestly-sized region of just four prefectures. The island separates the Pacific Ocean from the Inland Sea. How do you get to Shikoku by bus?  There are bridges at Naruto, Utazu and Imabari.

What teams come from Shikoku, and what divisions are they in?

J1    none

J2    Ehime FC, Kamatamare Sanuki, Tokushima Vortis

J3    none

JFL    FC Imabari

Shikoku Adult League:    Kōchi United SC, Kōchi University FC, Tadotsu FC, FC Tokushima Celeste, R.Velho Takamatsu, Llamas Kōchi FC, Niisho Club, Koyo Sealing Techno SC

Which teams play in Kyushu?

J1    Sagan Tosu

J2    Avispa Fukuoka, Oita Trinita, Roasso Kumamoto, V-Varen Nagasaki

J3    Kagoshima United, Giravanz Kitakyushu

JFL    Honda Lock, Verspah Oita, Tegevagaro Miyazaki

Kyushu Soccer League:    J.FC Miyazaki, Kaiho Bank SC, Kyushu Mitsubishi Motors SC, Nippon Steel Oita, National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya SC, FC Nakatsu, Kumamoto Teacher Kickoff Foundation, Kawabe Club, Saga Lixil FC, Okinawa SV

Kyushu is the southernmost of the four big Japanese islands. Teams from Ryukyu get rolled into this league.

This is the 20th season of the J2 league. Which teams have spent the most years in it?

19        Mito HollyHock

17        Yokohama FC

16        Montedio Yamagata

14        Consadole Sapporo

14        Shonen Bellmare

14        Avispa Fukuoka

13        Sagan Tosu

13        Tokushima Vortis

13        Thespakusatsu Gunma

13        Ehima FC

Which teams are in J2 this year, when did they last join, and did they come from above or below?

2018    Albirex Niigata (above)

2018    Omiya Ardija (above)

2018    Ventforet Kofu (above)

2018    Tochigi FC (below)

2017    Avispa Fukuoka (above)

2017    Oita Trinita (above)

2016    Montedio Yamagata (above)

2016    Matsumoto Yamaga (above)

2016    Machida Zelvia (below)

2016    Renofa Yamaguchi (below)

2015    Tokushima Vortis (above)

2015    Zweigen Kanazawa (below)

2014    Kamatamare Sanuki (below)

2011    Kyoto Sanga (above)

2010    JEF United Chiba (above)

2009    Tokyo Verdy (above)

2009    Fagiano Okayama (below)

2008    Yokohama FC (above)

2008    Roasso Kumamoto (below)

2008    FC Gifu (below)

2006    Ehime FC (below)

2000    Mito HollyHock (below)

Mito HollyHock are a second-tier football club par excellence.

Morton watch: Lee Kilday has signed on for another year, as has Lewis Strapp. On Wednesday goalkeeper Ryan Scully signed with Morton. He has played for Partick Thistle, junior side Petershill, Albion Rovers and Dunfermline. And Morton got midfielder Ross MacLean on loan from Motherwell. Pre-season training began Thursday. Mark Russell won't be back with Morton. Jai Quitongo is training with Livingston, a pretty good sign that he won't be back with Morton.

[Douglas Rae has died. He was chairman of Greenock Morton from 2001 until this April. He's credited with rescuing the club from liquidation.]

World Cup group stage:

Group D: Nigeria 2 - 0 Iceland (at Volgograd Arena, June 22nd)

Group H: Japan [2 - 2] Senegal (at Central Stadium, Yekaterinburg, June 24th)

SWFL Division 1 South: Morton [5 - 3] Falkirk

[That's Morton's first win in SWFL Division 1.]

2018 Canadian Championship, 2QR, first leg:

AS Blainville 0 - 1 Ottawa Fury (June 20). Match report.

This is the eleventh year of the Canadian Championship. The first three years there were only three entrants; the next three years there were four; the next four there were five; and this year there are six. It sounds small-scale, but look at the early years of the Emperor's Cup.  The first four years of the Emperor's Cup there were only four entrants, and at no time before World War Two were there more than eight, and one year there were three. This year there are eighty-eight, out of the hundreds and hundreds that could qualify. From acorns oaks.

USL: New York Red Bulls II [0 - 3] Ottawa Fury (June 24)

JFL: Vanraure Hachinohe [1 - 2] Sony Sendai

Honda 2 - 0 Honda Lock

Kantō Soccer League: Tokyo 23 FC [2 - 0] Saitama SC

Controls

The Raccoon Catcher

Wooden Citroën

Michel Robillard and his wooden Citroën 2CV. Source.

Krampusnacht

Source.

Hijet

Best & Goes Farthest

The Greenock and Port Glasgow Tramways Company, Horsecar No. 3, 1898. Source.

Dunfermline Athletic visit Cappielow.

The Pars finished atop League One last season, following in the footsteps of Morton (2014-15), Rangers (2013-14), and Queen of the South (2012-13). To win your division you pretty much have to assemble a team that can compete in the division above it, so then the question becomes, can you keep that squad together? The Pars' top scorers last season were Faissal El Bakhtaoui (30 goals), Joe Cardle (15), Michael Moffat (15), and Ryan Wallace (10). El Bakhtaoui went to Dundee, Wallace to Albion Rovers. Dunfermline have signed former Hibs striker Farid El Alagui. El Alagui has also played for Falkirk and Dundee United.

Currently Dunfermline are 8th, with a win and four losses for 3 points. They are out of the League Cup, but still in the Challenge Cup.

Morton are ninth, with three draws and two losses, for 3 points. Both Morton and Dunfermline have a goal difference of -5, but Dunfermline have more goals for. Morton have four goals in five games.

Depending on other results, Morton can finish the day anywhere from sixth to tenth.

Morton have signed Gavin Gunning, also ex-Dundee United.

What years did Morton go farthest into the calendar before gaining a win in league play? And what position did they hold at the end of the season?

Oct. 28, 1972        Finished 12th of 18

Oct. 26, 1901        Finished 10th of 10

Oct. 21, 1939*       Finished 5th of 16

*There was no league play between Sept. 2 and Oct. 21, 1939.

Oct. 20, 1973        Finished 14th of 18

Oct. 18, 1975        Finished 11th of 14

Oct. 18, 2008        Finished 6th of 10

Oct. 8, 1960          Finished 19th of 19

Sept. 29, 1990      Finished 9th of 14

Sept. 26, 1925      Finished 15th of 20

Sept. 22, 1924      Finished 14th of 20

What were the results of Morton's first five league matches each year this century? And what position did they hold at the end of the season?

2000-01    LLWWL           = 6 pts             9th (relegated)

2001-02    WDDDL           = 6 pts            10th (relegated)

2002-03    DWLWD           = 8pts             1st (promoted)

2003-04    WWDWW        = 12 pts           4th

2004-05    LWWLW           = 9 pts            3rd

2005-06    WWWDL         = 10 pts           2nd

2006-07    WWDWW        = 12 pts          1st (promoted)

2007-08    WWDLL           = 7 pts            8th

2008-09    DDLLL             = 2 pts            6th

2009-10    LLWLL             = 3pts             8th

2010-11    DLWLL             = 4 pts            7th

2011-12    DWDWW         = 11 pts           8th

2012-13    DDLWW          = 8 pts             2nd

2013-14    WLLDD           = 5 pts            10th (relegated)

2014-15    LWWLW          = 9 pts            1st (promoted)

2015-16    DLDWW          = 8 pts            5th

2016-17    DDDLL            = 3 pts

Conclusion: It's lower-middle or bottom for Morton this year.

[But Morton win 2 - 1, with goals by Oliver and Quitongo. Morton move up to seventh place. Match summary.]

1898-99. On this date in 1898 Morton travelled the two miles to Port Glasgow Athletic's Clune Park, and lost 7 - 3.

Port Glasgow Athletic's kit was a white shirt with blue knickerbockers and socks.

How is the Austrian Erste Liga like the Scottish Championship?

Both are winter leagues with 36-games schedules. The Erste Liga includes a reserve team, FC Liefering, the farm club for Red Bull Salzburg of the Bundesliga. There are no reserve teams in the four SPFL divisions. The greatest travel distance, as the crow flies, is 509 km from Lustenau to Vienna. The oldest club is 117, the youngest 8, with an average of 72. Average stadium capacity is 10,747. There are no playoffs.

Austria plans to go over to first and second tiers of 12 and 16 teams in 2018-19.

UEFA Champions League Group C: Barcelona 7 - 0 Celtic. Five more games.

Prior to this match Celtic and Barcelona had met twelve times in UEFA competition, Barca taking 7 wins, Celtic 2, with 3 draws. And they played that friendly on July 30th. Listen to the Champions League Theme.

Yesterday: UCD 0 - 1 Cobh Ramblers

CAF Champions League semifinals, first leg:

Zamalek [4 - 0] Wydad Casablanca

ZESCO United [2 - 1] Mamelodi Sundowns

Wydad won the CAF Champions League in 1992.

Largs Thistle [1 - 3] Kilwinning Rangers

Kalmar [2 - 0] Östersund

Tomorrow: B36 [2 - 2] HB

Mohun Bagan [0 - 1] Mohameddan Sporting. [That ends the brief Calcutta Football League season. MB finish third.]

Is it all too stressful? Why not just watch the harbour traffic at Gourock.

Remember that new home strip that caused a fan uprising back in May? The Morton U20s are wearing it now.

Hansom Cab

The Hansom cab was an English invention, but they had them in France too. Source.

Excavators