Source.

Morton visit McDiarmid Park, home ground of St Johnstone FC, the latest Championship champions. Last season St Johnstone took three wins and a draw from Morton, outscoring them 12 to 1. The last time Morton defeated St Johnstone was in 2006.

Fortunately Josh McPake, who scored 3 goals against Morton, has moved on to Hearts. But Jamie Gullan, who scored 4, is still with them.

St Johnstone’s Jack Baird played for Morton in 2019-20 and from 2022 to 2025. Morgan Boyes played for Morton in 2024-25. Morton’s Michael O’Halloran played for St Johnstone from 2014 to 2016, in 2027-18, and from 2019 to 2023. Cammy MacPherson played for St Johnstone from 2021 to 2025. The last Morton player to score against St Johnstone was Eamonn Brophy, August 30th, 2025.

St Johnstone are managed by Simo Valakari who has been in the job since October 2024.

So far Morton have 0 points and 0 goals scored in the group stage. They must win their two remaining matches to come up to their worst-ever showing of 6 points earned in 2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2024-25.

The Group F matches:
St Johnstone [3 – 0] Morton
Linlithgow Rose [0 – 2] Inverness CT
East Fife are off.

Group F standings after these matches:

Other matches:
Ottawa Rapid 2 – 1 Halifax Tides (July 16) Goal by Cho.
CF Montreal 0 – 0 Toronto FC (MLS) (July 16)
Göteborg 2 – 1 Brommapojkarna (yesterday)
Scrosoppi 1 – 0 Woodbridge Strikers (yesterday)
East Kilbride [5 – 3] Dumbarton
Clydebank [4 – 1] Irvine Meadow XI (friendly)
Port Glasgow [1 – 2] Partick Thistle YA (tournament)
Shortlees AFC [2 – 2] Greenock Juniors [Shortlees win on PK] (tournament)
Largs Thistle [2 – 1] Thorn Athletic (tournament)
Greenock HS FPs AFC [4 – 0] Rutherglen Glencairn AFC
St Andrews United [0 – 0] Cowdenbeath (friendly)
Wishaw [1 – 2] Carluke Rovers (friendly)
Argos vs Ti-Cats
Cavalry vs HFX Wanderers
Sapporo FC vs Hokkaido Tokachi Sky Earth (tomorrow)
Port Glasgow vs x (tournament) (tomorrow)
HFX Wanderers U21 vs Nottingham Forest Academy at Mount Pearl (tomorrow)

The Northern Super League is adding a team in Winnipeg.

West of Scotland Charity Cup final:
Auchinleck Talbot [1 – 0] Troon
This cup pits the 2025-26 West of Scotland Premier Division champion against the 2025-26 West of Scotland League Cup champion. Neither club is in the West of Scotland League anymore.

2026-27 UEFA Champions League, 1QR, leg 2 (July 14):
Shamrock Rovers 5 – 1 Floriana
Larne 2 – 1 Tre Fiori
The New Saints 1 – 2 Sabah
Shamrock Rovers and Larne advance. The New Saints drop directly to the Conference League.

2026-27 UEFA Europa League, 1QR, leg 2 (July 16):
Derry City 1 – 2 CSKA Sofia
Derry City drop to the Conference League.

2026-27 UEFA Conference League, 1QR, leg 2 (July 16):
St Joseph’s 0 – 0 Bohemians
RFS 2 – 0 Glentoran
Linfield 2 – 2 Kalju
Levadia Tallinn 5 – 0 Caernarfon Town
Ballkani 3 – 2 Connah’s Quay Nomads
FC Santa Coloma 3 – 0 Penybont
Bohemians advance. Caernarfon Town, Connah’s Quay Nomads, Glentoran, Linfield and Penybont are out.

World Cup final (tomorrow):
Spain vs Argentina

It’s the League Cup group stage, matchday 2. Morton visit East Fife. This is the fixture that derailed Morton’s League Cup run two years ago. East Fife won that match 3 – 0 on a hat trick by Alan Trouten. Luckily Trouten is now with Benburb.

Unluckily East Fife’s manager is Dick Campbell. He has been managing football clubs since the 1980s and has earned promotion seven times with various clubs. By my count his record against Morton is 14 wins, 9 draws and 7 losses.

Also unluckily, Derek Gaston has joined East Fife from Stirling Albion. He was Morton’s go-to goalie in the 2010s, and has bedevilled them as an opposing goalkeeper. He personally knocked them out of last year’s Challenge Cup R2 when that match went to penalty kicks.

The last Morton player to score against East Fife was Robbie Muirhead, April 3rd, 2021.

Having lost to Linlithgow Saturday Morton must win all three remaining games to have a real chance of making it to Round Two.

Ian Murray’s record to date as Morton manager (including league, cup and friendly): 4W, 5D, 10L. Morton’s last win was March 28th.

The Group F matches:
East Fife [2 – 0] Morton
Linlithgow Rose [0 – 2] St Johnstone
ICT are off.

The Group F table after these matches:

Other matches:
Carluke Rovers 0 – 1 Lanark United (Clydesdale Cup) (yesterday)
Dunfermline Athletic [4 – 1] Dumbarton
Clydebank [2 – 0] Kilsyth Rangers (friendly)
Kilbirnie Ladeside [1 – 1] Largs Thistle [Kilbirnie win on PK] (friendly) (tomorrow)
Port Glasgow [4 – 0] Rutherglen Glencairn (friendly) (tomorrow)
University of Stirling vs St Andrews United (friendly) (tomorrow)

This is a good time to introduce the 2026-27 A Ton of Snow Championship League Cup, a made-up cup which uses actual match results to generate a Championship-only knockout tournament. All ten Championship clubs participate, and no one else.

The teams are ranked according to their 2025-26 league positions and paired up on the principle of highest versus lowest. Round One includes only the bottom four teams. All league matches, cup games and playoffs are eligible for use. Higher-ranked teams are not guaranteed home-field advantage.

Tie-breakers are, in order: 1) fewer red cards, 2) fewer yellow cards, 3) more corner kicks, 4) visitor. These rules take precedence over any other tie-breakers.

Once the finalists are known, the other eight teams embark on the Consolation Cup. Because there are usually just a few weeks left when this begins, the pairings are determined on the basis of which group of fixtures can be finished soonest.

If both cups reach a conclusion within the 2026-27 season the two cup-winners meet in the Super Cup, if this can be played by the end of the calendar year.

The matches are:

Round One:
Morton vs Inverness CT (July 25)
Ayr United vs Stenhousemuir (September 25)

Round Two:
Dunfermline Athletic vs Raith Rovers (August 29)
Arbroath vs Queen’s Park (September 25)
Livingston vs Morton or Inverness CT or Stenhousemuir (after September 25)
Partick Thistle vs Ayr United or Morton or Inverness CT (after September 25)

Semi-finals and final to be determined.

The 2026 Super Cup: Partick Thistle vs Arbroath (October 3)

The people of Linlithgow celebrate victory in the 1965 Junior Cup. Source.

It’s the 2026-27 League Cup group stage. Linlithgow Rose visit Cappielow. This is the first ever competitive match between these two clubs.

Linlithgow were 2025-26 Lowland League champions, but they were denied a spot in the pyramid playoffs for lack of a bronze license. The SPFL has gotten serious about keeping substandard parks out of its circuit, having learned from Bonnyrigg Rose and their cambered pitch.

Linlithgow Rose are four-time winners of the Scottish Junior Cup. Last weekend they won the East of Scotland Cup, aka City Cup, beating The Spartans 3 – 0. Gordon Herd has been their manager since 2021.

Morton have signed Australian striker Jayden Gorman, late of Dubai FC. And 18-year-old midfielder Joey O’Toole from Jersey. [Sam Murdoch has been recalled from Annan Athletic.]

The objective in the group stage is to win your group, or else to be one of the three best second-place finishers, which usually involves earning 9 points with a good goal difference. In the present era Morton have advanced to the next round four times in ten attempts, twice without having beaten the group’s Premiership side.

Group F matches today:
Morton [0 – 1] Linlithgow Rose
Inverness CT [1 – 1] East Fife [ICT win on PK]
St Johnstone are off.

Group F standings after these matches:

Other matches: Oakley United 1 – 1 St Andrews United (friendly) (July 7)
Blantyre Victoria 3 – 1 Carluke Rovers (friendly) (July 8)
Irvine Victoria 0 – 0 Greenock Juniors (friendly) (July 8)
Largs Thistle 2 – 2 Kilmarnock U19 (friendly) (July 8)
HFX Wanderers 1 – 3 Toronto FC (friendly) (July 9) Because they’re both out of the Canadian Championship.
Kilsyth Rangers 4 – 1 Kilsyth Athletic (friendly) (yesterday)
Babelsberg [1 – 4] St Pauli (friendly)
Dumbarton [0 – 4] St Mirren (at Coatbridge)
Pumpherston [0 – 4] Carluke Rovers (friendly)
Broxburn Athletic [1 – 2] Clydebank (friendly)
Largs Thistle [3 – 1] Thornton Hibs (friendly)
Port Glasgow [3 – 3] Neilston (friendly)
Cambuslang Milan AFC [0 – 3] Greenock High School Former Pupils AFC
Scrosoppi [2 – 1] Sudbury Cyclones
Hokkaido Tokachi Sky Earth [2 – 1] BTOP Hokkaido (tomorrow)
Malmö [4 – 0] Göteborg (tomorrow)
Montreal Roses [1 – 0] Halifax Tides (tomorrow)
Ti-Cats [7 – 38] Saskatchewan Roughriders (tomorrow)

Stirlingshire Cup final (July 7):
Stenhousemuir 2 – 0 Alloa Athletic

Canadian Championship, QF, leg 1:
CS Saint-Laurent 1 – 1 Forge (July 8)
Vancouver Whitecaps 4 – 1 Cavalry (July 8)
Vancouver FC 1 – 2 CF Montréal (July 8)
Supra 3 – 1 Atlético Ottawa (July 8)

Canadian Championship, QF, leg 2:
CF Montréal [2 – 1] Vancouver FC (July 12) [CF Montréal advance.]
Forge [2 – 1] CS Saint-Laurent (July 12) [Forge advance.]
Cavalry [1 – 1] Vancouver Whitecaps (July 13) [Whitecaps advance.]
The Ottawa/Supra game will be played August 11.

CS Saint-Laurent’s captain is Cédric Toussaint, formerly of York United, Pacific FC and Grulla Morioka.

2026-27 UEFA Champions League, 1QR, leg 1 (July 7):
Floriana (Malta) 2 – 0 Shamrock Rovers
Tre Fiori (San Marino) 0 – 1 Larne
Sabah (Azerbaijan) 2 – 0 The New Saints

2026-27 UEFA Europa League, 1QR, leg 1 (July 9):
CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria) 3 – 2 Derry City

2026-27 UEFA Conference League, 1QR, leg 1 (mostly July 9):
Bohemians 2 – 0 St Joseph’s (Gibraltar)
Glentoran 1 – 2 RFS (Latvia)
Kalju (Estonia) 1 – 0 Linfield
Caernarfon Town 0 – 5 Levadia Tallinn (Estonia)
Connah’s Quay Nomads 0 – 0 Ballkani (Kosovo) (July 8)
Penybont 0 – 1 FC Santa Coloma (Andorra)