The life of a Clyde paddle steamer is nowhere near as tough as the life of a Greenock pedestrian underpass beautification scheme. Read about it.
The 2026-27 SPFL Championship begins. Morton embark on their twelfth consecutive season in this division. Since 1994 Morton has been the Championship’s most frequent member. (See below.)
There are three new teams this year: St Johnstone, Airdrie and Ross County are out; Livingston, Inverness CT and Stenhousemuir are in. Stenny have never played in the Championship before. The last time Inverness and Livingston were in the Championship together (2017-18) Dumbarton and Brechin were also in it. Dumbarton are now in League 2 and Brechin are in the Lowland League East.
Morton tend to do well in seasons ending in 6 and 7. They won promotion in 2006-07, 1986-87, 1966-67 and 1936-37. They finished second in the SFL in 1916-17, behind only Celtic. The last time they made the promotion playoffs was in 2016-17.
However, they finished dead last among Championship clubs in the League Cup group stage.
Morton are scoreless in their first four competitive matches of the season, a club record. The next worse start is 1998-99 when they went without a goal in their first three matches.
Today Morton host Partick Thistle. The last time Morton opened the league season with a match against Partick Thistle at Cappielow was August 10th, 1991. Morton won 2 – 1.
Partick’s manager is Mark Wilson, who has been in the job since February 2025. His record against Morton is 3 wins, 2 draws and 0 losses.
Partick Thistle’s Alex Samuel played for Morton in 2015-16, as did Robbie Crawford from 2022 to 2024. Goalkeeper Lewis Budinaukas made four appearances for Morton in 2024. Cale Loughrey is a former HFX Wanderer. Nobody on the present Morton squad has played for Partick.
Morton have signed 20-year-old goalkeeper Elyh Harrison on loan from Manchester United.
[Morton 0 – 1 Partick Thistle]
The other Championship matches:
Ayr United [2 – 0] Arbroath
Inverness CT [0 – 0] Dunfermline Athletic
Livingston [2 – 0] Queen’s Park
Raith Rovers [1 – 1] Stenhousemuir
Other matches:
Celtic B 6 – 1 Clydebank (July 28)
Carluke Rovers 2 – 2 East Kilbride YM (July 28)
Greenock High School Former Pupils AFC 4 – 2 Houston AFC (July 28)
Port Glasgow 3 – 0 Kilsyth Athletic (July 29)
Scrosoppi 7 – 2 North Toronto (yesterday)
St Pauli [2 – 2] Deportivo de A Coruña (friendly)
Stirling Albion [2 – 0] Dumbarton
Albion Rovers [0 – 2] Largs Thistle
Invergordon [1 – 2] Lossiemouth
Ashfield [0 – 3] Port Glasgow
Greenock Juniors [1 – 3] Yoker Athletic
Greenock HSFP [5 – 2] Plains AFC
Kello Rovers [1 – 4] Carluke Rovers
Calgary Stampeders [44 – 20] Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Hokkaido Tokachi Sky Earth [4 – 0] Norbritz Hokkaido (tomorrow)
Göteborg [2 – 0] Degerfors (tomorrow) [Halfway through the season Göteborg are 13th out of 16.]
East Fife [6 – 0] Morton Women (tomorrow)
HFX Wanderers [0 – 0] Forge (tomorrow)
Video: Footy Adventures visits Largs Thistle.
Scottish Cup, preliminary round 1:
St Andrews United [1 – 0] Jeanfield Swifts
Whitletts Victoria [1 – 0] Sauchie Juniors
Hawick Royal Albert [1 – 2] Penicuik Athletic
Glenafton Athletic [0 – 0] Stonehaven [Stonehaven win on PK]
Shortlees Amateurs [2 – 3] Dundee North End
Shortlees are here as Scottish Amateur Cup holder, Dundee North End as Midlands League champion, Stonehaven as North of Scotland League champion. The rest are SFA members.
UEFA Champions League QR2, leg 2:
Hearts 0 – 2 Sturm Graz (July 28)
Red Star Belgrade 5 – 0 Larne (July 29)
Shamrock Rovers 2 – 1 Ararat-Armenia (July 28)
Hearts, Larne and Shamrock Rovers all drop to the Europa League.
UEFA Conference League QR2, leg 2 (all July 30):
HB 0 – 3 Motherwell
Hibs 4 – 1 Maleshiva
Kalju 2 – 1 Shelbourne
Coleraine 0 – 3 HJK
The New Saints 1 – 0 Flora
Ballkani 3 – 2 Bohemians
Derry City 0 – 1 Rijeka
Levadia 1 – 3 Göteborg
Bohemians, Göteborg, Hibs, Motherwell and Shelbourne advance. Coleraine, Derry City and The New Saints are out.
UEFA has voted to boycott the World Cup if FIFA proceeds with its plan to privatize the tournament.
Years in tiers since 1994:
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