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)