Linlithgow Rose

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)

Chris Aitken

Chris Aitken appeared for Morton in the early Aughties. He later played for Stranraer and is now their manager. Source.

Morton host Stranraer in a preseason friendly at Cappielow Park. These two teams have met only once in a competitive match this decade: Morton won 3 – 0 on July 18th, 2023 in the League Cup group stage. But Stranraer were awarded a 3 – 0 win on July 10th, 2021 in that year’s League Cup group stage after Morton forfeited due to Covid.

Since 1994, when the four-division structure arrived, Stranraer have appeared in the second tier three times: 1994-95, 1998-99 and 2005-06. They have been in the fourth tier all this decade. Morton’s biggest win against Stranraer was 8 – 0 in the first round of the 2011-12 Challenge Cup.

Jackson Longridge played for Stranraer in 2014-15, as did Cammy MacPherson in 2017-18. Both Morton and Stranraer have a player named McLuckie.

Morton have signed 20-year-old midfielder Callum Sandilands on loan from Hearts.

[Morton 0 – 0 Stranraer.]

The World Cup continues:

Round of 32:
South Africa 0 – 1 Canada (June 28) Goal by Eustaquio.
Brazil 2 – 1 Japan (June 29)
Mexico 2 – 0 Ecuador (June 30)

Round of 16:
Canada [0 – 3] Morocco (today)
Reminder: Morocco beat Canada 2 – 1 in the last World Cup.
Mexico [2 – 3] England (tomorrow)

Other matches:
Carluke Rovers 0 – 4 Gartcairn (friendly) (June 29)
Ayr United 3 – 0 Dumbarton (friendly) (June 30)
Shamrock Rovers 1 – 0 Hibs (friendly) (June 30)
Altona 93 2 – 6 St Pauli (friendly) (July 1)
[East End United 2 – 2 Greenock HS FPs AFC]
HFX Wanderers 1 – 3 Atlético Ottawa (July 1) Goal by Ciccarelli.
Kickers Emden [1 – 3] St Pauli (friendly)
Clydebank [4 – 0] Musselburgh Athletic (Blackburn Legacy Shield)
Carluke Rovers [1 – 1] Kilsyth Rangers (friendly)
Largs Thistle [1 – 2] Knightswood (friendly)
Port Glasgow [5 – 1] Lesmahagow (friendly)
Greenock Juniors vs Drumchapel United (friendly)
[Greenock HS FPs 5 – 3 AFC Rutherglen Glencairn AFC]
Invergordon [1 – 9] Aberdeen XI (friendly)
Queen of the South [1 – 2] Crusaders (friendly)
These two met in the 2018-19 Challenge Cup, R2, and QoS won 4 – 3.
Clydebank [2 – 0] Cumbernauld Colts (Blackburn Legacy Shield) (tomorrow)
Göteborg [1 – 2] AIK (tomorrow)
Blue Bombers [14 – 13] Ti-Cats (tomorrow)
Pacific [1 – 2] HFX Wanderers (tomorrow) [Goals by Ciccarelli and Callegari.]
Halifax Tides [0 – 1] AFC Toronto (tomorrow)
Vaughan Azzurri [1 – 1] Scrosoppi (tomorrow)

Recommended sites: Scottish Football Fixtures, FitbaStats, Scottish Football Historical Archive, Pie and Bovril

1942 Summer Cup final:
1942/7/4 Rangers 4 – 4 Hibs (2 – 2 on corners, Rangers won on a coin toss.)