Blue & White hoops in cup run.......

Unfortunately not our club......but I'm off to Hampden this weekend to see my local team, Greenock Morton, who play in blue and white hoops, take on the sheepshaggers of Aberdeen in the League Cup semi-final, with a final place up for grabs against one of the "Old Firm".

It's Mortons' first semi-final since 1979, and they will be huge underdogs against one of the better teams in the Scottish Premier League - not bad for a team who cost less than Sandro earns when he sits down for a ****e at the training ground, and who get regular attendances of about 1800 - 2000

Morton head to Hampden on the back of a great 5-0 away win at Championship leaders Queen of the South last weekend, so are in good form, but fully expect Aberdeen to put them to the sword - this will be the biggest game any of the squad will have played in.

Looking forward to the day, it's a 1215 kick-off so a few early beers on the train - you can't drink inside football grounds up here unfortunately - then a few in Glasgow after the match (especially if a miracle does happen). Hopefully, by the end of the day they'll make the final, and we'll have beaten Sheff Weds too.

 

have fun
good luck

 

Do they have a nickname or is it just Morton? Which isn't a place as far as I can tell.

Enjoy!

 

Fantastic achievement to make the Semi-Final, they beat Celtic away in this competition a few years back so don't write them off...

 

Good luck too the boys

 

Good Luck

 

Have an affiliation to Morton having spent a fair amount of time in Greenock and Gourock. I proudly own a blue & white hooped millions sweets shirt purchased from the club shop.

 

Apparently they are named after a street where some of the original players used to live. Founded in 1874, they are one of the founder members of the Scottish League.

Locally, they are known as The 'Ton, not aware of any other nickname.

 

I was at that match, Morton were a third tier team, and won 1-0 after extra time. Celtic couldn't hit a barn door that night, and 'Paradise" was silent as a morgue once they went ahead - apart from the away end!

Morton have beaten a few SPL teams on the way to the semi, so fingers crossed.

 

Was talking about this game with a mate at work who's a Dons fan, he's come to HQ a few times with me in the past ( met ninesy, mouse and ellers if I recall correctly) so wished him good luck.

How many do Morton normally get for a league game ?

 

Average about 1800, but expect 4-5000 to travel to Hampden today.

 

I saw Chelsea beat Morton 5-0 in the Fairs Cup in 1968 (went with a mate who was a Chelsea fan). Just looked it up and it was 4 days after they beat us 4-0 at Loftus Road. What was I thinking?

 

Hope you have a great day steelmonkey.

Always good to see one of the "minnows" upset the elite!

 

Bad luck Morton, hopefully a good day out regardless.

 

Really good day -fans of both teams intermingling, both before and after the game - different ball game tomorrow........

Morton really stuck to their game plan, and nullified Aberdeen in first half - although they had the majority of possesion, 11 corners they never truly threatened the Morton goal, and best chance of the half fell to Morton forward Quitongo, who should have lifted the ball over the keeper towards end of first half.

Second half Morton started to take the game to Aberdeen, and threatened much more - this adventurous style unfortunately led to the opening Aberdeen goal on 75 mins, with them hitting Morton on the counter, a bobbling ball around the box, and a clever header by Rooney...who on review was offside (not that the ****ey refereeing would ever have noticed - very biased towards the "big boys") This opened the game up further as Morton chased the game, and got caught again towards the end of match, and after a fine save by the keeper, no one was marking the guy at the back post who tapped in for 2-0.

Overall, a good day, they made a good account of themselves - convivial fans mixing with each other, both at the ground and in the bars in Glasgow city centre after the match - gonna be a sore head tomorrow me thinks!!!

 

so thats what tony meant when he said throw millions at them

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Is it just me or would the Scottish game be far better without the 'Old Firm'? I always feel their sense of entitlement pisses everyone off. Anyway, a great effort from Morton, these are the type of games that mean far more to the smaller clubs and the sense of achievement is so much greater...

 

Yes, they are not popular outwith of their own fanbase, but without them, there would be even less money for the other clubs.

When Rangers were sent to 3rd division, on their way through all the leagues they paid off many small clubs debts - teams whose regular attendances were less than 1000 would have two games with thousands turn up, plus a lot of these games were televised, giving even more revenue. I know for a fact that when Morton played Rangers, the income from just one match paid all the players wages and running costs of the club for a full season!

The sectarianism that runs deep on the West Coast is deplorable, and although both clubs say they are committed to stamping it out, it is still highly prevelant (just look at the aftermath of the last Old Firm meeting a few weeks ago). The rate of hospital admissions, assaults, stabbings, and home disturbances when these matches are on should be enough to open peoples eyes, especially in the 21st century, but it's how a lot of these "fans" are taught by their peer groups.

When I moved up here, I made a strong concious decision to not get involved with either side, and started to go to the local club (who just happened to also play in blue and white hoops) and when my son was born, I made sure he followed the same path - I'm pleased to say he is both a Morton fan and a QPR fan.

I have an inate dislike of both teams, and take great pleasure in seeing the likes of Barcelona destroy Celtic, and even more when a minnow from, say, Latvia beat them and prevent them from making the Champions League! Same goes for seeing Rangers struggle this season, but unfortunately the money both these sides generate will see them rise above all the others.

 

It was different in the 80s when the 'New Firm' broke their stranglehold, Aberdeen and Dundee United both won titles and did really well in Europe. Hearts also challenged one season and were unbeaten in 30 matches going into their last game needing only a draw to win the League. Celtic had to hope they lost and win by 5 clear goals at St Mirren. With 10 minutes left Hearts looked certain winners at 0-0 and Celtic were 3-0 up but then Hearts got caught on the break and let in two and Celtic scored six to nick it, that was just like Man City's title win when they beat us in injury time. It's a very cruel game sometimes but I don't ever see the 'Old Firm' being challenged like that again...