Greenock Morton F.C.

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Greenock Morton

Full name	Greenock Morton Football Club
Nickname(s)	The 'Ton
Founded	1874 (as Morton)
Ground	Cappielow, Greenock (Capacity: 11,612)
Chairman	Douglas Rae
Manager	David Irons
League	Scottish First Division
2008–09	Scottish First Division, 6th
Home colours Away colours

Greenock Morton Football Club are a football team, who currently play in the Scottish Football League First Division^[1]. The club were founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs.

Greenock Morton are popularly known as "Pride of the Clyde" - a tradition which pre-dates the club's renaming in 1994 to celebrate the links with its home town of Greenock. The club has a traditional local rivalry with St. Mirren.

Contents 1 History 2 Colours 3 Stadium 4 Rivalry 4.1 Other Rivalries 5 Trivia 6 Honours 6.1 National Player Honours 7 Records 8 Current squad 9 Appearances (current squad) 10 Top Scorers 10.1 Top League Goalscorers 10.2 2008–2009 season 10.3 2009–2010 season 11 Notable players 12 21st century players 13 Managers 14 Non-playing staff 15 Scottish Cup Record 16 Individual player records (Post War) 17 Supporters clubs 18 References 19 External links

[edit] History

Morton's greatest success came in April 1922 when they defeated Rangers 1–0 in the Scottish Cup Final. Jimmy Gourlay scoring the winning goal, direct from a free kick in the 11th minute. Strangely the Greenock public were denied the chance to celebrate with their triumphant heroes as straight after the match Morton boarded a train for Hartlepool to play the local side in a pre-arranged friendly match. The celebrations were delayed until the Wednesday when 10,000 locals turned out at Cappielow Park to celebrate.

Morton have made two other major cup final appearances. On Saturday 17 April 1948 Morton drew 1–1 with Rangers in the Scottish Cup Final.^[2] Morton's goal was a free kick scored by Jimmy White. The match was replayed on Wednesday 21 April. This time Rangers won 1–0 after extra time. The goal was said to be highly controversial because it was claimed that Morton goalkeeper Jimmy Cowan was blinded by the flash of a camera. These matches were significant because of the huge crowds they attracted. The first match was played in front of 131,629; the replay in front of 133,629, which was, at the time a British record attendance for a midweek match. It has been said that Greenock was empty on these two days. Morton's third and final major cup final to date was in the League Cup and this was played on Saturday 26 October 1963 when Rangers (who Morton have faced in all three final appearances) won by 5 goals to nil ^[3](HT: 0–0) in front of 103,000 supporters. However this was no disgrace as Morton were then a Second Division Club (The predecessor to today's First Division).

During the Second World War 'guest' players were common at clubs throughout Great Britain. Morton were particularly fortunate in this respect in that two of English football's greatest ever players turned out at Cappielow. Sir Stanley Matthews^[4] and Tommy Lawton^[5] made several guest appearances for Morton. When Morton reached the 1948 Scottish Cup Final both players sent telegrams wishing good luck to their former club. Matthews simply said 'I am delighted to see Morton reach the final of the Scottish Cup'. Lawton's was more expressive, he said 'Memories of happy days during the war at Cappielow compel me to wish the Morton manager & the boys all the best of luck in their cup final at Hampden'.

To date Morton have only played in a European Club Competition once. After finishing 6th in Scotland's top division in 1967–68 Morton qualified for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (now the UEFA Cup). They were drawn to play Chelsea but were eliminated at the first hurdle after a 5–0 defeat at Stamford Bridge and a 4–3 defeat at Cappielow.^[6]

In 1992–93 (13 December 1992) Morton lost 3–2 to Hamilton Academical in the B & Q Cup Final^[7] (now the Scottish Challenge Cup) in front of 7,391 fans. This cup final appearance is not as prestigious as the aforementioned Cup final appearances because this competition is only competed for by league clubs outwith the top flight. The final was played at Love Street, the home of Morton's arch rivals St. Mirren.

The club hit a terrible period of financial distress in 2001. This culminated in the team being relegated from the First Division at the end of the 2000–01 season after a 6-year stay. Furthermore, the club slid into administration. The club's financial problems continued to affect its progress on-the-field, as the team struggled to adapt to life in the Second Division. A 4–0 defeat to Queen of the South on 27 April 2002 confirmed back-to-back relegations for Morton.

In season 2002–03, the team found themselves playing in the Third Division for the first time ever. The club's financial situation was resolved by the takeover by current chairman Douglas Rae, and the team discovered some success at this level. A season-long challenge for promotion culminated in a 1–0 victory over Peterhead securing the Third Division championship at the first opportunity, in front of a Third Division record crowd of 8,497 fans.

Also in the 2002–03 season, chairman Douglas Rae appointed John McCormack^[8], previously manager of Queen's Park. McCormack oversaw the winning of the Third Division Championship and a dominant start to the 2003–04 season, only for the team to fall away after the turn of the year, and finish in 4th place, well outside the promotion places. This came after being 12 points ahead in the Championship race at the half way stage. This led to unfounded allegations that some players had placed large bets on nearest rivals Airdrie United to win the league, which they eventually did.

Jim McInally was announced as McCormack's successor^[9], and in his first season as manager the club failed to gain promotion to the First Division by a single point, finishing behind Stranraer in 3rd place. Morton failed to gain promotion to the First Division during the 2005–06 season. Finishing 2nd was not enough, as the SFL playoffs meant that only the championship-winning team would be promoted automatically. Gretna won the division, so Morton entered play-offs alongside Peterhead (3rd), Partick Thistle (4th), and Stranraer (9th in Division One.) Morton's first play-off match was against Peterhead, and the Greenock side were defeated 1–0 over two legs, the only goal a penalty in the second match at Balmoor.^[10]

A week after a 9–1 defeat of Forfar at Cappielow Park,^[11] Morton achieved promotion to the First Division despite a 2–0 defeat away to Raith Rovers on 14 April 2007.^[12] Morton were crowned Second Division Champions when their nearest challengers in the title race, Stirling Albion, lost 3–2 against Ayr United,^[13] thus sustaining Morton's 7 point lead at the top with 2 games left to play.

Jim McInally resigned on 11 February 2008 ^[14]after a run of poor results allowed Morton to slip into 9th place in the first division.

He was replaced on 19 February 2008 by Davie Irons, with Derek Collins (who holds the record for most appearances at Morton) joining him as Assistant Manager.^[15] Morton under Irons command went 10 games at the start of the 2008–2009 season before finally winning a game at home to Clyde, and as such were sitting bottom of the First Division. However, due to all the sides being fairly evenly matched they weren't that far adrift from the rest of the teams.

Despite their poor start to the season, Morton rallied and in spite of a terrible end to the season (losing the final four games), Morton finished sixth in the table (an improvement on the previous season's eighth place).

[edit] Colours

The team's home strip is traditionally a blue and white hooped shirt with white shorts and white socks, though season 2006–2007 saw the team playing a blue and white striped shirt with white shorts and blue socks. Short-lived yet distinctive designs have been used over the years, including sky blue and white stripes in the style of the Argentine national team and even a blue Morton tartan. The away strip tends to vary much more; for the 2003–2004 season it was an all yellow outfit, changing in 2004–2005 to all white, which in turn became the 3rd team strip in 2005–2006, with the special re-issue of the blue Morton tartan strip. The sponsor's logo on the strip is that of Millions, a brand owned by the Club Chairman's confectionery concern, Golden Casket (Greenock) Ltd.^[16]

[edit] Stadium

Their stadium is Cappielow Park in Greenock. Cappielow's etymology is allegedly of Scandinavian origin, although details of this are sketchy. It has been home to the club since the early part of the 20th century. Refurbishment has recently been completed, and presently the capacity is around 11,000, with 5,741 of these being seated. The area behind the western goal is known as the Wee Dublin end, which contains non-backed bench seating, converted from the old terracing that once stood there. The main stand contains plastic bucket seating to replace the old wooden benches that were a fixture of the ground until the late 1990s. The "Cowshed lies to the north of the pitch; formerly a fully terraced arena for both home and away supporters (complete with segregation fence down the middle), it is now for home supporters only, with much of the frontal terracing removed, and plastic bucket seats occupying its place. Behind the eastern goal is the "Sinclair Street" end, with uncovered terracing. In December 2008, Morton purchased the Reid Kerr sponsored East stand from St. Mirren for £50,000, to improve the away end at Cappielow.^[17]

[edit] Rivalry

The club has a fierce local rivalry with St. Mirren from nearby Paisley although the Love Street side's original derby rivals were fellow Paisley senior side Abercorn^[18], who went bankrupt in the 1920s, while Morton's were Port Glasgow Athletic, who ceased running a senior team in the Scottish League in 1912. Port Glasgow Athletic even shared Morton's Cappielow ground from 1917 until 1921 when the needs of the war saw their ground compulsorily purchased for housing for the local shipyards.

[edit] Other Rivalries

Morton have also had a traditional, although smaller, rivalry with Kilmarnock although this has diminished in recent years due to Killie's long stay in the SPL and Morton's stay in the lower divisions. Although more recent rivalries have developed with Airdrie United (due, in part, to a Morton fan, Chic Kavanagh, running the line for a game after the referee got injured.^[19]) and Dumbarton and Ayr United who, like Morton, don't have their traditional local rival to play in recent years. To an even smaller extent Partick Thistle and Peterhead matches have shown to be important to fans of both sides.

[edit] Trivia

• Coincidently, Millwall F.C. were founded by the dock workers of J.T. Morton in Millwall in the on the Isle of Dogs in 1885. James Morton was himself from Greenock and created 'Millwall Rovers' in a similar guise to Morton F.C. Furthermore, both locations share a once proud history of being great dockyards.^[20]
• A group of Italian Lega Pro Prima Divisione (formerly Serie C1, until 2008) club Reggiana's fans travelled over to Scotland to watch Morton.^[21] The first time in the 2006–07 season, for the home match vs. Cowdenbeath, and the second time, a season later, for the very important match, again played at Cappielow Park, vs. Stirling Albion.
• Morton have never been promoted without being league champions since league reconstruction around the time of Second World War.^[22]

[edit] Honours

• Scottish Cup
  • winners: 1921–1922
  • runners-up: 1947–1948

• Scottish League Cup
  • runners-up: 1963–1964

• Scottish Challenge Cup
  • runners-up: 1992–1993

• Scottish Premier Division
  • runners-up: 1916–1917²
  • third placed: 1915–1916², 1918–1919²

• Scottish First Division
  • champions: 1949–1950¹, 1963–1964¹, 1966–1967¹, 1977–1978, 1983–1984, 1986–1987
  • runners-up: 1899–1900¹, 1928–1929¹, 1936–1937¹
  • third placed: 1897–1898¹, 1935–1936¹, 1961–1962¹, 1962–1963¹, 1995–1996

• Scottish Second Division
  • champions: 1994–1995, 2006–2007
  • runners-up: 2005–2006
  • third placed: 2004–2005

• Scottish Third Division
  • champions: 2002–2003

• Renfrewshire Cup
  • champions: 51 times

• Great War Shield
  • champions: 1914

¹ Known as Division II at that time
² Known as Division I at that time

[edit] National Player Honours

• 2002–2003 - Alex Williams (SPFA Third Division Player of the Year)
• 1994–1995 - Derek McInnes (SPFA Second Division Player of the Year)
• 1984–1985 - Jim Duffy (SPFA Players' Player of the Year)
• 1978–1979 - Andy Ritchie (SFWA Footballer of the Year)

[edit] Records

• Best league position - 2nd in First Division (Old) (1916–1917)
• Best Scottish Cup performance - winners (1921–1922)
• Best League Cup performance - runners-up (1963–1964)
• Best Challenge Cup performance - runners-up (1992–1993)
• Victory - 11–0 v Carfin Shamrock (1886)
• Defeat - 1–10 v Port Glasgow Athletic (1894), St. Bernard's (1933)
• Home attendance - 23,500 v Celtic (1922)
• Goals in one season - Allan McGraw (58 in 1963–1964)
• Most league appearances - Derek Collins (534)
• Most league goals - Allan McGraw (117)

[edit] Current squad

As of 18 May 2009

No. Position Player GK Kieran Cannon GK Kevin Cuthbert GK Ryan McWilliams GK Colin Stewart DF Stewart Greacen (captain) DF Ryan Harding DF David MacGregor DF Allan McManus DF Dominic Shimmin DF Alex Walker MF Kevin Finlayson

No. Position Player MF Allan Jenkins MF Neil MacFarlane MF Steven Masterton MF Jim McAlister MF Ryan McGuffie MF Carlo Monti MF Erik Paartalu FW James Grady FW Brian Graham FW Iain Russell FW Brian Wake FW Peter Weatherson

*Note: Squad numbers are not used by the Scottish Football League

Cuthbert Walker Greacen McManus McAlister McGuffie Masterton Finlayson Monti Weatherson Russell

Morton's starting XI on 9 May 2009, which lost 0–2 in the final home game against Ross County

[edit] Appearances (current squad)