Greenock Morton F.C.
|
|
Template:Football club infobox
Greenock Morton Football Club are an Association football club, whose first team currently plays in the Bell's Scottish Football League Second Division. The club was founded in 1874, making it among the most venerable of senior Scottish clubs.
Greenock Morton Football Club are popularly known as Morton F.C. - a tradition which predates 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, from Paisley.
The team's home strip is of archaic design; a blue and white hooped shirt, and shorts with the same colours. Short-lived yet distinctive designs have been used over the years, including sky blue and white stripes and even a blue Morton tartan. The away strip tends to vary much more; for the 2003/04 season it was an all yellow outfit, changing in 2004/05 to all white. The sponsor's logo that graces the strip is that of Millions, a Scottish candy produced by the club chairman's confectionery concern, Golden Casket Ltd.
Cappielow.JPG
Their stadium is Cappielow Park in Greenock. Cappielow's etymology is allegedly of Scandinavian origin, although details of this are sketchy at best. 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 the domain of home supporters only, with much of the frontal terracing removed, with plastic bucket seats occupying its place. Behind the eastern goal is the unimaginatively named "Sinclair Street" end, with uncovered terracing.
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. The club's financial worries continued to affect its progress on-the-field, as the team struggled to adapt to life in the Second Division. A 4-0 defeat at Queen of the South on April 27, 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. During the season, the club's financial season gradually eased, and the team discovered new found 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 time of asking.
In the 2003-04 season, chairman Douglas Rae appointed John "Cowboy" McCormack, previously manager of Queen's Park[1] (http://www.queensparkfc.co.uk). McCormack oversaw a spirited start to the season, only for the team to fall away after the turn of the year, and finish in 4th place; well outside the promotion places. Jim McInally was announced as his successor, and hopes remain high among Morton fans that he can restore the team to the higher echelons of Scottish football.
Famous players of the past include Andy Ritchie, Jimmy Cowan and Joe Jordan.
External links
- Official Website: http://www.gmfc.net
- MortonUnofficial: http://www.mortonunofficial.net
- Greenock Morton Supporters Online: http://www.go.to/greenockmorton
- TonTastic Media Archive: http://www.tontastic.com
- MortonBug: http://www.mortonbug.8k.com
- GreenockMorton Dot Net: http://www.greenockmorton.net
- Morton-MAD: http://www.morton-mad.co.uk