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Some positive news amongst the chaos, Sam Murdoch is called up to a Scotland under-19s camp. First Morton player to be called up at any age level for almost 10 years. Well done him, very well deserved.

I think the hounding of Dalrada is massively premature. We don't know what the terms of their agreement are and we don't know what demands, if any, they have made. Their only public statements so far have been 100% positive. IF it turns out that they're trying to hold the majority shareholder to ransom then obviously that's a problem but right now we've only heard, officially, from one side. The implication from that side is that they're trying to resolve it, trying to find a middle ground. I believe that Dalrada deserve the chance to demonstrate a similar commitment before they're written off, and that includes their stance - whatever it might be - on board members etc. Frankly speaking though, they're a sponsor. They're not corporate stewards of the club. I don't think they owe a statement. I do think, however, that the GMFC Board owes a statement at this point. The embargo was already a sign that standards were slipping, and this is even more grave than that. They need to clarify the communication lines with the major shareholder of the club - namely, us fans (those of us who are paid up MCT members at least) - and explain why the embargo was swept under the carpet. I want fan ownership to succeed and I want each member of the board to succeed. I don't think there needs to be a statement every time someone coughs at Cappielow. I don't think we need to air dirty laundry in public all the time. But this current situation needs far more clarity than it has, and for me that's down to the GMFC board failing to remember its duty to its major shareholder.

That “statement” is an absolute abomination. First tip is to make things like this as brief as possible to get your point across and maintain the reader’s attention throughout. I say that as I write a massive rant. The only reason I read the whole thing was because it was so comically bad and there are so many holes to be picked in it. I’ll ignore the spelling and grammar. Straight off the bat, “It’s been brought to our attention…” Nothing’s been brought to your attention fellas, you’ve seen some other snotty nosed collection of brats with a similarly inflated sense of their own importance whining about not getting things their way on Instagram, tell it how it is. “The Scottish Ultra scene has risen significantly up and down the country and should be supported and backed instead of classed as a criminal activity.” Why? What good does it actually do? Are these folk helping pensioners across the road? Are they collecting for food banks? (I know some are, but our wee gang certainly aren’t.) Are they doing litter collections in their towns and cities? Or are they running around, hiding their identities and as a result putting fear and uncertainty in the minds of the communities they’re entering or a part of? Is throwing a pyro at a child who is being escorted from the pitch after completing their mascot duties not a criminal activity? ”We have boycotted games due to the unfair punishments on our members…” I’m afraid this requires a bit of context. We’re aware that the club banned seven fans for up to two years, but they quite rightly didn’t comment further. If this group wish to condemn the bans as unjust and garner external support, I’m afraid they have to detail what was so wrong with the club’s course of action and let those who they are trying to convince decide. I’ve seen none of that, just complaints about how this is wrong but not why it’s wrong. Partick v Morton ”The group were targeted with stop and search and hiding in concourses…” They clearly didn’t search them thoroughly enough considering there was plenty pyro lit in that old wooden stand. ”Police Scotland and Partick Thistle stewards made this an extremely unsafe surrounding not just for the group, but also for younger kids who attend matches with families.” I’m sorry but this is absolutely mental, and the worst bit of an already dreadful statement. You threw a pyro at a child! You have no moral high ground here, get off your fucking cross. The home games could all be merged into one daft wee rant in all honesty. The police were driving at high speeds when children were about. Fuck off, if they feel it’s appropriate, they’re allowed to do that. They hit members with batons, too. Any evidence of any bruising been produced? I’d say that’s quite an allegation to make of a public body without concrete evidence to support your claims. Their entrance to the train station was closed off? Their entrance, or everyone’s entrance? Again, if the police think it’s appropriate for public safety, it’s their gift to take these measures. They were outnumbered by police? That’s on you, boys. And to be honest as a tax payer, it pisses me off that you’ve gained such a reputation that the police feel the need to spend so much of our money on people who we’ve witnessed with our own eyes committing criminal acts. That’s said, I’m just not having it that there were 3-4 cops per member of their group. More alllegations of being hit with batons and police turning off body cams is incredible. I’m sure their superiors would have footage up to the point the cameras were turned off and ask questions of exactly what happened to their officers. It just didn’t happen, let’s be honest. I’d also question the timing of this statement. The bans were a few weeks ago now, and we’ve had two games since in which we got good results and were played in front of positive atmosphere’s from a Morton perspective. These guys haven’t been missed. Could it be that there was a high profile incident at the weekend of a group of similarly entitled neds not being allowed into a local derby that has attracted a lot of media attention so this lot are piggy backing onto it? I’m sure none of that wee mob even read this forum and will dismiss the ramblings of miserable old guys like us who don’t understand them, but I’d challenge them to convince us that we’re wrong, and fill in some of the glaring gaps in their account of what’s been happening to them.

Irnbru your bitterness towards MCT knows no bounds. You had your day - move on. Just to add I am not a member of MCT. I responded to the shareholder AGM e-mail, was sent a link and had no problem joining the meeting. My two boys also got send the e-mail but were not able to participate. The issue with some stakeholders missing out however requires to be urgently addressed. Gordon Ritchie appears to be the point of contact and I would hound him to get it resolved. As for the AGM, I am sure when one of the volunteers has a moment they will provide a proper summary. In the meantime my take on it as follows: - The loss in 2021/22 was concerning/alarming but has to a great extent been addressed after MCT took over. The feeling was historically costs were not as closely monitored when people assumed there was always a sugar daddy down the line to bail the club out. - This years accounts, when they are published (after the year-end in May) will show a healthy profit largely due to the cup game with Celtic bringing in over £200k. Even without this 'windfall' the Board are confident the club would break even. - Recent sponsorship deals are crucial to the financial balancing act. If I picked it up correctly, the main sponsor Dalrada provided a 12 month package with the option for a further 5 years. Dalrada require the club to share in their ambition for GMFC to succeed and the Board are optimistic/positive Dalrada will take up the option to exercise the option to extend sponsorship at the end of this season. - The majority of the new sponsorship monies has all gone to the manager to improve the squad hence the additions, contract extensions and loanees in January. - All players contracts have been reviewed updating from a template someone found on the internet to a more bespoke arrangement reflecting the modern world of football. - The Board are aware with success other clubs could come in for the manager and players. The Board have tried their best to protect the Club but accept if the money is right they will not stand in the way of an individual looking to better themselves. It is a difficult balancing act protecting the 'assets' without handing out lengthy and onerous contracts to players who maybe do not ultimately fulfil their potential (my words not the Board). - For the first time I heard people explicitly stating the ambition is not just survival in the league but promotion. Realistically recent results have made a title win more difficult but we should be targeting a play-off place. - Average gates are slowly increasing. - The ongoing ticket and entry farce at Cappielow was fully acknowledged. No quick solution this season but the proposed arrangements in the future should hopefully resolve the issue. - Proposals in hand to improve the fan experience and tidy up Cappielow. The Board are looking at the options for the parcel of land they acquired to do something similar to what Ayr provide in their car park. I believe it is a mix of something for the fans on the ground floor and offices above. - Importantly the proposals to replaces the 'Articles' were passed with only one minor amendment requiring (not optional) the Board to hold an AGM. - The three Board members, in attendance, highlighted they would encourage any fan to come forward for election to the Board if they believe they have something to offer. The Club is now 'ours' and it is up to us to ensure it not just survives but moves forward. I am sure there are aspects of the AGM I have omitted but hopefully the above is an accurate recollection of the main points I recollect.

I think overall the meeting has to be considered a success, largely thanks to Brian Bonar reassuring us regarding any future share issues. I do think though that, yet again, MCT need to address online attendees having their questions ignored in favour of questions in the room. This has been an ongoing issue, and although there is some mitigation because of the venue change and the technical difficulties, there needs to be a bit more structure in these meetings to make sure members attending online have their questions heard. Ahead of the meeting, my main concerns were future GMFC share issues, the club chairman and the credibility of the MCT representatives on the club board. Brian Bonar dialling into the meeting via Zoom was a very welcome development, as he allayed the fears many supporters had that Dalrada may have nefarious intentions regarding the running of the club and their representation in the boardroom. I do think however, the fact that Mr Bonar convinced more people within five minutes than the two documents and video released by MCT/GMFC directors, is rather telling of how poorly the proposal was relayed to the membership. The sheer volume and range of questions, along with the turnout at the meeting, highlighted how many supporters did not feel they were in a position to make an informed decision. This underlines just how lacklustre the presentation of the proposal was. Both the club and MCT need to learn from this and quickly. This is underlined by the fact that GMFC/MCT refused point blank to release the proposed agreement, citing commercial confidentiality as the reason for this refusal. Brian Bonar then refuted this outright, saying that he’d make the agreement available to anyone who wished to view it. Again, this gives little confidence in the capabilities of those negotiating and communicating to the membership on behalf of MCT. For all Brian Bonar’s very charming performance at the meeting did reassure me that future GMFC share issues would not be a concern, the opposite could be said of the performance of the club chairman. I felt Laird presented in an incredibly arrogant and self aggrandising manner. Given his role in hiding a transfer embargo from the club’s majority shareholders, I’d assert that Dalrada may be the only stakeholder in the club that are pleased to see Laird continue in this role. The complete lack of transparency regarding the links to his son’s football coaching and analysis company seems to be an issue that has not been answered, given his complete denial of any knowledge of this in the FAQ document. I for one am very concerned that our club chairman has never been subject to the SFA’s fit and proper assessment for club directors, and the motivations behind the decision not to enlist him for these assessments. Regardless of the outcome of the vote, this is incredibly concerning and something I feel fans deserve answered definitely, rather than the chairman consistently trying to dodge this issue. With John Laird confessing that the transfer embargo is still an ongoing matter at the EGM, this brings me to the subject of our MCT representatives. For all both Robinson and Barr seemed to offer rather mealy mouthed apologies for their role in this, my position is that the damage has already been done. The confidence of the membership is absolutely vital to MCT, and for such an egregious breach of trust to be willingly conducted by both these individuals, and the knock on effect this caused within the MCT board, is risible. I'd also remind the membership that this is not the first time Graham Barr has wheeled out the 'learn lessons and do better next time' line. MCT need a clear plan on how they plan to re-establish the trust of the membership. I’m incredibly pleased that Dalrada’s involvement in Greenock Morton will continue, and that certainty can be provided to Dougie Imrie as quickly as possible to allow our squad building to commence. That doesn’t paint the whole picture however, and I think both boards must be willing to reflect on how poorly they have performed over the last few months. We need an MCT that thrives and continually pushes the club forward, and the behaviour of some of our representatives in recent times has rocked the organisation to its foundations. I'm glad Dalrada are on board, but we must do better.

Top 3 of our most convincing performances this season, the scoreline massively flattered an away outfit that scored one of their two chances in the entire game. Rudden's goal should have been a mere footnote when at least 3 goals up already, but they created nothing afterwards either. No failures today and a lot of very good performances, but I'd like to highlight the defensive unit as a whole. Boyes and Delaney have had some stick recently but both were excellent today, with Boyes even creating good chances with his distribution. While we've had some better individual defenders, I think our current back four, with Mullen as well as Wilson to come back too is the most balanced and effective defence I've seen. The credit also has to go to the overall standard of coaching. For us to be hitting the 40 point mark and being arithmetically secure from 10th with 7 fucking games to play is yet another outrageous turnaround given the losses and difficult transition we experienced in the summer. The tactical organisation of this squad is superb and three straight wins without a fit striker couldn't demonstrate that more clearly.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGeF0oWMcvp/?igsh=ZTdrd3ZqazQ0cnFl

Since 2012, Rangers have put the names of every single person who put their hand in their pocket to save their club on every kit.

As a club we are currently a complete shambles and the responsibility for this falls fully on Laird, the GMFC Board and MCT Board. It is shameful that so many who are responsible for this failing in governance and responsibility to shareholders, MCT members and fans choose to continue to hide in the shadows - their only interest appears to be self-preservation and not what is in the best interests of the Club. We are a fan-owned Club but this last season has confirmed this means nothing to those in charge - we are being taken for fools. Whether intentional or unintentional this response to the many questions out there is contradictory and incomplete. Nothing has changed - MCT members are being invited to vote with a gun to their heads. I suspect the motion will pass due to a combination of apathy and fear. I don't blame anyone who votes in favour of the resolution but this is not what we were promised as a fan owned club. In the circumstances, you cannot blame the manager and players looking elsewhere as who in their right minds would want to be part of this shitshow.

I've just submitted this rather large list of questions to MCT. I'm assuming they will collate questions and answer them at the meeting. Dalrada: Should Dalrada continue their history of missed/late payments to GMFC, what protections are GMFC implementing to protect the club’s financial wellbeing? If Dalrada miss or default on payment(s), will the number of Dalrada board members on the GMFC board be reduced? If not, why not? What failsafe measures have MCT discussed should the proposal be rejected by the membership? Why, and by who, was it decided that a written summary of the proposed agreement sent to the membership, rather than the proposed deal in its entirety? Will a full version of the agreement (redacted where necessary to protect sensitive data) be sent to the membership? If not, why not? It is stated within the email that the agreement, should it be successful, will be reviewed in twelve months time. Given the proportion of the club’s income that comes from Dalrada, could this review begin in February 2026 instead, with the aim of having a final decision by May 2026 instead? Whilst we cannot guarantee which league we would be playing in for the following season, and some additional caveats may need to be inserted into any proposed agreement, this would give the men’s first team manager a more definitive idea of the budget for the season ahead, allowing squad building to begin as soon as possible. GMFC Chairman: Is or has John Laird ever been a member of MCT? Has John Laird invested any money in the Club or MCT? Has John Laird been registered as a director of GMFC with Companies House? If not, why not? Over the last twelve months, how many MCT board meetings has John Laird attended? Does John Laird currently have any financial interest in any footballing companies, including coaching, scouting and agency organisations? If so, what mechanisms have the GMFC board put in place to prevent conflicts of interest from arising? If there are none, why is this the case? What mechanisms are in place to allow the MCT membership, the clubs owners, to remove a Chairman should they be unhappy with their leadership? MCT Reps on the GMFC Board: Given a clear failure in communication and governance, and a clear breach of the memberships’ trust by both Graham Barr and Sam Robinson, what is the justification for the interim MCT board being ‘happy’ for both named individuals to continue in their role? What is the justification for MCT directors who have previously resigned from their posts making such an important decision without allowing a vote of the membership to inform their decision? Have Graham Barr or Sam Robinson offered any explanation or apology for their actions in hiding vital information from both the club’s owners and the men’s first team manager? What assurances have the interim board sought from Graham and Sam regarding their future conduct and responsibilities towards all MCT members? What are the mechanisms by which MCT members can remove representatives should their conduct fall below an acceptable standard? Given recent developments, and the subsequent impact upon the trust the fanbase have in MCT as an organisation, and the representation the membership have on the GMFC board, would this be a prudent opportunity to start recording minutes from discussions held at MCT and GMFC board meetings? Obviously, certain information would need to be redacted, but this could go a long way to improving the transparency and integrity of our elected representatives. If this is not possible, why not?

Hopefully everyone who was said the sky was falling because we didn't have a full squad two weeks ago feels suitably daft. People were wanting "statements" to clarify the budget.

NOPE! just not having that and disappointed that no one else has flagged this up. Maybe in your Texas hick town, but not here. I have been in and out of various hospitals in Larbert and Glasgow over the last few months and i can assure you that the nurses and indeed any hospital staff I have encountered have been absolutely superb and the treatment from the NHS in general has been outstanding.

The other spin off is that it allows the fans to identify a bit more with the players. The only positive impression I had about any of them was from a couple of pals that are also mates with Lewis Strapp. Other than that my impression a couple of months ago came from Lithgow and Muirhead cupping their ears to us. It’s not terribly important to a miserable old bastard like myself, but I think it can only be a good thing if it’s allowing younger fans to identify with their personalities and to see them having a laugh. I’ve never actually seen him name checked on the progress in terms of social media interaction, so it’s about time the lad Gareth got a well deserved pat on the back for his hard work. Also really pleasing to see Open Goal turning up at Cappielow today- again, not my favourites, but they’ve got a bloody big following, so a bit of nationwide exposure can only be a good thing.

I get it, but we’d also moan like fuck if they never put them on sale. I’ll get one as usual. You all will too. And we’ll be miserable about it. We go again.

If those drafting the proposal are to be taken at their word that they truly only have the best intentions for the club and fanbase, a ‘no’ vote should not represent an immediate end of their interest. People with a genuine desire to improve things for the club and the community would respond by trying to ascertain why the vote didn’t go in their favour and formulate a series of amendments to get the deal over the line. There should be no room for an “offer” to be made in a strong armed manner that suggests the ownership can either take it or get stuffed.

https://gmfc.net/an-update-on-recent-supporter-behaviour-at-matches/ Good, measured statement from the club. Long story short, seven people hit with two-year banning orders, and the next Partick game is Category A, meaning we're on the hook for police costs. I am glad the club pointed out it's not just Morton at fault here but Partick and other clubs too, but our job's to keep our own house in order and the seven bans are a good start.

Great, isn’t it? I couldn’t have imagined when walking out of the ground that glorious day in April 2019 just how things would have gone from bad to so much worse for them to the extent that they’re realistically looking at a fourth year in that division, with another monied club coming up from League Two and ready to storm past them towards next year’s title. Even when you consider how much of a shit show we’ve been for most of those intervening years, the Falkirk soap opera’s been fantastic viewing to soften the blow. There’s always someone worse off than yourself, and I for one couldn’t have cherry picked a bigger shower of bastards for that fate to befall. Get it up them.

"My primary motivation for returning was to help ensure the club's financial viability in the Championship. I believe we've achieved that goal." Ah yes, surely the bronze statue awaits on Sinclair Street for our selfless hero upon stepping down. Except that it is, as usual, self-serving bollocks of course. Acting with the primary aim stated (leaving aside the 'viability' of a model now dependent to a larger annual benefactor that Douglas Rae, so what is meant is 'fullll-time futba') would be a potentially valid excuse for MCT directors who were also on the GMFC board. We could reject that claim on their part too, but the conflict of serving two masters at once os clear. But last time I checked, Stuart Duncan was not sitting on the GMFC board in any capacity. There was no competing source of authority - the only role that Duncan had was as a member of the MCT board. Which raises some rather unfortunate questions for our erstwhile hero: 1) With what legitimate mandate did you act against the interests of the MCT membership you were elected to represent? When did you publicly state your prioritisation of 'fullll time futba' over the interests of the majority stakeholders in GMFC for full transparency and accountability, and when did you win sufficient support for that agenda? I don't recall that being on any candidate biography. 2) With what legitimacy at all did you act after both i) resigning from the MCT board in a tantrum and ii) canvassing support for an EGM against the remainimg board membership - an EGM that was conveniently discarded 0.4 seconds after you were 'co-opted' onto the interim MCT board? So no, I don't think there'll be a bronze statue forthcoming at all. If there is one lesson that new candidates should be embracing from this farcical last 6 months, it is that MCT board members must uphold a duty of fair representation and accountability towards the membership. If we continue to have MCT directors who get elected by default and then just run their own agenda, then MCT as an organisation will join GMST (see also Duncan, Stuart) in being a failed rump entity within 10 years.

A lengthy post about…not much. Sorry. In the spirit of transparency and good communication, my name is Craig and I sometimes do some filming for the club and Morton in the Community. With all the recent nonsense I reached out to the GMFC board members a few days ago through an email to Dale to offer them the chance to do quick interviews to explain their position on the upcoming vote and why, as well as hopefully explaining some of their recent actions. I also emailed coms@MCT with the same offer, and Graham McLennan and through him those who have recently stepped away. I also said in all my communications that I would share everything (hence this). In the past I had a few dealings with Graham McLennan and a few texts messages with Graham Barr while I was doing ‘Ton TV match days during lockdown. I don’t know any of the others. The only 2 who got back to me were McLennan and Barr. McLennan was open to the idea as he felt fans should have as much information as possible pre-vote. Graham Barr took the time to get in touch, but was reluctant as he was worried that more “tit for tat stuff and sharing is just going to keep the mess going…” but was happy to speak to me on the phone. I replied that not sharing stuff seemed to have led us to this mess and speaking to me on the phone would only add to the “I’ve heard that…”etc etc on places like this forum. He said he was “keen to speak but cautious” adding “I’m certainly open to transparency ahead of the meeting and hope the FAQs will go along way to providing more depth to the situation” But in the end it looks like it isn’t happening and I thanked him for getting back to me. Graham McLennan on hearing that he was the only person so far willing to do an interview on camera decided that it might not be a great idea if it was just him, looking more like propaganda rather than just one point of view among others. I don’t really have a platform and I’m no investigative journalist, so I guess I’m not surprised that the idea of me and my camera didn’t appeal. But as many of us on here have scratched our heads wondering if we should do more as MCT members it was the only thing I could think of. Anyone who is at all bothered can look back at my posts on here to get my personal opinion on things as they currently stand, but I honestly offered this up with an open mind to try and give all involved a chance to clear the air and help inform our judgement. My real bias working in video production, is that watching videos makes things easier to digest rather than lengthy written statements (or bloody posts like this!) If I had an agenda it was simply to try and help with all this, and help ensure that after over 45 years of standing in the cowshed (with or without the sun-roof) that I could look forward to continuing to do so far in the future. The last time I tried to do anything vaguely similar is when MCT were struggling to get things going not long after they took over at the club, I just wanted to do something positive as the whole atmosphere was fairly toxic. It turned out to be the day Gus MacPherson was sacked when I grabbed a hold of Andy Ritchie who kindly gave me this piece to camera. It all still rings true to me which is no surprise as Andy always speaks so well…

The sense of entitlement to special treatment and expectation of fawning gratitude from these ultra groups seems to be the same at every club. You're getting out your tits and hitting a drum lads, not working as volunteers for the benefit of other fans.

MCT still generates some really weird, overly negative reactions. 3 years of fan ownership has delivered 3 years of championship football and a huge financial turnaround. That already counts as success for a provincial club at this level, no matter what happens next. No ownership model will make us immune to losing players or getting relegated. It's not perfect, but it's a lot better than it was under the Raes. Its also a lot better than the alternative (which was, and still is, nothing).

I want Strapp to do well and have a good career but if I'm being asked to sympathize with the treatment of a pure gallus local lad who we let train here when he wasn't with the club, or support the best manager we've had in our lifetime, I'm picking Imrie every time and twice on Sundays.

Tedious dirge, but fair play to Dunning for not being bored into submission.

It’s such a tiny thing but was really pleased to see this pop up on my phone when I got home from Kelty - we really have got our act together now. Working with Fanbase has been a great decision from the club and has made it much easier to get tickets home and away.

Never thought I'd be saying this but as soon as I clear some personal debts I'll be signing up. I had little faith in the fan ownership model but MCT are proving me wrong after an indifferent start. Well done to all involved.

Their capitulation as a club is nothing short of magnificent. Truly magnificent. Horrible, horrible bastards.

Taking parts especially worthy of comment here: This does not address the fundamental point here. The big issue around this is not how confident GMFC or MCT are that Dalrada will keep up with their scheduled payments, but what happens if they fail to do so. This is critically important and we have absolutely no information on it. We all already know there'll be a contract, we need to know what that contract actually enforces. Without a guarantee that there is some form of restitution for the club if Dalrada default (again), it's impossible to support this. Following on from the above, what on earth does "not been missed as such" mean? Did they default on payments or didn't they? Was the GMFC AGM misled when a director of the club said there that Dalrada had failed to keep up with payments? Was there no contractual schedule? If we've actually signed up to a sponsorship deal without one, it really speaks volumes for the excellent governance of those existing board members who are being kept in place as part of a deal to bring us more efficient governance! On the plus side, a six month deadline to bring another deal to the table is positive and means this farce won't be repeated next season in the event of a yes vote, though with that in mind the lack of explanation of why we're doing this in May just now rather than in December or January is noted. This is the single most important question in the whole document, and as covered by others already that isn't an answer. We need an absolutely concrete yes to this question rather than "expected". Which is why, even if it's deemed inappropriate due to commercial sensitivity to release the contract in full (why that couldn't be done with some details redacted I don't know), for this particular detail we should have the actual wording of the relevant sections of the contract, in full and unredacted. We need to know that allowing a third party influence over the board for 12 months in return for 12 months investment doesn't constitute handing them control of the board forever even if the investment stops, without seeing that wording we have no way of knowing we're not doing that and this FAQ has not provided any reassurance whatsoever on that point. For now let's take the specific issue we have with Barr and Robinson out of this. What does "Dalrada have only asked" mean? Does that mean something to this effect will be in the contract? That any removal has to be agreed by the rest of the GMFC board and has to be for a 'solid business reason'? Who decides what constitutes a 'solid business reason'? So if for any reason the MCT membership put forward a motion of no confidence in one of the MCT representatives, then even in the hypothetical scenario that that confidence vote sees 99.9% of the MCT membership go against that MCT rep, if the rest of the non-MCT GMFC board members disagree with that decision, or Dalrada feel it's not a solid business reason, then that individual either stays on the board or Dalrada walk? Will it be written into the agreement that Dalrada can walk away and abandon their payments unilaterally if the MCT membership and/or MCT board force changes in the MCT representatives? This is why we need to see the actual text of the agreement, to make it crystal clear that that absolutely fucking outrageous suggestion isn't in it. I'm genuinely furious at the idea the rest of the GMFC board and Dalrada would be given a veto like that. Far from leaving the accountability of MCT representatives on the GMFC board unchanged, it would mean there is literally no accountability whatsoever and leave both the MCT membership and MCT board completely powerless to influence who their representatives are. If we're going to accept having our control of the board diluted then we need to actually have the power to choose our representatives for the seats we do have. This needs urgent clarification, and if my interpretation above is indeed the case then that is an utter disgrace. Yeah, we've already had the blatant lie about the motivations of the MCT representatives two weeks ago, piling more deceit on top of their initial dishonest silence. They have also in reality not expressed regret or far less had the decency or humility to apologise for their behaviour. The pertinent facts of the matter are that they both knew about the embargo on 17 March and sat on it for six weeks. Those facts were confirmed by the joint statement of 13 May, a statement which was largely written to defend them. They have already aired their side of the story in that statement, and when given that opportunity they chose to tell a risible lie about not derailing a playoff challenge, when the manager of the first team was also being kept in the dark, because the actual reason is that they thought they could get away with no one ever knowing about the gross incompetence on their watch if it was fixed quickly. I'll not put the image of the whole what caused the FIFA embargo answer here, but there are still gaping holes in that (which tbf should be for GMFC to account for, preferably in a statement announcing the departures of those responsible, rather than MCT). Regardless of the underlying issues that arose through the initial registration of the signing, there have been extremely specific allegations made about the club not monitoring any contact from governing bodies for 8 months, then being made aware of contact from FIFA in November, with the embargo not being enforced until March. The suggestion that the club were trying really hard to contact FIFA but just got stonewalled with an insistence on them sending details to the wrong email address - for four months - is eyebrow raising. If there's a real intention to improve governance, then GMFC addressing those claims is necessary. The word 'advisory' is used an awful lot in the John Laird section. If he's just there as an advisory figure, for strategic support, with no formal authority or responsibilities, then why is he the Chair of the Club (not of the GMFC board, such a significant distinction) rather than remaining as an unofficial advisor? And why then, with his apparent lack of independent authority, with all decisions being taken by the board, was he the one who travelled alone for negotiations with Dalrada? If his role is seemingly so lacking in any real influence, why is it a condition of the proposal that he remains in place? That entire section provides more questions than answers. This doesn't answer the question.

An alternative story and criticism of the club is out there in terms of the transfer embargo. And it makes their washing their hands of any blame look awful. There needs to be acknowledgment that mistakes were made and relationships have been poor. The story about Millen has been out for a long time now, but we're still in the dark about it. Indeed, I heard that even Imrie was in the dark about it when it happened. If they didn't want the story to filter out in this way then they shouldn't have gone about things the way they did. We're at a point when we at least need some clarity. These are two areas where under other circumstances things maybe could be swept under the carpet, and there are others (what happened with catering being one), but when I'm being asked to make a really important decision I need to know a little bit more about what's been going on. They're doing this at a really vital moment for planning for next season, and want me to make a really important decision, but I don't know much about Laird whatsoever. Why is the chairman of the club always do silent? I don't even fully understand why he's chairman, or what he bringing to the role. Why are the directors on the board so silent? I think what gets me most is the leak which started this thread. When self interest was at stake, people were happy to anonymously leak information. They were happy to criticise what others were doing without taking any criticism upon themselves. Above all else, I'm being asked to trust people who don't seem to be willing to help me get to know them better. I want to know more about Laird, his vision for the club, what he wants to do. I want to hear from Barr and Robinson. I want to know who Gourdie is. I want some humility over the FIFA situation. I want at least a tiny bit of transparency over the Millen situation. I want to know how the pie stall queues have managed to triple in length. I want to know why I should believe that the current club board are the best placed people to lead the club forward. The point I'm trying to make is that it is possible to convince me - I have no grudges, or personal issues - but I'm lacking reasons to trust them. The joint statement made it seem like only others had ever done anything wrong, that the only issues came from people at MCT who didn't know what they were doing or overstepped the mark, but it's hard to trust those who make out like they've never made mistakes. Mistakes were made with the FIFA issue. Start with a proper apology for that and then let us get to know the club board members a bit better. A little bit of humility can go a long way.

You are fully entitled to your view, but there are two points that require challenging: 1) The transfer embargo demonstrates that MCT does not have "total control" to relinquish. This is worth correcting because it is also the false choice peddled by the lackey Interim Board about this proposal: 'fan run' v 'fan owned'. At no point since taking ownership have MCT members demanded the right to run the club - there has been no public voting on sacking managers or setting wage budgets, all the decisions have been delegated to GMFC's board and the paid backroom staff. In addition, MCT never exercised full control of the GMFC board - it was always a mixture of directors from different backgrounds. Right now, MCT has no effective representation at all because its delegates on said board have gone rogue and are serving another master. The transfer embargo was not disclosed by the club to its 90% owner - in what other business relationship would that be acceptable? The issue then is not Dalrada's smart professionals taking over from MCT amateurs. It is actually about having the real and legal owners of the club - its fanbase, through MCT - exercising basic scrutiny over a club that becomes transparent in its decision-making. The current proposal does not provide for this - quite the opposite, in fact - and so at a minimum should be amended: • MCT should retain at least 50% representation on the club board. • The two rogue reps cannot be retained under MCT's official standard. If Dalrada want to take ownership of them, then fine. Ideally: • The fundamental lack of transparency should also be addressed by providing minutes for board meetings to MCT (and any other significant partner), with the MCT board entitled to summarise these for wider publication. 2) If the sponsor wishes to install people with competence, then which of the current board members and/or paid staff will be getting their jotters for the transfer embargo farce, or its pathetic cover-up? None of Dalrada's mates, seemingly, so what about the chairman or the chief executive? The issue with a lack of competence does not stem from fan ownership or MCT having representation on the club board. It stems from the collective decision-making of said board as well as the individual actions of club executives and paid backroom staff. When two of said board members were hauled out for failing in their designated responsibility to MCT, Dalrada threw a tantrum to keep them on the club board - actions speak louder than words when it comes to ensuring competence.

Gordon has put his name to his posts - will you do the same when making allegations about him? Regardless of how true or otherwise your allegations are, they do not address either the situation we currently face, or any of the points he raised so forgive me for thinking it is coming across as whataboutery & a cheap attempt to discredit one of the only people who appear at this stage to be sharing information with the fans in good faith.

I asked the MCT board to permit some time for a counter argument to this proposal to be submitted. My request was not even acknowledged. We are racing headlong into a situation where members lose control of the club due to the MCT board blindly accepting the word of their mates on the GMFC board. I know from my time on the board that there is more going on than we are being told, but due to confidentiality laws I cannot discuss these things publicly (Stuart Duncan take note) but in my resignation email in March 2024 I warned that Laird was determined to grab the club from MCT ownership. One thing I can say, and which I announced at an AGM, is that the original deal with Dalrada was for 6 years. I don’t know if someone renegotiated that deal (and, if so, why) but there is no mention of that in the propoganda distributed by the MCT board. At the present time, I am ashamed to be associated with MCT and a series of directors who have no idea how to properly run a company. Finally, many thanks to those posters who wished me well in my recovery from health issues.

Former GMFC and MCT director Gordon Ritchie has asked me to post the following statement on his behalf - If you are named in this statement and wish the right to reply, please contact me directly. Thanks, Dean.

Vale of Clyde have permanently banned their young team after their “derby” with Perershill at the weekend (it’s not a derby, two teams from the opposite end of the city whose weans have manufactured a rivalry because they both like a pyro). Now, under normal circumstances, we may be questioning what could possibly be going on that forced them into such drastic action, but fear not. Step forward Scottish football’s favourite overgrown ned with a selfie stick, Mr Blair McNally… I’m reluctant to share his video and indirectly line his pockets, but think it’s necessary to illustrate what this fella’s influence on kids is. I asked Dale at one of those supporters’ meetings a couple of months ago about Morton’s stance on him and he said that there’s no way he’d get press accreditation for Cappielow. But clubs up and down the pyramid should really be putting a stop to this nonsense by banning him completely. I get the need for publicity, but what he brings to them isn’t positive in the way the other guy, Sam North’s films are. Banning kids who can’t behave is a reasonable step, but looking towards the root cause of the problem could prevent things like this before they become an issue. And he certainly shouldn’t be able to make a living off of this.

On one hand we have a steady match-going crowd, an ever-increasing MCT membership, a positive balance sheet, 3 mid-table seasons in the Championship, no obstacles to outside investment (see - Dalrada), tempered with some short-term negatives caused by a roaster of a GM and a dud of a season on the park (following on from a reasonably exciting one). On the other hand, we have a handful of posters on here and Facebook who have been presenting the same miserable points about terminal doom and personal apathy for literally years now (see page 1 of the MCT updates thread for reference). My own point of view is that the Rae family, Hugh Scott, Alan Lithgow and a successful period in the 70s/80s aren't relevant to the future of the club. Framing every discussion on ownership around them is a waste of time.

You really need to dry your eyes on this. Retro shirts are rarely, if ever, exact replicas of the originals. Mine haven’t arrived yet, but having seen Dean’s on Saturday, if you’re going to complain about the poor printed quality, the badge is the same quality as the one I had in the nineties. What do you want? Quality or accuracy? You can’t have both. Maybe you feel you’ve got neither but the quality is definitely consistent with the shirts of the time. Stamping your feet and demanding a refund over tiny little inaccuracies is pathetic.

I'd like to petition the moderators to add this as an emoji:

I’m surprised to see no mention of the decision not to appoint a chairman to the board, but to take turns in who has the deciding vote at boardroom level- what an absolute farce. I’ve made it clear in the last few months that I’m concerned about the lack of accountability in the running of the club, and this policy goes no way in easing those concerns. A display of leadership and a preparation to be held individually accountable when things go to shit would go some way to easing those concerns, but am I surprised by the musical chairs policy? Nope, not in the slightest. This strikes me as the board operating a protection racket to look after themselves. The younger guys have something nice for a CV and the old guard can tell their acquaintances up the golf club/bowling club/lodge that they’re the director of a football club to impress them, whilst not actually having to face up to the rank and file- unless of course the questions are collated and vetted by the SLO, and the tricky ones filed away in the nearest bin. It is of course no surprise that the person I believe to be the main organ grinder; Mr. Ritchie, was nowhere to be seen on the video- the cynic in me would suggest a Warren Hawke-style holiday or sickie from him when the club’s AGM comes around. We’re more likely to see Lord Lucan crossing into the box for Maddie McCann to head in the winner at Hampden in May than we are to get answers off of him. There’s been a lot of hilarity about the farcical events at Falkirk’s Q&A the other week, but let’s not kid ourselves, Morton’s current board simply would not put themselves in the position to be lambasted by their support the way the Falkirk lot did. Yes, they came out of it looking foolish, but at the moment, our own board are coming across as self-serving cowards who aren’t prepared to take the rough with the smooth. I’m not sure what’s worse.

To answer Piehutt’s point about my labelling of Gordon Ritchie as arrogant, I’m not going to kid on I’m not privy to the odd wee titbit of information from mates, but it’s up to them to share it with the wider public if they feel the need to. That said, I’ve already alluded on this thread to what I believe to be his quite appalling treatment of Christopher Dodds at Montrose in May, when he apparently threatened to withdraw all his media privileges as a result of Christopher’s criticisms of Captain Calamity Sean McGinty the previous week. On a number of levels, this is just wrong. There’s been a big story about Rangers charging the media £25,000 a season for access and how this is their way of controlling negative output. I fail to see a difference here, other than scale. Do we really want to see the Tele being forced into avoiding criticism for fear of being banned? I’m sorry, but unlike the Rangers support, who seem to see criticism as a personal slight, rather than necessary on occasion, I want to see my club taken to task when things go wrong. It also begs the question as to whether Roger Graham or Jonathan Mitchell, two experienced journalists who had built up a bit of currency in their roles would have been treated in such a way. If not, I’d suggest this behaviour is tantamount to the bullying of a young boy at the early stages of his career, and is quite frankly shameful. I didn’t like a lot of things that the Raes did in their twenty years at the helm, and made my opinions known at the time. But ultimately, it was their club and if I wasn’t happy, nobody was forcing me to support the club. A fan owned club though, should in my opinion hold itself to higher standards as they are responsible to every one of their members and supporters- the people whose money has put them in the position they occupy. I was a bit late to the party when joining MCT as I initially had my misgivings, but I certainly don’t recall being asked to vote for Gordon Ritchie. Others may have been, before I joined up, but in the spirit of democracy, I’d urge everyone to ensure he’s not given another spell in office at either MCT or Morton themselves.

Cadden scores hat-trick for Forest Green but best of all Bombscare McGintys' og fucks up Hopkins weekend.

Anyway, my bottom line is this: I feel significantly reassured - but not totally - about the prospect of an 'underground' share issue. I feel very reassured about the content of the agreement not having any hidden loopholes in it, and I feel very reassured that even if there were, Dalrada aren't looking for ownership via the back door. I will be emailing to ask for a copy to be 100% sure. These have me leaning very heavily towards 'Yes' based on the substance of the deal. Having had no real opinion on John Laird previously, I am very unimpressed with both his manner, and the substance of most of his responses. His continued evasion over the delays - notwithstanding Brian Bonar's health issues (from which I'm very glad he's on the mend) - was a display of brass neck. This tilts me somewhere back towards 'No' because Brian made it clear on the call he'd be relying on the Board to effectively get their house in order, and while Laird is not a voting member of the board, he's something of a 'chair' and I think he sets a bad tenor around the place, notwithstanding his business record. I think he's very Rae-like in that he doesn't like accountability, he doesn't like structure, and he operates best in a smoke-filled room with a lot of ambiguity. That, to me, is completely the incorrect approach both for a fan-owned club and for a club that's fiscally dependent on a major sponsor whose entire family are watching us like hawks. As for MCT: I do sympathize with Graham Barr in some ways. It's horrible to be part of a big issue at work that can't be fixed quickly, for which you have responsibility, and for which the hindsight is clear that you should have done differently. I've been there. So on a human level, yeah, I feel for the guy. But he's a director of the club. Everyone involved seems to have full confidence in him. And I just can't understand where that's coming from based on the last few months. The same applies to Sam Robinson - admittedly I don't know everything he said tonight because the microphone was rubbish. But on the transfer saga alone we've gone from "we kept it quiet for good reasons and while not everyone agrees, we were right" to "there are some aspects of regret" (not verbatim) to tonight's actual apology. I really don't get it. Apparently he (Barr) has had some dark nights of the soul, writing things but not publishing them, thinking of speaking out but then not, whatever. I think situations like this call for clarity and based on the last few weeks I just don't think he's up to that. That coupled with the train crash rollout of the vote, which got a good amount of discussion tonight, just leaves me scratching my head about how the top brass can look at the current composition and say "yep, they're the guys to get us out of this mess." That has me leaning back towards 'No.' However: MCT and GMFC are both ultimately correct that MCT has an absolute ton of turnover. It's not an easy job. Not everyone can do it, and most who can will have other things going on. There just isn't - as far as I can tell - a bench of talent waiting to fill the spots on the board from the MCT roster. Thus I can kind of understand why they (Dalrada) want to stick with the devil they know, and there's enough about the current guys that they can - presumably - be steered towards something productive. I don't actually agree with this but I can see why they would think that. Finally: I think any deal like this is risky. I can well understand why the Bonar family have a six-month get-out clause, and why it's only a year. I have a greater concern that we'll go down the QP route of getting accustomed to being flush, and then it all disappearing. This money's going to Imrie's squad-building: are we permitting multi-year contracts? I hope not. I think a deal with a get-out clause and a one-year duration is fundamentally incompatible with aspirations towards Premier League football. I think the various yer da's in the audience talking about administration and part-time football should be ashamed of themselves. Fearmongering that even the deal's architects aren't putting out there is just manipulative. After this Dunning-esque essay, at this exact moment I would abstain. If I can find nothing to worry about in the substance of the agreement, I will vote Yes. I will then treat the future votes over the interim board's appointments, and the review of the business in January, separately from this.

Absolutely shocking stuff here. Of all the information that’s come out so far, I trust Gordon above the other sources so this is deeply concerning to say the least. I note with interest that Gordon’s statement mentions that he has spoken to the tele and shared evidence that the timelines claimed by the club are inaccurate. This is a big opportunity for the tele to show that they are worth their salt by doing some proper journalism as opposed to being a mouthpiece for unnamed “sources”. If (as seems to be the case) this is some sort of hostile power grab to seize control of the club, then personally I would prefer to tell Dalrada, Laird, Dale & their cohorts to do one. Even if it means part-time football.

https://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/news/24887504.lamar-reynolds-hopes-goal-can-repay-newfound-morton-family/ Lamar Reynolds' brother died a few months ago, so as well as trying to settle in hundreds of miles from home he's been dealing with that, including arranging for the funeral out in Jamaica. Horrible stuff. I'm glad he's enjoying his time here, he more than earned his goal at Hampden. Here's to many more.

Well given that the ITK crowd originally claimed that Strapp re-signing for the club was, err, Strapp's agent/chairman going over Dougie's head*, I think we can file this nonsense in the bin where it belongs. Unless Kelly has a functioning, 4D chess explanation of how those two entirely contradictory claims about politics at work within the club tie together. We will never have a functioning and successful football club while everyone from former employees, player's maws to taxi drivers in the street think that they have licence to stick their oar in at every opportunity. I don't know *how* that issue is resolved, but it is absolutely toxic to fan ownership and far more infuriating to me than whether any player does or does not re-sign a new contract. We can't even replace a goalkeeper coach without it being treated like the next Horizon-Post Office scandal by these tiresome attention-seekers. * That was naturally going to lead to a bust-up and the manager's resignation.

(Photo- Scottish Football Hall of Fame) Allan McGraw- An Obituary By Russell Gordon The word “legend” is an often used one in the world of football, and I’ve always felt it was one that has become cheap. In the context of Morton, who are our own legends? For my own generation, there aren’t many. Derek McInnes was a star, the Finns gave us a couple of years of joy, Derek Lilley was a fine goal scorer who netted a club record transfer fee. Younger guys will look towards Chris Millar, Jim McAlister and Peter Weatherson- perhaps even Michael Tidser and Foaud Bachirou. Much as I acknowledge their contributions, “legend” is pushing it in most cases. Those slightly older of course enjoyed the mesmeric skills of Andy Ritchie, ably assisted by such working-class heroes as Davie Hayes, Jim Holmes, Roy Baines and Roddie Hutchison. We all know about the exploits of Jimmy Cowan, Morton’s most capped player, and Jimmy Gourlay, scorer of the winning goal in the 1922 Scottish Cup Final. But if you were to ask most the one man they would associate with our club, the vast majority would name Allan McGraw as that man. It was only just over a fortnight ago that Mr. McGraw was paraded in front of the Cappielow crowd before our victory over Queen’s Park as the Main Stand was named after the great man. Born on the 29th of July 1939 in Govan, he played with Partick Avondale in his youth before graduating to Renfrew Juniors in 1957, whilst doing his National Service. Whilst playing as a centre back for Renfrew, it was in the military that his footballing prowess came to the fore, where he attracted clubs far higher up the footballing food chain than Morton, who had just finished bottom of the old Second Division- dead last. However, after another Morton great- Hal Stewart, had swept into town in 1961, he attracted the young McGraw with the offer of flying him back to Scotland from Germany at weekends, allowing him to see his parents in Govan when returning home. Morton’s fortunes were to improve that season, with McGraw bagging 14 goals in 16 appearances as they finished third in the table, behind champions Clyde and promoted Queen of the South. Given that the club had finished bottom of the pile the previous season, the turnaround in their fortunes in the space of a year was remarkable, although at the season’s end they were to finish a distant 9 points (in those days of 2 points for a win) behind the Doonhamers. The following season was again to see Morton again finish third in the table- but this time around they were to finish a mere point behind second placed East Stirlingshire, and seven behind champions St. Johnstone, with McGraw bagging a remarkable 36 goals in 43 appearances. It was to be third time lucky though for McGraw and Morton in the 1963-64 season- arguably the greatest in the club’s history. An incredible 58 goals in 48 appearances was the personal milestone that he claimed along with his Second Division Champion’s medal as Morton stormed to the title, breaking record after record along the way. Dropping only five points all season, scoring 135, conceding only 37, losing once in the league, winning 23 league games in a row, sealing the title in February and reaching the League Cup Final against Rangers was quite a record for “Hal’s Heroes”. It was in the semi-final of the League Cup that McGraw was the real hero though. After a 1-1 draw with Hibernian, the two went to a replay at Ibrox which was settled by a penalty by none other than Morton’s talisman to send them to their first, and to date only, League Cup Final. The final itself was to prove a bitter disappointment, with Morton falling 0-5 to the Glasgow side, after a goalless first half in front of 105,907 at the national stadium. Always a welcome figure on his visits to Cappielow in later life, it was a fitting tribute to see the Main Stand named after Allan McGraw. (Photo- Gary Bradley) But with promotion sealed with a 6-1 home win over Forfar at Cappielow on 29th February (just over 59 years to the day before his sad passing), McGraw and Morton could look forward to again dining at Scottish football’s top table. It would of course be remiss of me not to acknowledge the contribution of his teammates; with stars such as Morris Stevenson, Jimmy Wilson, and Joe Caven, a familiar face to many of us on our travels to see Morton in the Highlands due to his locality, and a pleasure to meet when we do, doing more than their fair share. On Morton’s return to the First Division, injuries began to plague McGraw, but he still managed to net 21 goals in 33 appearances in that maiden top flight campaign. Sadly though, relegation was to follow the following season, with McGraw only scoring 11 times in 36 appearances before moving on to Hibs in the summer of 1966. Medical science though, was not as advanced in the sixties as it is now, advice for footballers suffering injuries wasn’t what it should have been, and whilst he struggled to train, he relied on cortisone injections to allow him to play. He accepted his own role in not questioning the practice- stating that he never visited the same doctor twice, used the injections to get on the park when the correct advice would’ve been to rest, and whilst the maximum safe number of injections in a year was 3, in one year he took 25! This of course led to his quality of life deteriorating badly, and the image of him on crutches in later life was a common one as he paid the price for his determination to continue playing. With injuries really affecting him, he was to make 60 appearances for Hibs over three years- in fact coming off injured in the 2-1 1968 League Cup semi-final victory over Dundee, before returning to the action in those days before substitutes. Unsurprisingly, he missed the final through injury. There was a short spell as a guest at Toronto City in 1967 before he wrapped up his senior playing career at Linfield in 1969-70. A brief spell at Johnstone Burgh, before taking on a coaching role at Pollok preceded his return to Cappielow as Erik Sorensen, a former teammate from his time at Morton, invited him back to the club as reserve team coach. With another golden era on the horizon, it was McGraw’s reserve side which provided such talent as Joe McLaughlin, John McNeil, Neil Orr and Jim Tolmie to supplement the aforementioned Ritchie, Hayes, Baines and Holmes. However, as Benny Rooney’s fine side of the late seventies and early eighties was broken up, Morton were to fall into the new First Division, briefly returning in 1984 under Tommy McLean, before an immediate relegation the following year under his brother Willie. After Willie McLean’s sacking, McGraw took the reins as Morton’s manager. After a mid-table finish in his first campaign, Morton were to win the title in 1987, and return to the Premier Division, the last time we played in the top flight. Relegation the following season was swift and brutal, conceding 100 goals over a 44 game league campaign, the final one being dispatched by Hibernian goalkeeper Andy Goram with a long clearance from his own box. The title was secured in 1987, resulting in Morton's return to the Premier Division for the last time to date. (Photo- Pinterest) However, there was a shining light in that season of misery, as Graeme Souness’s millionaires were humbled at Cappielow late in the season as Morton recorded a surprise 3-2 victory over Britain’s most expensive side of the time. Morton were to establish themselves in the First Division without seriously threatening promotion or fearing relegation for a number of years before league reconstruction saw five teams relegated in 1994. A horrendous injury list from the start of the season saw Morton relegated with a whimper, although in truth, they didn’t stand a chance. The 1994-95 season saw McGraw add his third title, and his second as manager. Again, Morton struggled early, but with the returning young stars of Alan Mahood and Derek McInnes from injury supplemented by the inspired signings of Finnish internationals Janne Lindberg and Marko Rajamaki, Morton made an immediate, and triumphant return to the First Division. The following season was one of incredible highs, more injury woes, and ultimate heartbreak against Dundee United on the season’s final day. His last season as boss was to prove an anti-climax as Morton failed to live up to expectations after coming so close the previous year. The arrival of the reviled Hugh Scott saw McGraw resign as manager, invited back as Club President before walking in protest as he saw through Scott’s nonsense, and fighting for Morton’s very survival as Scott’s mismanagement saw the club spiral into administration and a focal point was needed to rally the support in order to save the club from the worst possible fate. Commonly labelled as “Mr Morton”, there are few who would argue against the case for him to be considered our greatest ever, and few who would expect to see any greater in our own lifetimes. An overdue induction to Scottish Football's Hall of Fame arrived in 2017, honoured by one of the finest graduates of McGraw's conveyor belt of talent, Derek McInnes. (Photo- Scottish Sun) As well as the recent naming of the Allan McGraw Main Stand at Cappielow, some other fitting accolades he received were his induction to the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2017 and an SPFA Special Merit Award in 1998, along with divisional Manager of the Year Awards in his title winning years of 1987 and 1995. Like us all, everyone at The Morton Forum wishes to pass on our condolences to his sons Allan and Mark, and his extended family. We will never see his like again. Bibliography Allan McGraw Testimonial Programme Greenock Morton 1874-1999, Vincent P Gillan Images of Sport- Greenock Morton 1874-1999, compiled by Jim Jeffrey Morton Greats, Graeme Ross.

(Photo-gmfc.net) 1922 And All That- Morton’s Finest Hour And A Half By Russell Gordon One hundred years to the day. A lot has happened since- we’ve had another World War, the creation of the BBC and the NHS, the reconvening of a Scottish Parliament, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the formation of the EU and Britain’s decision to join and its decision to leave, not to mention the death of our opponents from that famous day amongst many other changes. In football, the World Cup was yet to see the light of day, and European competition hadn’t even been thought of. What isn’t terribly well known is that seven years previously in 1915, Morton had in fact won the War Shield- an equivalent knock-out tournament that was arranged as the Scottish Cup went into an abyss throughout the First World War. Stanley Seymour notched the winner against Rangers in a 2-1 victory as Morton took home the Shield. I can’t find any reports from the final itself but assume Rangers’ goal was a penalty. But it wasn’t until the 1919-20 season that the Scottish Cup was again competed for, after being shelved for five years. Successes for Kilmarnock (having trailed Morton 2-0 in the Semi Final and beaten Albion Rovers in the Final) in 1920 and for Partick Thistle in ’21 must’ve drawn envious glances from Greenock, but Morton’s day was to come in 1922. The club was enduring a stop-start season, with their home form in the league greatly contrasting their form on the road. Morton had suffered only two defeats at Cappielow- a 1-2 loss to eventual cup final victims Rangers in November and a 0-3 capitulation to Clyde in January. There were some notable league wins; 2-1 against Aberdeen, and 5-1 and 4-0 pastings of the previous two seasons’ cup winners; Kilmarnock and Partick, respectively. They failed however, to win away from home until defeating Albion Rovers 2-1 at Cliftonhill on the 3rd of January- the day after that 0-3 home defeat by Clyde! Whilst the away form was disappointing, the greatest indicator of this inconsistent form perhaps came a week after Morton’s demolition of Killie in December as, a week later they travelled to Falkirk (remember them?) and were hammered 0-7. Merry Christmas. On a more positive note, Morton got the upper hand across the two Renfrewshire derbies, winning 2-1 at Cappielow and collecting a point from a 1-1 draw at Love Street. They were to end the season 12th in a 22-team league and finished the campaign drawing with Celtic at Cappielow as the Glasgow side took the title on the final day, but their fans were to be attacked with rivets from the shipyards as the infamous Cappielow riot ensued. Morton's hero of the road to Hampden ,George French would tragically miss out on the club's biggest day. But it was on 28th January the cup campaign kicked off, with a routine 4-0 victory over non-league Vale of Leithen. Goals from Bobby McKay and a George French hat-trick saw the ‘Ton ease through against the Innerleithen side. It wasn’t quite so straight forward a fortnight later though, as a Clydebank side who would eventually be relegated from Division One would prove far more stubborn opposition, cancelling out a first half McKay opener to earn a Valentine’s Day replay on their own turf. There was to be no cup romance for the underdogs though, as Morton made no mistake second time around. It was the McKay and French double act again that were to make the difference- this time a first half double from the former, before the latter added a third in the second half. A last minute Bankies consolation took a bit of gloss off a fine result, but Morton had negotiated what could’ve been a very tricky replay with minimum fuss. Next up was the visit of Clyde to Cappielow in Round Three, which saw a resounding victory against the Bully Wee, gaining revenge for that league reverse the previous month. No prizes for guessing where the goals came from- McKay netting the first before French’s double sent Morton in 3-0 up at the break. With the clock running down, Alex McNab added a fourth before Morton keeper Davie Edwards was denied a shut-out by another last-minute consolation. There was to be a major upset on the day though as eventual champions Celtic were knocked out by Hamilton Accies, 3-1 at Douglas Park. A door had been opened for Rangers to end their 19-year hoodoo without collecting the cup. Or so they thought. Trainer William Kennedy and Manager Robert Cochrane plot the downfall of Rangers. Onward it was to Fir Park for a Quarter Final tie that would send a chill down the spines of Morton fans in modern era. Whilst our two cup defeats of the last couple of seasons there have been not only respectable, but very unfortunate, we’ve seen a 0-2 a 0-3, a couple of 0-4s and a 0-6 in both the Scottish and League Cups in my time watching Morton, just off the top of my head. But in 1922, Morton were to come out on top- the only time they have ever won at Fir Park in the Scottish Cup. In a thrilling tie, Alf Brown was to give the visitors a first half lead, and it took until the 75th minute for the Steelmen to restore parity. Any hopes they had of heading to Cappielow for a replay were dashed four minutes from time though as George French was again to prove the hero for Morton, banging home the winner for the good guys. Semi Finals, here we come! The Semi Finals saw champions Rangers play cup holders Partick Thistle and Aberdeen face Morton. With both Hampden and Celtic Park being used for league games on the day of the Rangers v Partick tie, it was agreed that Ibrox would host the tie between the two Glasgow clubs. It’s been suggested that money may have changed hands in order to soften the Jags’ stance on neutrality, but those were never proven, and I can’t imagine that two clubs with such proud moral fibres would ever indulge in the passing of brown envelopes, so we’ll move swiftly on. 58,000 saw the holders fall to the Light Blues; Rangers winning 2-0 thanks to a goal from Geordie Henderson and a Sandy Archibald penalty (of course). George French doubles Morton's lead in the Semi-Final win over Aberdeen at Dens Park. (Photo- The Courier) But it was a trip to Dens Park for Morton to face the Dons in front of 25,000 on the 1st of April. There were to be no April Fools on the Morton side though, as the Greenock’s finest produced a scintillating performance to shock the favourites and proceed to the first Scottish Cup Final in their history. Once again, George French was to prove the hero with a first half double, which was added to by Alex McNab in the 52nd minute. Again, Morton were to concede late on, but the damage was done, and we were in the cup final! There was only the small matter of Rangers in the way of Morton and glory. How Cup Final Day looked a century ago from Mount Florida. So, Hampden it was- in front of 75,000 people one hundred years ago today. Morton were undoubtedly the underdogs, and were dealt a massive blow with the absence of star striker George French on the big day through injury. That the man who had scored nine goals en route to Hampden would miss out on Morton’s big day, and against their toughest opponents of their cup campaign, was a terrible disappointment for both the player and boss Robert Cochrane. The final itself wasn’t a classic, with difficult weather conditions not helping to make a spectacle of a game that was reported to have been littered with fouls, so much so that Rangers were reduced to ten men, with captain Andy Cunningham forced to retire with a broken jaw in those days before substitutions were permitted. Oh well, never mind. Morton's hero on the big day, Jimmy Gourlay was the first player ever to score from a free kick in a Scottish Cup Final. By that point however, Morton were already a goal to the good. Rangers’ keeper Willie Robb had been penalised for overcarrying the ball from his box and Jimmy Gourlay scored from the resultant free kick to give Morton a twelfth minute lead. The ‘Ton were forced to defend for long spells to hold onto their lead as Rangers’ winger Alan Morton tormented the underdogs’ defence all afternoon and a succession of corners came to nothing before the referee’s final whistle signified the single greatest moment not only in Morton’s then 48-year history, but in the history of sport, and possibly in the history of anything, truth be told. It was the job of Provost W.B. McMillan to accept the trophy on Morton’s, and the town’s behalf, his last duty as Provost a month before his death, having acted as Morton’s President for some 27 years. Champagne was borrowed from Queen’s Park as Morton had, perhaps cautiously decided not to pack any for their big day, but the celebrations weren’t quite in full swing as the team caught a train to Hartlepool for a friendly which had been previously arranged for Monday the 17th. On their return to Greenock, 10,000 gathered at Cappielow to toast their heroes and the cup took its rightful place in the Cappielow boardroom (or pavilion, as it probably was at the time). A cartoon depicting Morton's day of glory in the Hampden rain. There were three remaining league fixtures after the final, including of course that draw that saw Celtic take the title on the final day before being sent on their way after a day of violence on East Hamilton Street as Cappielow attracted it’s biggest ever crowd, officially 23,500; but whilst that day belonged to Celtic, nothing was ever going to detract from Morton’s monumental achievement in bringing the cup to Greenock for what to date, was the only time ever. When will we see their like again? Scottish Cup Final, 15th April 1922 Greenock Morton (Gourlay, 12) 1-0 Rangers Morton: Edwards, McIntyre, R Brown, Gourlay, Wright, McGregor, McNab, McKay, Buchanan, A Brown, McMinn. Rangers: Robb, Manderson, McCandless, Meiklejohn, Dixon, Muirhead, Archibald, Cunningham, Henderson, Cairns, Morton. Referee: T Dougray (Bellshill) Attendance: 75,000. Thanks to Leon Mooney for his copies of archive match reports, the images provided and for fact checking the article. Other information taken from The Official History of the Scottish Cup: The Story of Every Season 1873-2016, by David Potter and Phil H Jones. All uncredited images are courtesy of Leon Mooney.

SLO has said on twitter he has collected complaints from fans about the club only allowing MCT members to vote on the away kit vote. Don't see why this is a problem? These are exactly the sort of small inducements they should be making to encourage membership.

I don't think this really addresses the problems most people have (which the update seems to partially attempt to do). MCT is the conduit to the club for its members. The people running things at the club need to be visible and accountable to these members as they wouldn't be there without them. It doesn't really matter if they are on both boards or not so I don't think there's any confusion as the update suggests. The fact there is a crossover actually makes it a bit worse for me though. Most members haven't heard a word from the people who've been on both boards (apart from a few snippets from Graham Barr) so there should 100% be more transparency here as there is (or was) a direct link from MCT member to these MCT board members through the MCT channels. The obvious example is that Gordon seems to be the main decision maker and is running things at the club (which is a privilege he only has because of the members) but has been totally anonymous and the impression most have (rightly or wrongly) is he doesn't take on any accountability. This is a direct result of a lack of transparency and might not actually be the case. Like it or not, the main thing for members is how the club is run and not how MCT itself is. The relationship between the two separate bodies and how fans get involved and updated needs to be the focus, not who's on the MCT board doing marketing, etc. Even if over time it is the case that the club is more at arms length from MCT, when the mood amongst the fans isn't good there's no excuse for MCT not being proactive in addressing concerns with the club and relaying these back to fans asap. There's clearly some unrest now with significant concerns being raised over a few months (using here and Twitter as a guage). An SLO led Q&A wouldn't have been needed as much if MCT were proactively updating on what's happening at the club and there was more transparency across the board. As it stands, the impression most people have is that the board members have free reign with no accountability and there's no acknowledgement that they're in that position because of the MCT membership. Edit to add - the updates are appreciated and the last paragraph might be a frustration the MCT board share so are essentially caught in the crossfire and taking the flak (I obviously wouldn't expect an answer on that from an individual!).

(Photo- Gary Bradley) Never In Doubt. A Review of Morton's 2020-21 season, Part Three. By Russell Gordon. Montrose away it was then, after it had looked like Morton were going to be forced into renewing hostilities with old pals, Falkirk. On paper an easier tie, but given Falkirk's spectacular (not to mention hilarious) collapse, that possibly wasn't the case. Morton made their second trip in just over a week up to Angus and could have been forgiven for having a bit of trepidation about what lay ahead. With Cove Rangers playing Airdrieonians in the other tie about 40 miles up the road, Morton were seen by the bookies as the favourites to come through the play-offs. You'd have been doing a well to find a Morton fan who shared their optimism, but how often do you see a poor bookmaker? Things couldn't have got off to a better start- within five minutes of the kick off, Aidan Nesbitt won the ball in the middle of midfield and prodded it forward to Kalvin Orsi, who squared for Gary Oliver to finish at keeper Allan Fleming's near post to give us a lead and settle the nerves. All this panic was much ado about nothing, then. Not a bit of it. Morton, as had happened so often this season, retreated into their shell and allowed their hosts to impose themselves on the game to such an extent that the half time whistle was a relief when the referee blew. But the relief was to prove short lived, as 12 minutes into the second half, the hosts' pressure finally paid off- and from a defensive point of view it was a howler. Markus Fjortoft's slip allowed Gable Endies' striker Russell McLean in and the Norwegian was also slow off the mark to close down the big forward after his initial effort was blocked by Brian McLean. The second attempt was curled into the far post past a diving Aidan McAdams to level the scores. And 20 minutes later, Montrose completed the turnaround, as Graham Webster got onto the end of a fine move to give them a lead at the halfway point in the tie. Whilst the performance was atrocious, Morton could take comfort in the narrow deficit going into the second leg at Cappielow three days later. To say that Gus McPherson shuffled the pack for the second leg would be the understatement of the season, with Chris Millar and the two Cammys- Blues and Salkeld, coming in from the cold for Morton's biggest match of the campaign. The changes were to prove pivotal, with Millar's magnificent performance in an unfamiliar right back position proving a real highlight on a nervy night at Cappielow. But for a while it didn't look like Morton would be in too much bother as they came flying out the traps immediately- again it was a fifth minute strike from Oliver that started us off, levelling the tie and handing Morton the momentum. Salkeld made it two from close range in the twentieth minute and by this point, the Ton could've been forgiven for thinking they were on easy street- but again, Mclean levelled the tie 10 minutes before the break, his strike eventually taking the tie to extra time. But as the game wore on, and into extra time, Morton's superior fitness began to tell as the part timers visibly tired. The introduction of Luca Colville, Nesbitt and Craig McGuffie gave us a greater attacking impetus as we began to pin Montrose further and further back, with penalties appearing to be their best option. Morton were spared a sixth shoot-out of the season in the nick of time though, and it was due to a piece of luck genius from substitute McGuffie. The ex-Ayr winger nutmegged Montrose forward Craig Johnston on the left-hand side and advanced towards goal, but with everyone inside the box expecting a cross, he clipped the ball over 'keeper Fleming's head and into the net at his far post. Oh, to have been in the Cowshed for that moment. Morton were through to the final after a hell of a scare, but there was to be plenty of drama in the other semi-final, too. Craig McGuffie's wonder strike sent Morton into the Play-Off Final in the most dramatic of fashions. (Photo- Gary Bradley) After a 1-1 stalemate in Aberdeen, Cove looked to have advanced to the final when Rory McAllister put the visitors 2-1 up at New Broomfield in the second minute of stoppage time. But Jack McKay took them to extra time a couple of minutes later (more of 94th minute goals in deepest, darkest Monklands to come) to change the course of the tie. Callum Gallagher settled it in the second period of extra time to take the Diamonds into a winner-takes-all double header with Morton. There's always a bit of needle attached to a game with Airdrie of course, but to add to the excitement, after 14 months locked out, both clubs were allowed 500 fans into their home legs. The scramble began- with around 460 season ticket holders, briefs were to be at a premium for the second leg, with no away fans allowed. Even with so few tickets left on sale though, Morton still managed to throw a couple of administrative errors into the mix, because, well, they're Morton, so where's the fun in doing things properly? The original batch were sold to season ticket holders in spite of not having been printed, and when it came to the public sale of the few leftovers, the advertised time of sale was put back before reverting again to the original time slot after folk who had swapped shifts rightly kicked up a stink. On a positive note though, the club did manage to get permission for another 100 to be seated in the Wee Dublin End. There was to be the return of some well-kent faces as 600 fans were allowed to attend the second leg of the Play-Off Final. (Photo- Gary Bradley) But the ticket sales were the least of Morton's worries. After not missing a minute of the season, Aidan McAdams finally succumbed to a hamstring injury, ruling him out of both legs of the final. With no fit senior keeper on the books, McPherson turned to Motherwell's Scott Fox, who came in on an emergency loan. To add to those woes, Kyle Jacobs' season came to an end in the first half when he fell awkwardly and had to be replaced by Reece Lyon. Even with these blows though, Airdrie weren't causing any real concerns to Morton, with the best chance of the half falling to Cammy Salkeld, who headed wide from close range. The Diamonds had one chance of note in the second half, McKay volleying wide from a corner. But as the game wore on, Morton began to turn the screw, and again the introduction of Nesbitt saw an added impetus to their play. Lyon was unlucky to strike the inside of Max Currie's post a few minutes from time, but it was deep into injury time that the breakthrough finally arrived. From a needlessly conceded corner, Blues played the ball short to Brain McLean. The captain clipped the ball into the box where Robbie Muirhead took advantage of a lapse in concentration in the home side's camp to give Morton a priceless winner. All of a sudden, after a season from hell, we were ninety minutes away from survival. Lyon might even have made it two before the final whistle were it not for a fine stop from the Airdrie custodian. Robbie Muirhead's late winner at Airdire secured a vital lead going into the second leg of the fianl at Cappielow. (Photo- Gary Bradley) Scottish football's biggest crowd of the season rolled up at Cappielow for the second leg, and whilst that might not quite be as big a boast as it would appear under normal circumstances, the excitement and anticipation was palpable. And what a treat Morton served up. Without having to chase the game, they played with a freedom that had been missing all season, and the tie was effectively over in the twelfth minute. Muirhead added to his first leg goal with a volley that will go down in the memory of a generation of fans the way Ritchie's goal against Aberdeen in 1981 and Templeman's against Kilmarnock in 2007 have. The crowd were in raptures and Morton sought to turn the screw, narrowly failing to increase their lead on a number of occasions before Oliver converted from close range after McGinn's effort had struck Currie's crossbar. There was to be no hiding place for Airdrie as their hopes of a return to the second tier after an eight-year sabbatical were to prove just too much of an ask. Nesbitt should've made it three from close range in the second half before Muirhead did put the cherry on the cake. As the final whistle went, the 600 inside the ground and the boisterous crowd on the car park celebrated like we'd actually won something. For a first trip back to the football in over a year, it couldn't have gone better- Morton were safe, and after a season of catastrophe, shooting themselves in the foot and being treated by our peers as a joke club, we'd come out it at the other end. Gary Oliver leads the celebrations after making it 2-0 on the night and 3-0 on aggregate to assure Morton of Championship football for another season. (Photo- Gary Bradley) But how do we conclude reviewing season 2020-21? Who were the heroes and the villains? Where do we go from here? For such a terrible season to end so spectacularly, we should of course be careful not to think that all is rosy in the world. This was a poorly assembled squad which did just enough to preserve their Championship status, and is already being dismantled by the man who assembled it, as he looks to get the gang back together down the coast. Gus McPherson staying on for another two years hasn't exactly got the juices flowing for everyone, but looking at the list of his most recent predecessors, I wouldn't be too upset about his appointment. There can surely be no complaints about the re-signing of Kyle Jacobs, who all the rumour-mongers had going to slum it in League One with Nesbitt at Falkirk; and McLean, who, in spite of his advancing years, had a good season for Morton last term. Credit has to go to the players for pulling Morton through what was an extremely difficult season though- a squad that was hamstrung every step of the way by a disinterested chairman, self-absorbed manager who made an absolute mess of his recruitment and a Chief Executive who couldn't organise a menage. Many of them were extremely limited, shouldn't have and won't ever play at such a high level again. Some of course, deserve more credit than others- when losing your captain for the play-offs is seen as a boost it tells you all you need to know about said captain. Not appointing a manager for three months and allowing McAlister to leave mid-contract were scandalous decisions, and indicative of just how little regard the chairman had for the club as we started to circle the drain. A more cynical man than myself might suggest that they were acts that looked to sabotage the club's Championship status. I'd prefer to consider them as mere a stupidity, based on a complacency in the boardroom as the arrivals of Messrs McPherson, Millen and McGinn sought to redress that initital folly, and eventually saved our bacon. A special mention has to go to Anton McElhone, who in spite of not being a qualified manager, and having no interest in being one, took the reins through that very difficult period and actually had the best record across regular league games of the three who took charge. Lang may yer lum reek, Anton! What is absolutely certain is that money is sure to be tight this year as well, so the same mistakes as last term cannot be made this time around. MCT have had a couple of directors in the inner sanctum of Cappielow for a while now- here's hoping they've taken onboard how not to run a football club.

(Photo- www.tellhimhespele.com) The Flying Finns by Russell Gordon Tuesday's deadline day drama certainly had us all glued to our phones, in what was perhaps the most exciting day of positive movement in and out of Cappielow since the inception of the windows, around a generation ago. Even when Douglas Rae opened the purse strings in the January of 2015 to bolster our promotion charge with the signings of Peter MacDonald, Ross Forbes and the re-signing of Declan McManus, our enthusiasm was tempered by the farcical nature of Michael Tidser's arrival in spite of his ineligibility to actually play until the following season. But with the arrival of Finland Under 21 international Jaako Oksanen on loan from Brentford, it was only natural that those of us of a certain vintage looked back fondly to Nordic influxes of days gone by. I wouldn't be doing them justice to attempt to write about the Great Danes of the 1960s, such as Kai Johansen, Carl Bertlesen, Borge Thorup, Jorn Sorenson, Preben Arentoft and the man in black, Erik Sorenson; but my memory does stretch back to the arrival of Finland internationals Janne Lindberg and Marko Rajamaki in the autumn of 1994. We were first exposed to Janne a month before his arrival at Cappielow when he played for Finland in their opening Euro '96 qualifier against Scotland, inadvertently assisting John Collins' goal as his clearing header fell nicely on the Scotland midfielder's left foot, for him volley the national team into a 2-0 lead in Helsinki, a result Scotland would hold onto as they started what would become a successful qualifying campaign. One of world football's most iconic figures of the 1990s... tussles with French midfielder Didier Deschamps. (Photo-Getty Images) The autumn of 1994 wasn't a happy time at Cappielow. The club had been relegated to the Second Division for the first time in their history, amidst a season-long injury crisis the previous year, and league reconstruction that saw Morton being amongst five clubs relegated from the First Division. A stuttering start to the campaign in '94 did little to suggest that Morton would be pushing for a speedy return to the First Division though, only for them to turn up at Shielfield Park in Berwick with two trialists from Finnish club MyPa47 in the ranks. The result on the day wasn't to be a positive one, as Morton fell to their third league defeat in a row, 1-2 to the hosts having previously fallen 0-1 to Clyde at Cappielow, and suffered a 0-3 hosing at Palmerston Park. But it didn't take Allan McGraw and the board long to decide to take the plunge on Janne and Marko, and a fee of £250,000 found its way to Kouvola, unthinkable for Morton in these times. The signings of the Finns were by no means a quick fix, as results remained inconsistent towards the festive period. Whilst over a quarter of a century has passed, and my memory could be playing tricks on me, the Scottish Cup tie against Kilmarnock in my mind proved to be the turning point of the season, against what was a very good Premier Division team at the time. My standout memories from the 0-0 draw at Rugby Park in late January were Stephen McCahill's header narrowly clearing Dragoje Lekovic's crossbar to deny us a shock win, and the imperious performance on Janne on the day. Alas, Morton were to suffer a narrow extra time replay defeat by the Ayrshire men at a bouncing Cappielow, but kicked on from there, with three wins in February, including an absolutely crucial 1-0 win over Stenhousemuir, only a week after their incredible Scottish Cup slaying of Aberdeen; courtesy of a goal and fantastic performance from Marko. But Morton being Morton, it was never going to be that easy, and a sticky patch in March kept things interesting in what was to be a four-way battle for promotion between ourselves, Dumbarton, Stirling and Stenny. Things were to come good the following month though with crucial wins against East Fife and Clyde, before a memorable 4-3 win on their return trip over the border set up what was effectively a title decider against Dumbarton. Of course, it was all to end joyously, as Marko's incredible goal put the icing on the most delicious of cakes, and we retook our place in the second tier at the first time of asking, bagging a nice little silver pot in the process. Derek McInnes was to win the Player of the Year award, but it would be foolish not to acknowledge the contribution of our two imports. Whether Morton would've been in the promotion race without them is seriously doubtful. A couple of awestruck admirers watch on as Janne launches a Morton attack at Ibrox in 1995. (Photo- Chris McNulty) What wasn't in doubt though, was that Morton with their two Finnish stars were a force to be reckoned with, as they took the following season by storm, with Janne, Derek McInnes and Alan Mahood pulling the strings in midfield and Marko providing a flair on the wing that is still spoken about in glowing terms even now. Whilst there were a number of great performances and results that season, particularly early on, it was on Morton's visit to St. Mirren in late September that Marko perhaps produced his finest performance in a Morton shirt, as he absolutely tormented the Saints defence in a 4-1 win, cementing his place not only in the hearts of the Morton support, but as a hate-figure amongst the Buddies faithful. What a man. Of course, that incredibly exciting team was to come up just short, owing in no small part to the departure of Derek McInnes to Rangers and the season-ending injuries to Janne and Alan Mahood. Marko was to continue to do his bit to drag us through, with vital goals in the run in against Hamilton, both home and away and an admittedly howling miss in the vital 1-0 win at home to fellow promotion hopefuls St. Johnstone. He was of course to equalise in the final day showdown against Dundee United, but Morton were left to rue their misfortune and look forward to the following season. Marko leads the charge in a 3-0 win against Clydebank at Cappielow, on the opening day of the 1996-97 season. (Photo- Chris McNulty) The 1996-97 campaign was to prove both players' final season at the club, and was an anti-climax for us all, as a much-fancied Morton failed to live up to expectations, finishing the season in eighth place, comfortably clear of relegation, but miles away from a promotion play off place, never mind runaway champions St. Johnstone. There were to be highlights, however- Marko's early season winner against Falkirk was delightful, as winners against Falkirk tend to be, and there was the incredible League Cup tie against Aberdeen which ended in a 3-7 defeat, with Morton coming from 0-2 down with 15 minutes of normal time remaining to lead 3-2 going into the last minute, only to suffer another hard-luck story. In truth, with promotion becoming a more remote prospect as the season progressed, McGraw put all his eggs into the Scottish Cup basket, with a fine replay win against Dundee setting up a quarter final with Kilmarnock at a near capacity Cappielow. There was to be no hard-luck story to this cup defeat though, as Morton were resoundingly trounced 2-5 by Killie, in spite of a brief second half fightback. As the season petered out, and the players' contacts ran down, their departures became inevitable and a really thrilling, but oh so brief chapter in Morton's history was to reach its conclusion, to be succeeded by the Scott era, which I'm sure is an article or two for another day. Janne was to go onto pastures new in Germany with FC Saarbrucken before finishing his career back at MyPa47 and embarking on a career in coaching in his homeland, whist Marko was to enjoy brief stints at Hamilton and Livingston, even playing against Morton for the Accies, also finishing his career in his native Finland, with TPS Turku and enjoying a successful coaching career. Both have returned in the intervening years to visit, Marko turning out in a testimonial in 2006 as well as attending a game against Hamilton in 2012 and receiving a rapturous reception. To my knowledge, Janne hasn't made a match on his return, but his daughter Nanne has been a vocal supporter of the club through her social media accounts, so it would be rude not to give her devotion to the cause a mention! Since their departure, we've seen Jani Uotinen flying the flag and collecting a Third Division winners' medal in 2002-03 for his troubles and Jonatan Johansson's fast flowing, easy on the eye (or something like that) brand of football help us secure safety in the rollercoaster 2018-19 season. Let's be honest though, Morton fans love a signing from that part of the world, and will surely take to Jaako. No pressure, but there are some pretty big shoes needing filled, young man! Thanks to Jonathan Mitchell for his contribution into the research for this piece and to Chris McNulty for his help with archive photographs.

Ordered an Uber today and my driver was none other than Andy McLaren. Good to see him looking happy and healthy.