2020–21 Greenock Morton F.C. season

The 2020–21 season is Greenock Morton's sixth consecutive season in the Scottish Championship, following their promotion from Scottish League One in the 2014–15 season. They will also compete in the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup.

Greenock Morton

2020–21 season
Owner	Golden Casket Group
Chairman	Crawford Rae
Manager	David Hopkin (until 10 December) Gus McPherson (from 10 March)
Stadium	Cappielow Park
Scottish Championship	9th
Scottish Cup	Fourth Round
Scottish League Cup	Group Stage
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2019–20 2021–22 →
All statistics correct as of 30 April 2021.

Season summary

In June 2020, eight of the ten clubs voted in favour of shortening the season from the usual 36 games to 27 (playing each other three times), with the season tentatively scheduled to start on 16 October 2020.^[1] This was done to reduce costs in light of the coronavirus pandemic.^[1]

Competitions

Scottish Championship

Main article: 2020–21 Scottish Championship

Matches

Win

Draw

Loss

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result[lower-alpha 1]	Scorers	Attendance	Ref.
17 October 2020	Alloa Athletic	Home	1–0	Salkeld 10'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[2]
24 October 2020	Dundee	Away	0–1	—	0[lower-alpha 2]	[3]
31 October 2020	Ayr United	Home	3–2	Oliver 83', Blues 85', Strapp 88'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[4]
7 November 2020	Raith Rovers	Away	0–5	—	0[lower-alpha 2]	[5]
21 November 2020	Arbroath	Away	0–0	—	0[lower-alpha 2]	[6]
5 December 2020	Heart of Midlothian	Home	0–2	—	0[lower-alpha 2]	[7]
12 December 2020	Dunfermline Athletic	Away	2–1	McAlister 24', McGuffie 79'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[8]
19 December 2020	Queen of the South	Home	2–0	Orsi 41', 76'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[9]
29 December 2020	Ayr United	Away	1–1	Nesbitt 26' pen.	0[lower-alpha 2]	[10]
2 January 2021	Alloa Athletic	Away	1–1	Fjørtoft 69'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[11]
15 January 2021	Dunfermline Athletic	Home	0–0	—	0[lower-alpha 2]	[12]
23 January 2021	Queen of the South	Away	1–2	Orsi 58'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[13]
27 January 2021	Inverness CT	Home	2–2	McGinty 3', Blues 66'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[14]
30 January 2021	Arbroath	Home	0–1	—	0[lower-alpha 2]	[15]
6 February 2021	Raith Rovers	Home	0–1	—	0[lower-alpha 2]	[16]
20 February 2021	Heart of Midlothian	Away	1–1	McGuffie 53'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[17]
27 February 2021	Dundee	Home	2–2	McGuffie 41', Colville 69'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[18]
6 March 2021	Ayr United	Home	0–2	—	0[lower-alpha 2]	[19]
9 March 2021	Inverness CT	Away	1–0	Nesbitt 56'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[20]
13 March 2021	Dunfermline Athletic	Away	0–1	—	0[lower-alpha 2]	[21]
20 March 2021	Queen of the South	Home	2–1	Nesbitt 19' Oliver 61'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[22]
27 March 2021	Raith Rovers	Away	0–1	—	0[lower-alpha 2]	[23]
6 April 2021	Inverness CT	Home	1–4	Muirhead 61'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[24]
10 April 2021	Dundee	Away	1–1	Nesbitt 78'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[25]
20 April 2021	Heart of Midlothian	Home	0–0	—	0[lower-alpha 2]	[26]
24 April 2021	Alloa Athletic	Home	1–1	Fjørtoft 55'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[27]
30 April 2021	Arbroath	Away	0–0	—	0[lower-alpha 2]	[28]

Scottish Championship Play–off

Matches

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result[lower-alpha 1]	Scorers	Attendance	Ref.
Semi-Final 1st Leg	8 May 2021	Montrose	Away	1–2	Oliver 5'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[29]
Semi-Final 2nd Leg	11 May 2021	Montrose	Home	3–1 (4–3 agg.) (aet.)	Oliver 5', Salkeld 19' McGuffie 120'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[30]
Final 1st Leg	18 May 2021	Airdrieonians	Away	1–0	Muirhead 90+4'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[31]
Final 2nd Leg	21 May 2021	Airdrieonians	Home	3–0 (4–0 agg.) (aet.)	Muirhead 12', 78', Oliver 44'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[32]

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
6	Queen of the South	27	9	5	13	38	51	−13	32
7	Arbroath	27	7	9	11	28	34	−6	30
8	Ayr United	27	6	11	10	31	37	−6	29
9	Greenock Morton (O)	27	6	11	10	22	33	−11	29	Qualification for the Championship play-offs
10	Alloa Athletic (R)	27	5	7	15	30	60	−30	22	Relegation to League One

Source: SPFL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-to head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Play-off (only for deciding promotion, play-off participation and relegation).^[33]
(O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated

Scottish League Cup

Main article: 2020–21 Scottish League Cup

Group stage

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		STM	QOS	PAR	GMO	QPK
1	St Mirren	4	2	2	0	0	8	4	+4	10	Qualification for the Second round		—	—	4–1	p1–1	—
2	Queen of the South	4	1	1	2	0	7	5	+2	7			2–2p	—	0–0p	—	—
3	Partick Thistle	4	1	2	0	1	3	4	−1	7			—	—	—	p0–0	2–0
4	Greenock Morton	4	1	0	3	0	4	3	+1	6			—	2–2p	—	—	1–0
5	Queen's Park	4	0	0	0	4	1	7	−6	0			0–1	1–3	—	—	—

Source: ^[34]
Rules for classification: 1) points, 2) goal difference, 3) goals scored, 4) away goals scored, 5) matches won, 6) away matches won, 7) drawing of lots.^[35]

Win

Draw

Loss

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result[lower-alpha 1]	Scorers	Attendance	Ref.
6 October 2020	Queen of the South	Home	2–2 (2–4 p)	McGinty 18', Nesbitt 68'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[36]
13 October 2020	Queen's Park	Home	1–0	Blues 51'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[37]
11 November 2020	St Mirren	Away	1–1 (5–6 p)	MacIver 60'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[38]
14 November 2020	Partick Thistle	Away	0–0 (2–4 p)	—	0[lower-alpha 2]	[39]

Scottish Cup

Main article: 2020–21 Scottish Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result[lower-alpha 1]	Scorers	Attendance	Ref.
Second Round	23 March 2021	Dunfermline Athletic	Home	0–0 (6–5 p)	—	0[lower-alpha 2]	[40]
Third Round	3 April 2021	East Fife	Away	2–1 (aet.)	McGinty 91' pen. , Muirhead 112'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[41]
Fourth Round	17 April 2021	Motherwell	Away	1–1 (3–5 p)	Fjørtoft 120+3'	0[lower-alpha 2]	[42]

Notes

1. Greenock Morton's score written first
2. Match played behind closed doors

References

1. Idessane, Kheredine (14 June 2020). "Scottish Championship clubs vote for 27-game season starting in October". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
2. "Morton edge Alloa as both end man down". BBC Sport. 17 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
3. "Afolabi gives Dundee first win". BBC Sport. 24 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
4. Young, Chick (31 October 2020). "Morton score three late goals to beat Ayr". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
5. "Raith Rovers rout Morton to go top". BBC Sport. 7 November 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
6. "Morton hold Arbroath to goalless draw". BBC Sport. 21 November 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
7. "Walker's double sends Hearts top". BBC Sport. 5 December 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
8. "Managerless Morton win at Dunfermline". BBC Sport. 12 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
9. Crawford, Kenny (19 December 2020). "Orsi double as Morton move up to third". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
10. Young, Chick (29 December 2020). "Hosts' manager Kerr concedes penalty in draw". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
11. Dewar, Heather (2 January 2021). "Alloa Athletic 1-1 Greenock Morton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
12. "Visitors' title bid suffers blow". BBC Sport. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
13. "Dumfries side ease relegation fears". BBC Sport. 23 January 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
14. "Greenock Morton 2-2 Inverness Caledonian Thistle". BBC Sport. 27 January 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
15. "Greenock Morton 0-1 Arbroath". BBC Sport. 30 January 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
16. "Raith Rovers beat Greenock Morton 1-0 to go second in Championship". BBC Sport. 6 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
17. "Jamie Walker's 50th goal earns hosts points". BBC Sport. 20 February 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
18. "Greenock Morton 2-2 Dundee: Visitors twice come from behind for point". BBC Sport. 27 February 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
19. "Cammy Smith double seals win for visitors". BBC Sport. 6 March 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
20. "Inverness 0–1 Greenock Morton". BBC Sport. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
21. "Wighton header sends hosts second". BBC Sport. 13 March 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
22. "Greenock Morton 2–1 Queen of the South: First win for interim boss Gus McPherson". BBC Sport. 20 March 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
23. "Raith Rovers 1–0 Greenock Morton: Jamie Gullan strikes late winner". BBC Sport. 27 March 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
24. "Greenock Morton 1–4 Inverness CT: Visitors back into play-off spots after sixth straight win". BBC Sport. 6 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
25. "Dundee v Greenock Morton". BBC Sport. 10 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
26. "Greenock Morton 0–0 Hearts: Hosts still second bottom despite point". BBC Sport. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
27. "Greenock Morton 1–1 Alloa Athletic: Home side remain in relegation play-off spot". BBC Sport. 24 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
28. Smith, Tyrone (30 April 2021). "Arbroath 0-0 Greenock Morton: Visitors consigned to relegation play-off". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
29. "Montrose 2–1 Greenock Morton: Hosts take control of tie". BBC Sport. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
30. "Greenock Morton v Montrose". BBC Sport. 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
31. "Airdrieonians 0–1 Greenock Morton: Late Muirhead goal for visitors". BBC Sport. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
32. "Greenock Morton 3–0 Airdrieonians (agg 4–0): Gus McPherson hails 'miracle' after play-off". BBC Sport. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
33. "The Rules of the Scottish Professional Football League" (PDF). SPFL. pp. 38–39. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
34. "Summary - League Cup Group G". Soccerway. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
35. "Format". SPFL. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
36. "Greenock Morton vs. Queen of the South - 6 October 2020 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
37. "Greenock Morton vs. Queen's Park - 13 October 2020 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
38. "St. Mirren vs. Greenock Morton - 11 November 2020 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
39. "Partick Thistle vs. Greenock Morton - 14 November 2020 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
40. "Greenock Morton v Dunfermline Athletic". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
41. "East Fife v Greenock Morton". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
42. "Top flight hosts need penalties to advance". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2021.