Bob in Denny Posted September 6, 2021 Share Posted September 6, 2021 Superb post, thanks 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigkillie Posted September 15, 2021 Author Share Posted September 15, 2021 Potato 14 (1965-1966) After a couple of long-lasting potatoes, it was a return to regularly scheduled potato programming as Potato 14 disappeared within a year. It only changed hands 11 times in total (via a serious of ludicrous high scores), spending time with nine different clubs, before Hamilton Accies took it down with them. Accies therefore became the first club to hold two perished potatoes. The 1965/66 season kicked off with both Dundee United (0-4 v Celtic) and Greenock Morton (1-5 v Hibernian) suffering heavy home defeats, and Dundee United were randomly selected as the first holders of the potato. United didn't let that piece of bad luck get to them - they were able to get rid of the potato in their next game, and they did it in style by thumping Dundee 5-0. The Dees immediately sent it north by beating Aberdeen 3-2 at Pittodrie - the Dons then took a 7-1 scudding from Celtic before bouncing back by beating St Mirren 4-1. Saints lost 6-1 to Rangers but then passed the potato to Clyde by beating them 1-0, and two weeks later the Bully Wee sent the potato to reigning champions Kilmarnock with a win at Rugby Park. Killie lost to Aberdeen the following week, but then got rid of the potato by smashing Motherwell 5-0. The Steelmen lost 3-0 at home in two consecutive weeks, but then thumped St Mirren 4-1 before Saints immediately gave it to Hamilton Accies with a 1-0 win. At this stage, Accies were bottom of the table with two points, and holding on to the potato didn't improve their form - they held on to it for the next 15 matches, with their relegation being confirmed in the midst of this run. However, with a few games remaining of the season, they beat struggling Partick Thistle 4-3 to give the potato a chance of survival. Thistle failed in their first two attempts to offload the potato, picking up consecutive 2-2 draws away to St Johnstone and Stirling Albion, but made sure it was third time lucky by beating Clyde 2-1. Clyde were safely mid-table and had just two matches remaining, so the potato looked to be in safe hands. They lost their penultimate fixture 1-0 at home to Hearts, but unfortunately for the potato their final match was at home to Hamilton Accies. Clyde ran out comfortable 4-1 winners, meaning that Potato 14 made its way into the Hamilton Accies trophy room alongside Potato 7. Potato 14's journey: Spoiler club start_date games Dundee United 1965-08-25 1 Dundee 1965-09-11 1 Aberdeen 1965-09-18 2 St Mirren 1965-10-02 2 Clyde 1965-10-16 2 Kilmarnock 1965-10-30 2 Motherwell 1965-11-13 3 St Mirren 1965-12-11 1 Hamilton Academical 1965-12-18 15 Partick Thistle 1966-03-26 3 Clyde 1966-04-11 2 Hamilton Academical 1966-04-30 1 Total number of matches with Potato 14: Spoiler team games Hamilton Academical 16 Clyde 4 St Mirren 3 Partick Thistle 3 Motherwell 3 Kilmarnock 2 Aberdeen 2 Dundee United 1 Dundee 1 Full set of results for Potato 14: Spoiler date holders opponents venue score 1965-08-25 Dundee United Celtic H 0-4 1965-09-11 Dundee United Dundee A 5-0 1965-09-18 Dundee Aberdeen A 3-2 1965-09-25 Aberdeen Celtic A 1-7 1965-10-02 Aberdeen St Mirren H 4-1 1965-10-09 St Mirren Rangers H 1-6 1965-10-16 St Mirren Clyde A 1-0 1965-10-23 Clyde Aberdeen H 2-2 1965-10-30 Clyde Kilmarnock A 2-1 1965-11-06 Kilmarnock Aberdeen A 0-1 1965-11-13 Kilmarnock Motherwell H 5-0 1965-11-20 Motherwell Dundee United H 0-3 1965-11-27 Motherwell Rangers H 0-3 1965-12-11 Motherwell St Mirren H 4-1 1965-12-18 St Mirren Hamilton Academical H 1-0 1965-12-25 Hamilton Academical Clyde H 1-4 1966-01-01 Hamilton Academical Motherwell H 1-4 1966-01-03 Hamilton Academical Falkirk A 0-0 1966-01-08 Hamilton Academical Heart of Midlothian H 0-1 1966-01-15 Hamilton Academical Greenock Morton A 0-3 1966-01-22 Hamilton Academical Kilmarnock H 1-4 1966-01-29 Hamilton Academical Aberdeen A 2-5 1966-02-12 Hamilton Academical Dundee United H 0-4 1966-02-26 Hamilton Academical Rangers A 0-4 1966-03-05 Hamilton Academical Hibernian H 1-2 1966-03-09 Hamilton Academical Dundee A 1-2 1966-03-12 Hamilton Academical Dunfermline Athletic A 0-1 1966-03-19 Hamilton Academical Celtic H 1-7 1966-03-24 Hamilton Academical Stirling Albion A 0-3 1966-03-26 Hamilton Academical Partick Thistle H 4-3 1966-04-06 Partick Thistle St Johnstone A 2-2 1966-04-09 Partick Thistle Stirling Albion A 2-2 1966-04-11 Partick Thistle Clyde H 2-1 1966-04-16 Clyde Heart of Midlothian H 0-1 1966-04-30 Clyde Hamilton Academical H 4-1 Final resting places of all potatoes: Spoiler Potato 1 - Vale of Leven Potato 2 - Dumbarton Potato 3 - Clydebank [1914] Potato 4 - Dundee United Potato 5 - Dunfermline Athletic Potato 6 - Greenock Morton Potato 7 - Hamilton Academical Potato 8 - Airdrieonians [1878] Potato 9 - Albion Rovers Potato 10 - Falkirk Potato 11 - Stirling Albion Potato 12 - Queen's Park Potato 13 - Third Lanark Potato 14 - Hamilton Academical (2nd potato) Total number of matches with all potatoes: Spoiler team games Queen's Park 159 Clyde 144 Third Lanark 135 Kilmarnock 121 Airdrieonians [1878] 114 St Mirren 112 Raith Rovers 107 Hibernian 107 Partick Thistle 103 Dundee 100 Falkirk 86 Greenock Morton 84 Aberdeen 81 Motherwell 66 Heart of Midlothian 63 Hamilton Academical 63 Stirling Albion 50 Ayr United 48 Queen of the South 47 East Fife 42 Dumbarton 41 Dunfermline Athletic 37 Albion Rovers 37 Rangers 32 Celtic 32 Vale of Leven 25 St Johnstone 24 St Bernard's 23 Clydebank [1914] 20 Abercorn 19 Port Glasgow Athletic 14 Leith Athletic [1887] 14 Renton 13 Dundee United 12 Cowdenbeath 12 Arbroath 8 East Stirlingshire 5 Bo'ness 5 Alloa Athletic 3 Total number of spells in possession of all potatoes: Spoiler team times Clyde 47 St Mirren 46 Dundee 43 Airdrieonians [1878] 43 Third Lanark 41 Hibernian 40 Queen's Park 39 Kilmarnock 38 Partick Thistle 37 Aberdeen 35 Heart of Midlothian 32 Motherwell 31 Falkirk 31 Greenock Morton 27 Raith Rovers 26 Rangers 18 Hamilton Academical 18 Celtic 18 Ayr United 13 Queen of the South 12 Dumbarton 11 East Fife 10 St Johnstone 9 Dunfermline Athletic 9 Albion Rovers 9 Stirling Albion 8 St Bernard's 8 Leith Athletic [1887] 7 Cowdenbeath 6 Clydebank [1914] 6 Dundee United 5 Port Glasgow Athletic 4 Arbroath 4 Abercorn 4 Vale of Leven 2 Renton 2 East Stirlingshire 2 Bo'ness 1 Alloa Athletic 1 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranaldo Bairn Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 There's definitely a book in this. A social and sporting history of Scotland, as we are regaled with the wanderings of high temperature tubers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigkillie Posted September 17, 2021 Author Share Posted September 17, 2021 Potato 15 (1966-1967) 1966/67 was a historic season in Scottish football for a number of reasons, but there is no doubt that the biggest of the lot was Ayr United becoming the first Ayrshire club to lay claim to a permanent potato. Like its predecessor, potato 15 only lasted a single season before sinking into the abyss of lower league football. This one changed hands just six times - the fewest times since Potato 1, and only visited five different clubs before becoming the only item in the trophy room of the perennial losers from Somerset Park. The season kicked off with Partick Thistle being pumped 6-1 by Rangers at Ibrox and becoming the first holders of the potato. They took four attempts to get rid of it, losing narrowly to Clyde, taking a 7-0 pumping from Hibs and drawing with St Mirren before beating St Johnstone 5-3 in Perth. Saints continued with the high scoring games, drawing 3-3 with Motherwell before beating Heart of Midlothian 3-2. Hearts failed to get rid of it three times before finally thumping St Mirren 4-0 at Tynecastle, and then Saints had a five match run which ended with a 3-1 win over Ayr United on Christmas Eve. Ayr were already bottom of the table, having failed to win any of their first 15 matches and only drawing five times. They didn't win any of their next 14 matches either - this included shipping 6 goals to Dunfermline, 5 to Aberdeen and Celtic and 4 to Dundee United and Rangers. They finally got their first (and only) win of the season in April, beating St Johnstone 1-0 at Somerset Park. Saints were already safe from relegation and only had three games to play, so it looked like the potato might be saved. They lost to Hibs and Clyde, but unfortunately their final match was another game against Ayr in Perth. Saints won 3-0 to hand the potato back to Ayr United, but all was not quite yet lost, because Ayr still had another game to play. Due to fixture congestion, this game two nights later against Partick Thistle at Firhill, but there was to be no heroic potato rescue in Maryhill - Thistle won 4-1 to ensure we had our first Ayrshire potato. Potato 15's journey: Spoiler club start_date games Partick Thistle 1966-09-10 4 St Johnstone 1966-10-08 2 Heart of Midlothian 1966-10-22 4 St Mirren 1966-11-19 5 Ayr United 1966-12-24 14 St Johnstone 1967-04-08 3 Ayr United 1967-04-26 2 Total number of matches with Potato 15: Spoiler team games Ayr United 16 St Mirren 5 St Johnstone 5 Partick Thistle 4 Heart of Midlothian 4 Full set of results for Potato 15: Spoiler date holders opponents venue score 1966-09-10 Partick Thistle Rangers A 1-6 1966-09-17 Partick Thistle Clyde H 0-1 1966-09-24 Partick Thistle Hibernian A 0-7 1966-10-01 Partick Thistle St Mirren H 2-2 1966-10-08 Partick Thistle St Johnstone A 5-3 1966-10-15 St Johnstone Motherwell A 3-3 1966-10-22 St Johnstone Heart of Midlothian H 3-2 1966-10-29 Heart of Midlothian Clyde H 0-1 1966-11-05 Heart of Midlothian Aberdeen A 1-3 1966-11-12 Heart of Midlothian Dunfermline Athletic H 1-1 1966-11-19 Heart of Midlothian St Mirren H 4-0 1966-11-26 St Mirren Clyde H 1-3 1966-12-03 St Mirren Dundee A 0-2 1966-12-10 St Mirren Hibernian H 1-3 1966-12-17 St Mirren Dundee United A 2-2 1966-12-24 St Mirren Ayr United H 3-1 1966-12-31 Ayr United Partick Thistle H 1-2 1967-01-02 Ayr United Dunfermline Athletic A 0-6 1967-01-03 Ayr United Kilmarnock H 2-3 1967-01-07 Ayr United Dundee United A 0-4 1967-01-14 Ayr United Falkirk H 0-1 1967-01-21 Ayr United Heart of Midlothian A 0-1 1967-02-04 Ayr United Aberdeen H 2-5 1967-02-11 Ayr United Celtic H 0-5 1967-03-01 Ayr United Motherwell H 3-3 1967-03-04 Ayr United Stirling Albion H 0-1 1967-03-10 Ayr United Dundee A 0-3 1967-03-18 Ayr United Rangers H 1-4 1967-03-25 Ayr United Airdrieonians [1878] A 1-3 1967-04-08 Ayr United St Johnstone H 1-0 1967-04-11 St Johnstone Clyde A 0-2 1967-04-22 St Johnstone Hibernian H 1-2 1967-04-26 St Johnstone Ayr United H 3-0 1967-04-28 Ayr United Partick Thistle A 1-4 Final resting places of all potatoes: Spoiler Potato 1 - Vale of Leven Potato 2 - Dumbarton Potato 3 - Clydebank [1914] Potato 4 - Dundee United Potato 5 - Dunfermline Athletic Potato 6 - Greenock Morton Potato 7 - Hamilton Academical Potato 8 - Airdrieonians [1878] Potato 9 - Albion Rovers Potato 10 - Falkirk Potato 11 - Stirling Albion Potato 12 - Queen's Park Potato 13 - Third Lanark Potato 14 - Hamilton Academical (2nd potato) Potato 15 - Ayr United Total number of matches with all potatoes: Spoiler team games Queen's Park 159 Clyde 144 Third Lanark 135 Kilmarnock 121 St Mirren 117 Airdrieonians [1878] 114 Raith Rovers 107 Partick Thistle 107 Hibernian 107 Dundee 100 Falkirk 86 Greenock Morton 84 Aberdeen 81 Heart of Midlothian 67 Motherwell 66 Ayr United 64 Hamilton Academical 63 Stirling Albion 50 Queen of the South 47 East Fife 42 Dumbarton 41 Dunfermline Athletic 37 Albion Rovers 37 Rangers 32 Celtic 32 St Johnstone 29 Vale of Leven 25 St Bernard's 23 Clydebank [1914] 20 Abercorn 19 Port Glasgow Athletic 14 Leith Athletic [1887] 14 Renton 13 Dundee United 12 Cowdenbeath 12 Arbroath 8 East Stirlingshire 5 Bo'ness 5 Alloa Athletic 3 Total number of spells in possession of all potatoes: Spoiler team times St Mirren 47 Clyde 47 Dundee 43 Airdrieonians [1878] 43 Third Lanark 41 Hibernian 40 Queen's Park 39 Partick Thistle 38 Kilmarnock 38 Aberdeen 35 Heart of Midlothian 33 Motherwell 31 Falkirk 31 Greenock Morton 27 Raith Rovers 26 Rangers 18 Hamilton Academical 18 Celtic 18 Ayr United 15 Queen of the South 12 St Johnstone 11 Dumbarton 11 East Fife 10 Dunfermline Athletic 9 Albion Rovers 9 Stirling Albion 8 St Bernard's 8 Leith Athletic [1887] 7 Cowdenbeath 6 Clydebank [1914] 6 Dundee United 5 Port Glasgow Athletic 4 Arbroath 4 Abercorn 4 Vale of Leven 2 Renton 2 East Stirlingshire 2 Bo'ness 1 Alloa Athletic 1 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigkillie Posted September 21, 2021 Author Share Posted September 21, 2021 Potato 16 (1967-1975) Potato 16 kept itself in circulation for eight whole years, making it the longest running potato since WWII. It might have lasted even longer but for league reconstruction. This potato changed hands 92 times and visited 22 clubs before finally ending up being buried alongside Potato 2 in Dumbarton. We would also see Queen's Park being overtaken by a new club at the top of the all-time potato table. Hearts were the first team to take a hold of the potato after losing 4-1 at home to Hibs on the opening day of the 1967/68 season. It started with a series of short spells before ending up with Motherwell for six matches in the autumn - the Steelmen had four one-goal defeats and two draws before they passed it on to Clyde just before Christmas. The Bully Wee would be regular holders of this potato - they had it for 31 matches over seven spells, which took them to a total of 175 matches with all the potatoes, enough to leapfrog Queen's Park. January saw St Johnstone take the potato for eight matches and fall into the relegation zone in the process - they managed to offload it, and although they got it back briefly a month later, by that point they had already pulled towards safety. The potato would ultimately finish the season with mid-table Partick Thistle. Thistle offloaded it quickly at the start of 1968/69, and after a few games it made its way up to Arbroath for a 12 match spell between October and January - they offloaded it before getting it back a couple of weeks later, but fortunately for the potato they got rid of it again before finishing bottom and being relegated. However, they would be back before this potato expired - indeed the Red Lichties had this potato for a total of 35 matches, more than any other club. The potato safely spent in the summer in Paisley, in the midst of a 10 game stint with St Mirren across 1968/69 and 1969/70. After a brief stop with Clyde, it spent most of the autumn in the leafy West End with Partick Thistle, who had a 10 game run of their own. 10 was definitely the magic number for 1969/70, because it also subsequently spent 10 games with Raith Rovers from January to March. Rovers and Thistle both went down, but fortunately the potato had made its way to Dundee United by the time the season ended. The potato spent the first six matches of 1970/71 in the City of Discovery (two more with United then four with Dundee) before spending a further six games with Ayr United. After bouncing around a few clubs for the last couple of months of 1970, it made its way into the hands of Clyde in early January 1971. The Bully Wee sat in 12th places, 9 points clear of the relegation zone, with 15 matches remaining. They failed to win any of them, but fortunately for the potato they did draw seven of them, which was enough for them to just keep their heads above water. Defeats in the opening two matches of 1971/72 took their overall run to 17 matches with the potato before they were finally able to beat Motherwell 2-0. It was quickly passed to Killie then Dundee United, before it embarked on three lengthier spells that took it through most of the winter - five matches with Airdrie, five with Falkirk and then eight with Hearts. It would later spend six matches with relegation threatened East Fife, but an April victory over St Johnstone was enough to pass on the potato and keep them up, before the potato eventually spent the summer with 5th placed Dundee. The potato was very mobile during the 1972/73 season - it only had one spell of longer than three matches with any single club, that was an eight game run with Dumbarton in November and December. It ultimately finished the season in the safe hands of St Johnstone. 1973/74 wasn't too dissimilar - it had consecutive six game spells with East Fife and Clyde over the winter, but aside from that didn't spend more than four games with any club and eventually ended up enjoying a summer in sunny Greenock where it prepared for a tumultuous 1974/75 campaign. The 1974/75 season marked the transition from larger divisions to smaller divisions. The Scottish top flight had consisted of 18/20/22 teams for almost 70 years, but was now introducing a 10 team Premier Division as part of a move from a two division to a three division format. Therefore the bottom eight clubs would all be relegated out of the top flight at the end of this campaign, making it a tough task for the potato to survive. This would be a hugely cut-throat season, as evidenced by the potato changing hands 15 times across the whole season, including seven times in the first 11 matches. A nine-game spell with rock bottom Arbroath across the winter was the only run of more than three matches with the same club. Therefore, as we approached the end of the season, it was still all to play for. Arbroath's run ended with a win over Airdrie in March, but with Airdrie also looking doomed at that stage it was crucial for the potato that it was quickly passed on elsewhere. They delivered two weeks later, beating Celtic 1-0 at Broomfield in a result that all but ended the Hoops' bid for 10 titles in a row. Celtic beat Hearts a week later - Hearts were four points clear of relegation with four games to go, so if they held the potato until the end of the season there was a decent chance it would have survived. However, Hearts beat Motherwell 4-1 at Tynecastle in their penultimate game to send the potato down to Lanarkshire. Motherwell still had two matches remaining, but sat a point outside of the top 10 and therefore most likely needed at least one win to survive. If they didn't win and kept the potato then they'd probably be taking it to the second tier. The fixture list had them travelling to an already doomed Dumbarton on the final day, so the potato knew that a win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie in the second last game was its best to survive. The Steelmen led 2-1 at half-time, but ultimately the match finished in a 2-2 draw which meant the demise of the potato looked more likely. Motherwell were ahead of Kilmarnock on goal difference, so the potato's only hope was that Killie failed to win at home to Dundee United and then Motherwell kept their noses ahead of them without actually beating Dumbarton. Killie would ultimately lose 4-2, leaving the window open, but sadly for our friend Potato 16 Motherwell comfortably beat Dumbarton 3-1 to ensure its demise. Potato 16's journey: Spoiler club start_date games Heart of Midlothian 1967-09-09 1 Dunfermline Athletic 1967-09-16 3 Aberdeen 1967-10-07 1 Dundee United 1967-10-14 2 Falkirk 1967-10-28 2 Motherwell 1967-11-11 6 Clyde 1967-12-23 4 Falkirk 1968-01-13 1 St Johnstone 1968-01-20 8 Heart of Midlothian 1968-03-23 2 Kilmarnock 1968-04-10 1 St Johnstone 1968-04-13 2 Partick Thistle 1968-04-20 3 Clyde 1968-09-14 1 Raith Rovers 1968-09-21 3 Arbroath 1968-10-12 12 Greenock Morton 1969-01-04 1 Raith Rovers 1969-01-11 2 Arbroath 1969-02-01 4 Aberdeen 1969-03-08 1 St Mirren 1969-03-15 10 Clyde 1969-09-13 1 Partick Thistle 1969-09-20 10 Airdrieonians [1878] 1969-11-29 1 Ayr United 1969-12-06 3 Dunfermline Athletic 1969-12-20 2 Raith Rovers 1970-01-01 10 Rangers 1970-03-11 3 Heart of Midlothian 1970-03-25 2 Aberdeen 1970-04-04 2 Hibernian 1970-04-13 1 Dunfermline Athletic 1970-04-18 1 Dundee United 1970-04-22 3 Dundee 1970-09-12 4 Ayr United 1970-10-10 6 Rangers 1970-11-21 2 Greenock Morton 1970-11-28 3 St Johnstone 1970-12-19 1 Heart of Midlothian 1970-12-26 2 Clyde 1971-01-09 17 Motherwell 1971-09-11 1 Kilmarnock 1971-09-18 1 Dundee United 1971-09-25 1 Airdrieonians [1878] 1971-10-02 5 Falkirk 1971-11-06 5 Heart of Midlothian 1971-12-11 8 Clyde 1972-01-29 1 Ayr United 1972-02-12 3 East Fife 1972-03-11 6 St Johnstone 1972-04-22 1 Dundee 1972-04-29 5 Celtic 1972-09-23 1 Ayr United 1972-09-30 1 Partick Thistle 1972-10-07 3 East Fife 1972-10-28 1 Dumbarton 1972-11-04 8 Partick Thistle 1972-12-30 3 Airdrieonians [1878] 1973-01-13 1 Celtic 1973-01-27 1 Kilmarnock 1973-02-07 3 Airdrieonians [1878] 1973-03-03 1 Dumbarton 1973-03-07 2 Kilmarnock 1973-03-17 2 Greenock Morton 1973-03-31 2 Partick Thistle 1973-04-14 2 St Johnstone 1973-04-28 4 East Fife 1973-09-22 1 Dundee 1973-09-29 3 Arbroath 1973-10-20 3 East Fife 1973-11-10 6 Clyde 1973-12-29 6 Arbroath 1974-02-09 4 Ayr United 1974-03-23 2 Partick Thistle 1974-04-03 1 Aberdeen 1974-04-08 1 Partick Thistle 1974-04-13 4 Dundee United 1974-04-29 2 Greenock Morton 1974-05-10 1 Arbroath 1974-08-31 2 Clyde 1974-09-14 1 Ayr United 1974-09-21 2 Partick Thistle 1974-10-05 1 Dumbarton 1974-10-12 3 Airdrieonians [1878] 1974-11-02 1 Arbroath 1974-11-09 1 Heart of Midlothian 1974-11-16 3 Greenock Morton 1974-12-07 3 Arbroath 1974-12-28 9 Airdrieonians [1878] 1975-03-15 2 Celtic 1975-03-22 1 Heart of Midlothian 1975-03-29 3 Motherwell 1975-04-19 2 Dumbarton 1975-04-26 1 Total number of matches with Potato 16: Spoiler team games Arbroath 35 Clyde 31 Partick Thistle 27 Heart of Midlothian 21 Ayr United 17 St Johnstone 16 Raith Rovers 15 East Fife 14 Dumbarton 14 Dundee 12 Airdrieonians [1878] 11 St Mirren 10 Greenock Morton 10 Motherwell 9 Falkirk 8 Dundee United 8 Kilmarnock 7 Dunfermline Athletic 6 Rangers 5 Aberdeen 5 Celtic 3 Hibernian 1 Full set of results for Potato 16: Spoiler date holders opponents venue score 1967-09-09 Heart of Midlothian Hibernian H 1-4 1967-09-16 Heart of Midlothian Dunfermline Athletic A 3-1 1967-09-23 Dunfermline Athletic Motherwell A 1-1 1967-09-30 Dunfermline Athletic Kilmarnock H 1-2 1967-10-07 Dunfermline Athletic Aberdeen A 1-0 1967-10-14 Aberdeen Dundee United H 6-0 1967-10-21 Dundee United Partick Thistle H 2-2 1967-10-28 Dundee United Falkirk A 2-1 1967-11-04 Falkirk Heart of Midlothian A 0-1 1967-11-11 Falkirk Motherwell H 1-0 1967-11-18 Motherwell Kilmarnock H 1-2 1967-11-25 Motherwell Aberdeen A 1-2 1967-12-02 Motherwell Raith Rovers H 2-2 1967-12-09 Motherwell Partick Thistle A 2-2 1967-12-16 Motherwell Hibernian H 0-1 1967-12-23 Motherwell Clyde A 3-2 1967-12-30 Clyde Raith Rovers A 1-1 1968-01-01 Clyde Celtic H 2-3 1968-01-02 Clyde Partick Thistle A 0-2 1968-01-13 Clyde Falkirk A 1-0 1968-01-20 Falkirk St Johnstone A 1-0 1968-02-03 St Johnstone Dundee H 0-2 1968-02-10 St Johnstone Hibernian A 2-4 1968-03-02 St Johnstone Rangers A 2-6 1968-03-06 St Johnstone Greenock Morton H 1-2 1968-03-13 St Johnstone Dunfermline Athletic H 0-1 1968-03-16 St Johnstone Airdrieonians [1878] A 1-2 1968-03-20 St Johnstone Raith Rovers A 2-3 1968-03-23 St Johnstone Heart of Midlothian H 3-2 1968-04-06 Heart of Midlothian Celtic H 0-2 1968-04-10 Heart of Midlothian Kilmarnock H 1-0 1968-04-13 Kilmarnock St Johnstone H 1-0 1968-04-17 St Johnstone Aberdeen A 0-1 1968-04-20 St Johnstone Partick Thistle A 4-0 1968-04-27 Partick Thistle Airdrieonians [1878] A 0-0 1968-09-07 Partick Thistle Rangers A 0-2 1968-09-14 Partick Thistle Clyde H 4-0 1968-09-21 Clyde Raith Rovers H 3-2 1968-09-28 Raith Rovers Greenock Morton H 0-1 1968-10-05 Raith Rovers St Mirren A 2-2 1968-10-12 Raith Rovers Arbroath H 3-1 1968-10-19 Arbroath Dundee H 1-2 1968-10-26 Arbroath Dunfermline Athletic A 0-2 1968-11-02 Arbroath Rangers H 1-5 1968-11-09 Arbroath Celtic H 0-5 1968-11-16 Arbroath Aberdeen A 2-2 1968-11-23 Arbroath Hibernian H 3-4 1968-11-30 Arbroath Falkirk A 2-2 1968-12-07 Arbroath St Johnstone A 1-5 1968-12-14 Arbroath Partick Thistle H 2-2 1968-12-21 Arbroath Heart of Midlothian H 2-3 1969-01-02 Arbroath St Mirren A 1-2 1969-01-04 Arbroath Greenock Morton H 3-1 1969-01-11 Greenock Morton Raith Rovers H 3-2 1969-01-18 Raith Rovers St Mirren H 0-2 1969-02-01 Raith Rovers Arbroath A 1-0 1969-02-08 Arbroath Dundee A 0-3 1969-02-15 Arbroath Dunfermline Athletic H 0-1 1969-03-05 Arbroath Celtic A 1-7 1969-03-08 Arbroath Aberdeen H 2-1 1969-03-15 Aberdeen St Mirren A 2-1 1969-03-18 St Mirren Greenock Morton A 0-3 1969-03-22 St Mirren Dundee United A 2-2 1969-03-29 St Mirren Celtic H 0-3 1969-04-05 St Mirren Dunfermline Athletic H 1-2 1969-04-12 St Mirren Clyde A 0-0 1969-04-19 St Mirren Heart of Midlothian A 1-2 1969-08-30 St Mirren Dunfermline Athletic H 1-3 1969-09-03 St Mirren Hibernian A 0-2 1969-09-06 St Mirren Rangers A 0-2 1969-09-13 St Mirren Clyde H 4-0 1969-09-20 Clyde Partick Thistle H 2-1 1969-09-27 Partick Thistle Rangers H 1-2 1969-10-04 Partick Thistle Kilmarnock H 2-2 1969-10-11 Partick Thistle Aberdeen A 1-2 1969-10-18 Partick Thistle Raith Rovers H 1-1 1969-10-25 Partick Thistle Heart of Midlothian A 1-1 1969-11-01 Partick Thistle Dundee United A 0-1 1969-11-08 Partick Thistle Motherwell H 2-2 1969-11-15 Partick Thistle St Mirren A 0-1 1969-11-22 Partick Thistle Ayr United H 1-3 1969-11-29 Partick Thistle Airdrieonians [1878] A 3-2 1969-12-06 Airdrieonians [1878] Ayr United A 3-1 1969-12-10 Ayr United St Johnstone A 0-2 1969-12-13 Ayr United Hibernian A 3-4 1969-12-20 Ayr United Dunfermline Athletic H 1-0 1969-12-27 Dunfermline Athletic St Johnstone A 0-1 1970-01-01 Dunfermline Athletic Raith Rovers H 3-0 1970-01-03 Raith Rovers Hibernian H 0-3 1970-01-10 Raith Rovers Aberdeen A 1-5 1970-01-17 Raith Rovers Dundee A 0-0 1970-01-31 Raith Rovers Kilmarnock H 2-3 1970-02-07 Raith Rovers Clyde A 1-1 1970-02-25 Raith Rovers Celtic H 0-2 1970-02-28 Raith Rovers St Mirren A 3-3 1970-03-04 Raith Rovers Airdrieonians [1878] A 0-3 1970-03-07 Raith Rovers Partick Thistle H 1-1 1970-03-11 Raith Rovers Rangers H 2-1 1970-03-14 Rangers Dunfermline Athletic A 1-2 1970-03-21 Rangers Dundee A 1-2 1970-03-25 Rangers Heart of Midlothian H 3-2 1970-03-28 Heart of Midlothian Celtic H 0-0 1970-04-04 Heart of Midlothian Aberdeen A 1-0 1970-04-06 Aberdeen Kilmarnock H 2-2 1970-04-13 Aberdeen Hibernian A 2-1 1970-04-18 Hibernian Dunfermline Athletic A 2-1 1970-04-22 Dunfermline Athletic Dundee United A 3-1 1970-08-29 Dundee United Hibernian H 1-1 1970-09-05 Dundee United St Johnstone A 1-1 1970-09-12 Dundee United Dundee H 3-2 1970-09-19 Dundee St Mirren H 2-2 1970-09-26 Dundee Celtic A 0-3 1970-10-03 Dundee Falkirk H 1-2 1970-10-10 Dundee Ayr United A 1-0 1970-10-17 Ayr United Hibernian A 0-4 1970-10-24 Ayr United Falkirk A 0-2 1970-10-31 Ayr United St Mirren H 1-1 1970-11-07 Ayr United Dundee United A 2-4 1970-11-14 Ayr United Aberdeen H 0-1 1970-11-21 Ayr United Rangers H 2-1 1970-11-25 Rangers Hibernian A 2-3 1970-11-28 Rangers Greenock Morton A 2-1 1970-12-05 Greenock Morton Heart of Midlothian A 2-2 1970-12-12 Greenock Morton Dundee A 0-2 1970-12-19 Greenock Morton St Johnstone H 3-1 1970-12-26 St Johnstone Heart of Midlothian H 2-1 1971-01-01 Heart of Midlothian Hibernian H 0-0 1971-01-09 Heart of Midlothian Clyde H 3-1 1971-01-16 Clyde Ayr United H 0-0 1971-02-06 Clyde St Mirren H 1-2 1971-02-20 Clyde Cowdenbeath A 1-1 1971-02-27 Clyde Airdrieonians [1878] H 1-1 1971-03-06 Clyde Dunfermline Athletic A 0-0 1971-03-13 Clyde Aberdeen H 1-2 1971-03-20 Clyde Rangers H 2-2 1971-03-27 Clyde Greenock Morton A 0-0 1971-04-03 Clyde Dundee H 0-0 1971-04-10 Clyde St Johnstone A 1-2 1971-04-14 Clyde Dundee United A 0-1 1971-04-17 Clyde Kilmarnock H 0-1 1971-04-21 Clyde Motherwell H 1-2 1971-04-24 Clyde Hibernian A 1-5 1971-05-01 Clyde Celtic A 1-6 1971-09-04 Clyde Celtic A 1-9 1971-09-11 Clyde Motherwell H 2-0 1971-09-18 Motherwell Kilmarnock H 3-0 1971-09-25 Kilmarnock Dundee United H 2-0 1971-10-02 Dundee United Airdrieonians [1878] H 5-0 1971-10-09 Airdrieonians [1878] Ayr United H 3-4 1971-10-16 Airdrieonians [1878] Heart of Midlothian A 1-1 1971-10-23 Airdrieonians [1878] East Fife H 1-1 1971-10-30 Airdrieonians [1878] Dunfermline Athletic A 0-1 1971-11-06 Airdrieonians [1878] Falkirk A 2-1 1971-11-13 Falkirk Partick Thistle H 0-0 1971-11-20 Falkirk Celtic A 0-2 1971-11-27 Falkirk East Fife H 1-1 1971-12-04 Falkirk Motherwell A 1-2 1971-12-11 Falkirk Heart of Midlothian H 2-0 1971-12-18 Heart of Midlothian Partick Thistle H 0-0 1971-12-25 Heart of Midlothian Celtic A 2-3 1972-01-01 Heart of Midlothian Hibernian A 0-0 1972-01-03 Heart of Midlothian Dunfermline Athletic H 1-1 1972-01-08 Heart of Midlothian St Johnstone A 1-1 1972-01-15 Heart of Midlothian Dundee H 2-5 1972-01-22 Heart of Midlothian Rangers A 0-6 1972-01-29 Heart of Midlothian Clyde H 2-0 1972-02-12 Clyde Ayr United H 3-0 1972-02-19 Ayr United St Johnstone H 0-0 1972-03-04 Ayr United Celtic A 0-2 1972-03-11 Ayr United East Fife H 4-0 1972-03-15 East Fife Dundee United A 2-2 1972-03-21 East Fife Aberdeen H 0-1 1972-04-01 East Fife Falkirk H 2-2 1972-04-08 East Fife Partick Thistle A 0-1 1972-04-15 East Fife Celtic H 0-3 1972-04-22 East Fife St Johnstone A 1-0 1972-04-29 St Johnstone Dundee A 3-1 1972-05-01 Dundee Celtic H 1-1 1972-09-02 Dundee Motherwell A 2-2 1972-09-09 Dundee Aberdeen H 0-0 1972-09-16 Dundee Dundee United A 1-2 1972-09-23 Dundee Celtic H 2-0 1972-09-30 Celtic Ayr United H 1-0 1972-10-07 Ayr United Partick Thistle H 2-1 1972-10-14 Partick Thistle Celtic H 0-4 1972-10-21 Partick Thistle Hibernian H 1-3 1972-10-28 Partick Thistle East Fife A 1-0 1972-11-04 East Fife Dumbarton H 2-1 1972-11-11 Dumbarton Kilmarnock A 2-2 1972-11-18 Dumbarton Greenock Morton H 2-2 1972-11-25 Dumbarton Rangers A 1-3 1972-12-02 Dumbarton Celtic H 1-6 1972-12-09 Dumbarton Ayr United A 0-2 1972-12-16 Dumbarton Motherwell H 0-0 1972-12-23 Dumbarton Dundee United A 2-3 1972-12-30 Dumbarton Partick Thistle H 4-2 1973-01-01 Partick Thistle Rangers H 0-1 1973-01-06 Partick Thistle Arbroath A 1-2 1973-01-13 Partick Thistle Airdrieonians [1878] H 2-0 1973-01-27 Airdrieonians [1878] Celtic H 2-1 1973-02-07 Celtic Kilmarnock A 4-0 1973-02-10 Kilmarnock St Johnstone A 2-2 1973-02-27 Kilmarnock Dundee H 1-2 1973-03-03 Kilmarnock Airdrieonians [1878] A 1-0 1973-03-07 Airdrieonians [1878] Dumbarton A 5-3 1973-03-10 Dumbarton East Fife H 0-0 1973-03-17 Dumbarton Kilmarnock H 4-2 1973-03-24 Kilmarnock Aberdeen H 0-2 1973-03-31 Kilmarnock Greenock Morton H 2-1 1973-04-07 Greenock Morton Motherwell A 0-3 1973-04-14 Greenock Morton Partick Thistle H 5-0 1973-04-21 Partick Thistle Dundee H 1-1 1973-04-28 Partick Thistle St Johnstone A 3-1 1973-09-01 St Johnstone Arbroath H 0-0 1973-09-08 St Johnstone Dundee United A 0-2 1973-09-15 St Johnstone Aberdeen H 1-2 1973-09-22 St Johnstone East Fife A 2-1 1973-09-29 East Fife Dundee A 1-0 1973-10-06 Dundee Partick Thistle A 0-1 1973-10-13 Dundee Celtic H 0-1 1973-10-20 Dundee Arbroath A 4-2 1973-10-27 Arbroath Falkirk A 2-2 1973-11-03 Arbroath Heart of Midlothian H 2-3 1973-11-10 Arbroath East Fife A 2-0 1973-11-17 East Fife Dundee United A 0-0 1973-11-24 East Fife Aberdeen H 2-2 1973-12-08 East Fife Heart of Midlothian H 0-0 1973-12-15 East Fife Motherwell A 1-3 1973-12-22 East Fife Ayr United A 0-1 1973-12-29 East Fife Clyde H 1-0 1974-01-01 Clyde Celtic H 0-2 1974-01-05 Clyde Falkirk A 0-3 1974-01-12 Clyde Ayr United H 1-3 1974-01-19 Clyde Aberdeen A 1-1 1974-02-02 Clyde Dundee United H 1-2 1974-02-09 Clyde Arbroath A 2-1 1974-02-23 Arbroath Dundee A 2-5 1974-03-02 Arbroath Falkirk H 0-0 1974-03-16 Arbroath East Fife H 1-2 1974-03-23 Arbroath Ayr United A 2-1 1974-03-30 Ayr United Dundee United A 1-2 1974-04-03 Ayr United Partick Thistle H 1-0 1974-04-08 Partick Thistle Aberdeen H 2-0 1974-04-13 Aberdeen Partick Thistle H 2-0 1974-04-20 Partick Thistle Falkirk H 2-2 1974-04-24 Partick Thistle Dundee United A 1-1 1974-04-27 Partick Thistle Heart of Midlothian A 1-3 1974-04-29 Partick Thistle Dundee United H 2-1 1974-05-08 Dundee United Hibernian H 1-4 1974-05-10 Dundee United Greenock Morton H 4-2 1974-08-31 Greenock Morton Arbroath A 2-0 1974-09-07 Arbroath Dunfermline Athletic A 1-3 1974-09-14 Arbroath Clyde H 2-0 1974-09-21 Clyde Ayr United H 1-0 1974-09-28 Ayr United Celtic A 3-5 1974-10-05 Ayr United Partick Thistle H 5-2 1974-10-12 Partick Thistle Dumbarton H 2-1 1974-10-19 Dumbarton Aberdeen H 2-3 1974-10-26 Dumbarton Dundee United A 3-3 1974-11-02 Dumbarton Airdrieonians [1878] H 2-0 1974-11-09 Airdrieonians [1878] Arbroath H 1-0 1974-11-16 Arbroath Heart of Midlothian H 3-1 1974-11-23 Heart of Midlothian Celtic H 1-1 1974-11-30 Heart of Midlothian Clyde A 2-2 1974-12-07 Heart of Midlothian Greenock Morton H 3-1 1974-12-14 Greenock Morton Dundee United H 0-6 1974-12-21 Greenock Morton Ayr United A 1-1 1974-12-28 Greenock Morton Arbroath H 3-2 1975-01-01 Arbroath Dunfermline Athletic H 1-3 1975-01-04 Arbroath Clyde A 1-3 1975-01-11 Arbroath Dundee H 2-2 1975-02-01 Arbroath Motherwell A 1-3 1975-02-08 Arbroath Celtic H 2-2 1975-02-19 Arbroath Dumbarton A 1-5 1975-02-22 Arbroath Partick Thistle A 0-1 1975-03-01 Arbroath Aberdeen H 1-2 1975-03-15 Arbroath Airdrieonians [1878] H 3-1 1975-03-18 Airdrieonians [1878] Dumbarton H 1-1 1975-03-22 Airdrieonians [1878] Celtic H 1-0 1975-03-29 Celtic Heart of Midlothian H 4-1 1975-04-05 Heart of Midlothian Clyde H 0-1 1975-04-12 Heart of Midlothian Greenock Morton A 0-0 1975-04-19 Heart of Midlothian Motherwell H 4-1 1975-04-23 Motherwell Aberdeen A 2-2 1975-04-26 Motherwell Dumbarton H 3-1 Final resting places of all potatoes: Spoiler Potato 1 - Vale of Leven Potato 2 - Dumbarton Potato 3 - Clydebank [1914] Potato 4 - Dundee United Potato 5 - Dunfermline Athletic Potato 6 - Greenock Morton Potato 7 - Hamilton Academical Potato 8 - Airdrieonians [1878] Potato 9 - Albion Rovers Potato 10 - Falkirk Potato 11 - Stirling Albion Potato 12 - Queen's Park Potato 13 - Third Lanark Potato 14 - Hamilton Academical (2nd potato) Potato 15 - Ayr United Potato 16 - Dumbarton (2nd potato) Total number of matches with all potatoes: Spoiler team games Clyde 175 Queen's Park 159 Third Lanark 135 Partick Thistle 134 Kilmarnock 128 St Mirren 127 Airdrieonians [1878] 125 Raith Rovers 122 Dundee 112 Hibernian 108 Greenock Morton 94 Falkirk 94 Heart of Midlothian 88 Aberdeen 86 Ayr United 81 Motherwell 75 Hamilton Academical 63 East Fife 56 Dumbarton 55 Stirling Albion 50 Queen of the South 47 St Johnstone 45 Dunfermline Athletic 43 Arbroath 43 Rangers 37 Albion Rovers 37 Celtic 35 Vale of Leven 25 St Bernard's 23 Dundee United 20 Clydebank [1914] 20 Abercorn 19 Port Glasgow Athletic 14 Leith Athletic [1887] 14 Renton 13 Cowdenbeath 12 East Stirlingshire 5 Bo'ness 5 Alloa Athletic 3 Total number of spells in possession of all potatoes: Spoiler team times Clyde 54 Airdrieonians [1878] 49 St Mirren 48 Partick Thistle 46 Dundee 46 Kilmarnock 42 Third Lanark 41 Hibernian 41 Heart of Midlothian 40 Queen's Park 39 Aberdeen 39 Motherwell 34 Falkirk 34 Greenock Morton 32 Raith Rovers 29 Celtic 21 Ayr United 21 Rangers 20 Hamilton Academical 18 St Johnstone 16 Dumbarton 15 East Fife 14 Queen of the South 12 Dunfermline Athletic 12 Arbroath 11 Dundee United 9 Albion Rovers 9 Stirling Albion 8 St Bernard's 8 Leith Athletic [1887] 7 Cowdenbeath 6 Clydebank [1914] 6 Port Glasgow Athletic 4 Abercorn 4 Vale of Leven 2 Renton 2 East Stirlingshire 2 Bo'ness 1 Alloa Athletic 1 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bully Wee Villa Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 Well, at least we won't be bothering the potato engravers again any time soon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ropy Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 I was at a potato match 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desp Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 I've actually just celebrated after reading Motherwell beat Dumbarton on the last day of the 1974/75 season, ensuring we didn't end up with Potato 16. What a thread! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ropy Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 10 minutes ago, Desp said: I've actually just celebrated after reading Motherwell beat Dumbarton on the last day of the 1974/75 season, ensuring we didn't end up with Potato 16. What a thread! That was the game that meant we were part of the inaugural new fangled premier league 10 team thing. If the players and the fans knew that lifetime ownership of potato 16 was at stake then the nerves could have taken us down a different historical path. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnstoun Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 (edited) Excuse the formatting, but here's the average potato retention to date (average number of games retaining a potato) Spoiler Abercorn 4.75 Aberdeen 2.2 Airdrieonians [1878] 2.55 Albion Rovers 4.11 Alloa Athletic 3 Arbroath 3.9 Ayr United 3.85 Bo'ness 5 Celtic 1.66 Clyde 3.24 Clydebank [1914] 3.33 Cowdenbeath 2 Dumbarton 3.66 Dundee 2.43 Dundee United 2.22 Dunfermline Athletic 3.58 East Fife 4 East Stirlingshire 2.5 Falkirk 2.76 Greenock Morton 2.93 Hamilton Academical 3.5 Heart of Midlothian 2.2 Hibernian 2.63 Kilmarnock 3.04 Leith Athletic [1887] 2 Motherwell 2.2 Partick Thistle 2.91 Port Glasgow Athletic 3.5 Queen of the South 3.91 Queen's Park 4.07 Raith Rovers 4.2 Rangers 1.85 Renton 6.5 St Bernard's 2.87 St Johnstone 2.81 St Mirren 2.64 Stirling Albion 6.25 Third Lanark 3.29 Vale of Leven 12.5 Edited September 22, 2021 by Johnstoun 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aim Here Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 52 minutes ago, Johnstoun said: Excuse the formatting, but here's the average potato retention to date (average number of games retaining a potato) Hide contents Abercorn 4.75 Aberdeen 2.2 Airdrieonians [1878] 2.55 Albion Rovers 4.11 Alloa Athletic 3 Arbroath 3.9 Ayr United 3.85 Bo'ness 5 Celtic 1.66 Clyde 3.24 Clydebank [1914] 3.33 Cowdenbeath 2 Dumbarton 3.66 Dundee 2.43 Dundee United 2.22 Dunfermline Athletic 3.58 East Fife 4 East Stirlingshire 2.5 Falkirk 2.76 Greenock Morton 2.93 Hamilton Academical 3.5 Heart of Midlothian 2.2 Hibernian 2.63 Kilmarnock 3.04 Leith Athletic [1887] 2 Motherwell 2.2 Partick Thistle 2.91 Port Glasgow Athletic 3.5 Queen of the South 3.91 Queen's Park 4.07 Raith Rovers 4.2 Rangers 1.85 Renton 6.5 St Bernard's 2.87 St Johnstone 2.81 St Mirren 2.64 Stirling Albion 6.25 Third Lanark 3.29 Vale of Leven 12.5 I'd have sorted this numerically, rather than alphabetically, so that you could see at a glance that Celtic, Rangers, Leith Athletic, and Cowdenbeath(!!) were the most tuberophobic, while the likes of Vale of Leven, Renton, Stirling Albion and Bo'ness were the top tattie-retainers. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnstoun Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 8 minutes ago, Aim Here said: I'd have sorted this numerically, rather than alphabetically, so that you could see at a glance that Celtic, Rangers, Leith Athletic, and Cowdenbeath(!!) were the most tuberophobic, while the likes of Vale of Leven, Renton, Stirling Albion and Bo'ness were the top tattie-retainers. I would have done but my formatting skills suck! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mantis Posted September 25, 2021 Share Posted September 25, 2021 (edited) On 22/09/2021 at 00:08, ropy said: I was at a potato match Ha! Same here. The potato entered my life (or vice-versa) on the opening game of 66-7. Little did I know that on my introduction to Senior fitba I was witnessing history being made. I never caught sight of the tattie though, maybe the handover was done in the Ibrox boardroom. I was told that Jim Forrest scored a hat-trick, but all I can remember was being soaked to the skin due to the heavy showers. The steelwork was up at the Copland Road end, but the cover wasn’t. Amazingly (for me at least) I also saw the opening day demolition of Hearts by Hibs in 67-8. Edited September 25, 2021 by The Mantis 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigkillie Posted September 28, 2021 Author Share Posted September 28, 2021 Potato 17 (1975-1977) As Scottish football entered a brave new era, the odds became increasingly stacked against the potato in terms of survival. Instead of 2 relegation spots from a league of 18, it was now 2 out of 10, which meant the potato was going to have to dodge, dip, duck, dive and dodge on an annual basis to avoid the chop. Potato 17 managed to make it to a second season, but agonisingly dropped down after changing hands on the final day of that campaign. The opening day of first ever Premier League season in 1975/76 witnessed four of the five home teams winning by a single goal - Dundee beat Aberdeen 3-2, Hibs beat Hearts 1-0, Rangers beat Celtic 2-1 and St Johnstone beat Dundee United 1-0. That meant the potato had to be randomly allocated to one of the four sides who lost, and Aberdeen were the unlucky recipients. The Dons held on to the potato for four matches before passing it to Ayr United with a 3-1 win at Pittodrie, before the Honest Men fairly quickly passed it on to Rangers with an emphatic 3-0 win at Somerset Park. It would take the Gers four attempts to offload the potato before finally beating Dundee United 4-1. The potato would spend the bulk of the winter in Dundee, staying at Tannadice for a total of 12 matches before United finally picked up a 1-0 win over Heart of Midlothian at Tynecastle. Hearts rectified things the following week by giving it back to Ayr United, before Ayr quickly sent the potato over to Perth with a 2-1 win over St Johnstone at Muirton Park. Saints were already all but doomed to relegation with nine matches left to play, so the focus was all on keeping the potato alive. The potato looked to be in trouble as they failed to win any of their next six matches, but a home victory over Aberdeen gave the potato at least some chance of survival. The Dons were themselves were caught up in a five-way battle to avoid the final relegation spot - both they and Hearts were on 30 points, while both Dundee clubs and Ayr United were on 29. Crucially though, the Dons only had one game to play while the others had two or three to go. Therefore, Aberdeen really had to beat Hibs at Pittodrie in their final game or they would most likely take the potato down with them. Fortunately for the potato, the Dons beat Hibernian 3-0, but there was yet another twist still in place for the potato, as Hibs still had another game left, against a Dundee United team who were in the relegation zone at the time. However, United did the business at Tannadice to save themselves and the potato and keep it in Edinburgh and the Premier Division over the summer. Hibs would keep a hold of the potato for six more matches at the start of 1976/77 before they were finally able to pass it to Ayr United at Somerset Park. Ayr took the potato to Rugby Park the following week and were thrashed 6-1, before they offloaded it to Partick Thistle in their next match. The Jags had it for three matches before beating Heart of Midlothian 1-0, but Hearts would immediately go out and beat Ayr United in their next match. Ayr held the potato over Christmas and New Year before getting some revenge for their embarrassing drubbing earlier in the season by scraping a 3-1 win over Kilmarnock at Somerset. It took Killie seven attempts to get rid of the potato, finally beating Heart of Midlothian 2-1 at Rugby Park to set off Hearts on an even longer run of potato ownership. Hearts were in 6th place before that defeat, but they failed to win any of their next 11 matches, which meant that with three games to go both they and Killie were already confirmed as being relegated. In their next match, however, they saved the potato by picking up a shock win over Dundee United at Tannadice, meaning the potato was just two matches from safety. United lost their next game to Rangers, but then faced rock bottom Kilmarnock on the final day. With 10 minutes to go the match was level at 1-1 and the potato seemed like it was going to live to fight another day, but Paul Sturrock popped up with an 82nd minute winner to ensure that the potato went down with Kilmarnock. Potato 17's journey: Spoiler club start_date games Aberdeen 1975-08-30 4 Ayr United 1975-09-27 2 Rangers 1975-10-11 4 Dundee United 1975-11-12 12 Heart of Midlothian 1976-02-21 1 Ayr United 1976-02-28 2 St Johnstone 1976-03-20 7 Aberdeen 1976-04-21 1 Hibernian 1976-04-24 8 Ayr United 1976-10-23 2 Partick Thistle 1976-11-06 3 Heart of Midlothian 1976-11-30 1 Ayr United 1976-12-11 3 Kilmarnock 1977-01-01 7 Heart of Midlothian 1977-02-15 11 Dundee United 1977-04-20 2 Kilmarnock 1977-04-30 1 Total number of matches with Potato 17: Spoiler team games Dundee United 14 Heart of Midlothian 13 Ayr United 9 Kilmarnock 8 Hibernian 8 St Johnstone 7 Aberdeen 5 Rangers 4 Partick Thistle 3 Full set of results for Potato 17: Spoiler date holders opponents venue score 1975-08-30 Aberdeen Dundee A 2-3 1975-09-06 Aberdeen Motherwell H 2-2 1975-09-13 Aberdeen Dundee United H 1-3 1975-09-20 Aberdeen Heart of Midlothian A 2-2 1975-09-27 Aberdeen Ayr United H 3-1 1975-10-04 Ayr United Dundee United A 2-3 1975-10-11 Ayr United Rangers H 3-0 1975-10-18 Rangers Motherwell A 1-2 1975-11-01 Rangers Celtic A 1-1 1975-11-08 Rangers Heart of Midlothian H 1-2 1975-11-12 Rangers Dundee United H 4-1 1975-11-15 Dundee United Aberdeen H 1-2 1975-11-22 Dundee United Motherwell A 1-2 1975-11-29 Dundee United Celtic H 1-3 1975-12-06 Dundee United Ayr United A 2-2 1975-12-13 Dundee United Heart of Midlothian H 0-1 1975-12-20 Dundee United Dundee A 0-0 1975-12-27 Dundee United Rangers H 0-0 1976-01-01 Dundee United St Johnstone A 1-1 1976-01-10 Dundee United Aberdeen A 3-5 1976-01-17 Dundee United Motherwell H 1-4 1976-01-31 Dundee United Celtic A 1-2 1976-02-21 Dundee United Heart of Midlothian A 1-0 1976-02-28 Heart of Midlothian Ayr United H 1-0 1976-03-03 Ayr United Dundee United A 0-5 1976-03-20 Ayr United St Johnstone A 2-1 1976-03-27 St Johnstone Rangers H 0-3 1976-03-31 St Johnstone Dundee United A 1-1 1976-04-03 St Johnstone Celtic A 0-1 1976-04-10 St Johnstone Hibernian H 0-2 1976-04-14 St Johnstone Motherwell A 0-2 1976-04-17 St Johnstone Dundee H 1-1 1976-04-21 St Johnstone Aberdeen H 2-0 1976-04-24 Aberdeen Hibernian H 3-0 1976-04-28 Hibernian Dundee United A 0-2 1976-09-04 Hibernian Dundee United H 1-2 1976-09-11 Hibernian Motherwell A 2-2 1976-09-18 Hibernian Rangers H 1-1 1976-09-25 Hibernian Aberdeen H 0-0 1976-10-02 Hibernian Celtic A 1-1 1976-10-16 Hibernian Partick Thistle H 0-0 1976-10-23 Hibernian Ayr United A 3-2 1976-10-30 Ayr United Kilmarnock A 1-6 1976-11-06 Ayr United Partick Thistle H 2-1 1976-11-20 Partick Thistle Motherwell A 0-3 1976-11-27 Partick Thistle Dundee United H 1-5 1976-11-30 Partick Thistle Heart of Midlothian H 2-1 1976-12-11 Heart of Midlothian Ayr United A 1-0 1976-12-18 Ayr United Celtic A 0-3 1976-12-24 Ayr United Hibernian A 0-1 1977-01-01 Ayr United Kilmarnock H 3-1 1977-01-03 Kilmarnock Motherwell H 2-2 1977-01-08 Kilmarnock Rangers A 0-3 1977-01-22 Kilmarnock Celtic H 1-3 1977-02-05 Kilmarnock Heart of Midlothian A 0-4 1977-02-07 Kilmarnock Aberdeen A 0-2 1977-02-12 Kilmarnock Hibernian H 0-1 1977-02-15 Kilmarnock Heart of Midlothian H 2-1 1977-02-19 Heart of Midlothian Motherwell A 1-2 1977-03-05 Heart of Midlothian Dundee United H 1-1 1977-03-19 Heart of Midlothian Aberdeen H 1-1 1977-03-23 Heart of Midlothian Hibernian A 1-3 1977-03-26 Heart of Midlothian Partick Thistle A 0-2 1977-04-02 Heart of Midlothian Celtic H 0-3 1977-04-06 Heart of Midlothian Ayr United H 1-2 1977-04-09 Heart of Midlothian Rangers H 1-3 1977-04-13 Heart of Midlothian Hibernian H 2-2 1977-04-16 Heart of Midlothian Kilmarnock A 2-2 1977-04-20 Heart of Midlothian Dundee United A 2-1 1977-04-23 Dundee United Rangers H 0-1 1977-04-30 Dundee United Kilmarnock A 2-1 Final resting places of all potatoes: Spoiler Potato 1 - Vale of Leven Potato 2 - Dumbarton Potato 3 - Clydebank [1914] Potato 4 - Dundee United Potato 5 - Dunfermline Athletic Potato 6 - Greenock Morton Potato 7 - Hamilton Academical Potato 8 - Airdrieonians [1878] Potato 9 - Albion Rovers Potato 10 - Falkirk Potato 11 - Stirling Albion Potato 12 - Queen's Park Potato 13 - Third Lanark Potato 14 - Hamilton Academical (2nd potato) Potato 15 - Ayr United Potato 16 - Dumbarton (2nd potato) Potato 17 - Kilmarnock Total number of matches with all potatoes: Spoiler team games Clyde 175 Queen's Park 159 Partick Thistle 137 Kilmarnock 136 Third Lanark 135 St Mirren 127 Airdrieonians [1878] 125 Raith Rovers 122 Hibernian 116 Dundee 112 Heart of Midlothian 101 Greenock Morton 94 Falkirk 94 Aberdeen 91 Ayr United 90 Motherwell 75 Hamilton Academical 63 East Fife 56 Dumbarton 55 St Johnstone 52 Stirling Albion 50 Queen of the South 47 Dunfermline Athletic 43 Arbroath 43 Rangers 41 Albion Rovers 37 Celtic 35 Dundee United 34 Vale of Leven 25 St Bernard's 23 Clydebank [1914] 20 Abercorn 19 Port Glasgow Athletic 14 Leith Athletic [1887] 14 Renton 13 Cowdenbeath 12 East Stirlingshire 5 Bo'ness 5 Alloa Athletic 3 Total number of spells in possession of all potatoes: Spoiler team times Clyde 54 Airdrieonians [1878] 49 St Mirren 48 Partick Thistle 47 Dundee 46 Kilmarnock 44 Heart of Midlothian 43 Hibernian 42 Third Lanark 41 Aberdeen 41 Queen's Park 39 Motherwell 34 Falkirk 34 Greenock Morton 32 Raith Rovers 29 Ayr United 25 Rangers 21 Celtic 21 Hamilton Academical 18 St Johnstone 17 Dumbarton 15 East Fife 14 Queen of the South 12 Dunfermline Athletic 12 Dundee United 11 Arbroath 11 Albion Rovers 9 Stirling Albion 8 St Bernard's 8 Leith Athletic [1887] 7 Cowdenbeath 6 Clydebank [1914] 6 Port Glasgow Athletic 4 Abercorn 4 Vale of Leven 2 Renton 2 East Stirlingshire 2 Bo'ness 1 Alloa Athletic 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aberdeen1970 Posted September 29, 2021 Share Posted September 29, 2021 On 05/09/2021 at 22:55, Aim Here said: Oh my. Unlucky potato 13 goes down and takes Third Lanark out of existence entirely. Can't get any more of a portentous omen than that. Coupled with the potatoes going to Vale of Leven, and two dead iterations of Airdrieonians and Clydebank, that's a whopping 4 potatoes out of 13 going to dead clubs, and Scottish football clubs don't die THAT often. Except if they're called Clydebank, of course. That's a fantastically high hit-rate. It's almost as if the potato has been the invisible hidden hand controlling Scottish fitba' all along. Looking forward to the engine room subsidiary potato in 2012. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigkillie Posted September 29, 2021 Author Share Posted September 29, 2021 Potato 18 (1977-1979) Potato 18 would be another which suffered from the curse of the difficult second season in the new cut-throat Premier Division. The potato dramatically dodged the drop in its first season, but in year two it would meet its demise in the hands of one of the traditional big clubs. In total, the potato would change hands 16 times, and would visit nine of the 12 clubs who played in the Premier Division over these seasons, with only Aberdeen, Celtic and Morton avoiding its starchy charms. The 1977/78 season kicked off with four draws on the opening day, the only decisive result saw Aberdeen beat Rangers 3-1 at Pittodrie. The Gers lost to Hibs the following week, but then took the potato on a short subway trip and left it behind in Maryhill with a 4-0 win over Partick Thistle. The Jags would immediately pass it on to newly promoted Clydebank, who kept it for four games before passing it on to Motherwell. The Steelmen offloaded it to Hibernian a fortnight later, and the Hibees took six attempts to get rid of it before finally beating Ayr United at Somerset Park. Ayr returned it to Clydebank the following week to ensure that the potato spent Christmas and New Year with the Bankies, before they sent it down Great Western Road to Partick Thistle in January. The Jags kept the potato for over two months but this was more down to the winter weather - they only played three league matches in that time and beat Ayr United at Somerset Park in the third one. Ayr were already in the relegation zone heading into this match, and a run of six defeats and one draw in their next seven confirmed their relegation with three matches remaining. This would be Ayr's last (ever?) season in the top flight, but fortunately the potato would survive for at least one more thanks to a 2-0 victory over Hibernian the following week. Hibs drew with Aberdeen on the final day to qualify for Europe in 4th place ahead of Celtic, and also to ensure that the potato spent the summer with them. Hibs failed to win any of their three opening games of 1978/79, but finally passed the potato to St Mirren thanks to a 1-0 win at Easter Road. Saints beat Partick Thistle by the same scoreline the following week, and the Jags held it for four weeks before sending it back to Hibernian with a 2-1 win at Firhill. Having kept the potato for the whole summer, Hibs decided it should also spend the entire winter with them too - they had it for 11 matches before they beat Motherwell 3-0 at Fir Park in mid-February. Surprisingly, despite holding the potato for a total of 14 matches in this campaign, Hibs would still finish a comfortable 5th. The same couldn't be said for Motherwell - they were already bottom going into that Hibs game, and it would be the first of a run of 12 matches without a win (including a 6-0 defeat to Morton and and an 8-0 loss to Aberdeen) which confirmed their relegation. Just as the potato was starting to look doomed, the Steelmen picked up a surprise 2-0 win over Rangers at Fir Park. Rangers' next match was a potential title decider at Tannadice - the fixture list had been thrown into chaos due to an icy winter, which meant that Rangers went into the game eight points behind their opponents but had five games in hand. The match finished Dundee United 1-2 Rangers, but ultimately it would be Celtic who would go on to win the league. The Terrors immediately offloaded the potato to Heart of Midlothian win a 2-1 victory which all but doomed the Jam Tarts to relegation. Hearts had five games remaining to save the potato - they took heavy pumpings in the first two of these, losing 4-0 at Ibrox and 5-0 at Pittodrie, then suffered a more modest 2-0 defeat at Firhill. Their penultimate game was at home to mid-table Morton - this was Morton's final game of the season, so a Hearts win would have saved the potato, but the visitors won 1-0 to put the potato in last chance saloon. Unfortunately, that saloon was based in the East End of Glasgow, and Celtic won the duel 1-0 to help themselves towards the title and doom the potato to the grave. This would be the first potato to come to a permanent resting place in Edinburgh. Potato 18's journey: Spoiler club start_date games Rangers 1977-08-13 2 Partick Thistle 1977-08-27 1 Clydebank [1965] 1977-09-10 4 Motherwell 1977-10-08 2 Hibernian 1977-10-22 6 Ayr United 1977-12-10 1 Clydebank [1965] 1977-12-17 4 Partick Thistle 1978-01-07 3 Ayr United 1978-03-15 8 Hibernian 1978-04-22 5 St Mirren 1978-09-09 1 Partick Thistle 1978-09-16 4 Hibernian 1978-10-14 11 Motherwell 1979-02-10 12 Rangers 1979-04-14 1 Dundee United 1979-04-21 1 Heart of Midlothian 1979-04-25 6 Total number of matches with Potato 18: Spoiler team games Hibernian 22 Motherwell 14 Ayr United 9 Partick Thistle 8 Clydebank [1965] 8 Heart of Midlothian 6 Rangers 3 St Mirren 1 Dundee United 1 Full set of results for Potato 18: Spoiler date holders opponents venue score 1977-08-13 Rangers Aberdeen A 1-3 1977-08-20 Rangers Hibernian H 0-2 1977-08-27 Rangers Partick Thistle A 4-0 1977-09-10 Partick Thistle Clydebank [1965] A 4-0 1977-09-17 Clydebank [1965] Dundee United H 0-3 1977-09-24 Clydebank [1965] Celtic A 0-1 1977-10-01 Clydebank [1965] Rangers A 1-4 1977-10-08 Clydebank [1965] Motherwell H 2-1 1977-10-15 Motherwell Rangers H 1-4 1977-10-22 Motherwell Hibernian H 1-0 1977-10-29 Hibernian Rangers H 0-1 1977-11-05 Hibernian Clydebank [1965] A 0-1 1977-11-12 Hibernian Dundee United H 0-0 1977-11-19 Hibernian Partick Thistle H 2-3 1977-11-26 Hibernian St Mirren A 0-3 1977-12-10 Hibernian Ayr United A 1-0 1977-12-17 Ayr United Clydebank [1965] A 2-0 1977-12-24 Clydebank [1965] St Mirren A 0-2 1977-12-31 Clydebank [1965] Aberdeen H 0-1 1978-01-02 Clydebank [1965] Hibernian A 0-2 1978-01-07 Clydebank [1965] Partick Thistle H 2-0 1978-02-04 Partick Thistle St Mirren A 1-1 1978-02-25 Partick Thistle Dundee United H 0-2 1978-03-15 Partick Thistle Ayr United A 3-1 1978-03-18 Ayr United St Mirren H 0-1 1978-03-22 Ayr United Hibernian A 2-4 1978-03-25 Ayr United Aberdeen A 1-4 1978-04-01 Ayr United Motherwell H 0-1 1978-04-08 Ayr United Rangers H 2-5 1978-04-12 Ayr United Rangers A 1-1 1978-04-15 Ayr United Dundee United A 0-1 1978-04-22 Ayr United Hibernian H 2-0 1978-04-29 Hibernian Aberdeen H 1-1 1978-08-12 Hibernian Dundee United A 0-0 1978-08-19 Hibernian Rangers H 0-0 1978-08-26 Hibernian Heart of Midlothian A 1-1 1978-09-09 Hibernian St Mirren H 1-0 1978-09-16 St Mirren Partick Thistle H 1-0 1978-09-23 Partick Thistle Celtic H 2-3 1978-09-30 Partick Thistle Aberdeen A 1-1 1978-10-07 Partick Thistle Greenock Morton A 0-1 1978-10-14 Partick Thistle Hibernian H 2-1 1978-10-21 Hibernian Dundee United H 1-1 1978-10-28 Hibernian Rangers A 1-2 1978-11-04 Hibernian Heart of Midlothian H 1-2 1978-11-11 Hibernian St Mirren A 0-1 1978-11-18 Hibernian Celtic H 2-2 1978-11-25 Hibernian Aberdeen A 1-4 1978-12-09 Hibernian Motherwell H 2-2 1978-12-16 Hibernian Partick Thistle H 0-0 1978-12-23 Hibernian Dundee United A 1-2 1979-01-20 Hibernian Aberdeen H 1-1 1979-02-10 Hibernian Motherwell A 3-0 1979-02-17 Motherwell St Mirren A 0-1 1979-03-03 Motherwell Partick Thistle A 0-0 1979-03-07 Motherwell Dundee United H 0-4 1979-03-10 Motherwell St Mirren H 0-3 1979-03-14 Motherwell Greenock Morton A 0-6 1979-03-17 Motherwell Celtic A 1-2 1979-03-26 Motherwell Aberdeen A 0-8 1979-03-31 Motherwell Dundee United A 1-2 1979-04-04 Motherwell Celtic H 3-4 1979-04-07 Motherwell Heart of Midlothian A 0-3 1979-04-10 Motherwell Rangers A 0-3 1979-04-14 Motherwell Rangers H 2-0 1979-04-21 Rangers Dundee United A 2-1 1979-04-25 Dundee United Heart of Midlothian H 2-1 1979-04-28 Heart of Midlothian Rangers A 0-4 1979-05-02 Heart of Midlothian Aberdeen A 0-5 1979-05-05 Heart of Midlothian Partick Thistle A 0-2 1979-05-07 Heart of Midlothian Greenock Morton H 0-1 1979-05-14 Heart of Midlothian Celtic A 0-1 Final resting places of all potatoes: Spoiler Potato 1 - Vale of Leven Potato 2 - Dumbarton Potato 3 - Clydebank [1914] Potato 4 - Dundee United Potato 5 - Dunfermline Athletic Potato 6 - Greenock Morton Potato 7 - Hamilton Academical Potato 8 - Airdrieonians [1878] Potato 9 - Albion Rovers Potato 10 - Falkirk Potato 11 - Stirling Albion Potato 12 - Queen's Park Potato 13 - Third Lanark Potato 14 - Hamilton Academical (2nd potato) Potato 15 - Ayr United Potato 16 - Dumbarton (2nd potato) Potato 17 - Kilmarnock Potato 18 - Heart of Midlothian Total number of matches with all potatoes: Spoiler team games Clyde 175 Queen's Park 159 Partick Thistle 145 Hibernian 138 Kilmarnock 136 Third Lanark 135 St Mirren 128 Airdrieonians [1878] 125 Raith Rovers 122 Dundee 112 Heart of Midlothian 107 Ayr United 99 Greenock Morton 94 Falkirk 94 Aberdeen 91 Motherwell 89 Hamilton Academical 63 East Fife 56 Dumbarton 55 St Johnstone 52 Stirling Albion 50 Queen of the South 47 Rangers 44 Dunfermline Athletic 43 Arbroath 43 Albion Rovers 37 Dundee United 35 Celtic 35 Vale of Leven 25 St Bernard's 23 Clydebank [1914] 20 Abercorn 19 Port Glasgow Athletic 14 Leith Athletic [1887] 14 Renton 13 Cowdenbeath 12 Clydebank [1965] 8 East Stirlingshire 5 Bo'ness 5 Alloa Athletic 3 Total number of spells in possession of all potatoes: Spoiler team times Clyde 54 Partick Thistle 50 St Mirren 49 Airdrieonians [1878] 49 Dundee 46 Hibernian 45 Kilmarnock 44 Heart of Midlothian 44 Third Lanark 41 Aberdeen 41 Queen's Park 39 Motherwell 36 Falkirk 34 Greenock Morton 32 Raith Rovers 29 Ayr United 27 Rangers 23 Celtic 21 Hamilton Academical 18 St Johnstone 17 Dumbarton 15 East Fife 14 Queen of the South 12 Dunfermline Athletic 12 Dundee United 12 Arbroath 11 Albion Rovers 9 Stirling Albion 8 St Bernard's 8 Leith Athletic [1887] 7 Cowdenbeath 6 Clydebank [1914] 6 Port Glasgow Athletic 4 Abercorn 4 Vale of Leven 2 Renton 2 East Stirlingshire 2 Clydebank [1965] 2 Bo'ness 1 Alloa Athletic 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnydun Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 10 hours ago, craigkillie said: Potato 18 (1977-1979) Potato 18 would be another which suffered from the curse of the difficult second season in the new cut-throat Premier Division. The potato dramatically dodged the drop in its first season, but in year two it would meet its demise in the hands of one of the traditional big clubs. In total, the potato would change hands 16 times, and would visit nine of the 12 clubs who played in the Premier Division over these seasons, with only Aberdeen, Celtic and Morton avoiding its starchy charms. The 1977/78 season kicked off with four draws on the opening day, the only decisive result saw Aberdeen beat Rangers 3-1 at Pittodrie. The Gers lost to Hibs the following week, but then took the potato on a short subway trip and left it behind in Maryhill with a 4-0 win over Partick Thistle. The Jags would immediately pass it on to newly promoted Clydebank, who kept it for four games before passing it on to Motherwell. The Steelmen offloaded it to Hibernian a fortnight later, and the Hibees took six attempts to get rid of it before finally beating Ayr United at Somerset Park. Ayr returned it to Clydebank the following week to ensure that the potato spent Christmas and New Year with the Bankies, before they sent it down Great Western Road to Partick Thistle in January. The Jags kept the potato for over two months but this was more down to the winter weather - they only played three league matches in that time and beat Ayr United at Somerset Park in the third one. Ayr were already in the relegation zone heading into this match, and a run of six defeats and one draw in their next seven confirmed their relegation with three matches remaining. This would be Ayr's last (ever?) season in the top flight, but fortunately the potato would survive for at least one more thanks to a 2-0 victory over Hibernian the following week. Hibs drew with Aberdeen on the final day to qualify for Europe in 4th place ahead of Celtic, and also to ensure that the potato spent the summer with them. Hibs failed to win any of their three opening games of 1978/79, but finally passed the potato to St Mirren thanks to a 1-0 win at Easter Road. Saints beat Partick Thistle by the same scoreline the following week, and the Jags held it for four weeks before sending it back to Hibernian with a 2-1 win at Firhill. Having kept the potato for the whole summer, Hibs decided it should also spend the entire winter with them too - they had it for 11 matches before they beat Motherwell 3-0 at Fir Park in mid-February. Surprisingly, despite holding the potato for a total of 14 matches in this campaign, Hibs would still finish a comfortable 5th. The same couldn't be said for Motherwell - they were already bottom going into that Hibs game, and it would be the first of a run of 12 matches without a win (including a 6-0 defeat to Morton and and an 8-0 loss to Aberdeen) which confirmed their relegation. Just as the potato was starting to look doomed, the Steelmen picked up a surprise 2-0 win over Rangers at Fir Park. Rangers' next match was a potential title decider at Tannadice - the fixture list had been thrown into chaos due to an icy winter, which meant that Rangers went into the game eight points behind their opponents but had five games in hand. The match finished Dundee United 1-2 Rangers, but ultimately it would be Celtic who would go on to win the league. The Terrors immediately offloaded the potato to Heart of Midlothian win a 2-1 victory which all but doomed the Jam Tarts to relegation. Hearts had five games remaining to save the potato - they took heavy pumpings in the first two of these, losing 4-0 at Ibrox and 5-0 at Pittodrie, then suffered a more modest 2-0 defeat at Firhill. Their penultimate game was at home to mid-table Morton - this was Morton's final game of the season, so a Hearts win would have saved the potato, but the visitors won 1-0 to put the potato in last chance saloon. Unfortunately, that saloon was based in the East End of Glasgow, and Celtic won the duel 1-0 to help themselves towards the title and doom the potato to the grave. This would be the first potato to come to a permanent resting place in Edinburgh. Potato 18's journey: Reveal hidden contents club start_date games Rangers 1977-08-13 2 Partick Thistle 1977-08-27 1 Clydebank [1965] 1977-09-10 4 Motherwell 1977-10-08 2 Hibernian 1977-10-22 6 Ayr United 1977-12-10 1 Clydebank [1965] 1977-12-17 4 Partick Thistle 1978-01-07 3 Ayr United 1978-03-15 8 Hibernian 1978-04-22 5 St Mirren 1978-09-09 1 Partick Thistle 1978-09-16 4 Hibernian 1978-10-14 11 Motherwell 1979-02-10 12 Rangers 1979-04-14 1 Dundee United 1979-04-21 1 Heart of Midlothian 1979-04-25 6 Total number of matches with Potato 18: Reveal hidden contents team games Hibernian 22 Motherwell 14 Ayr United 9 Partick Thistle 8 Clydebank [1965] 8 Heart of Midlothian 6 Rangers 3 St Mirren 1 Dundee United 1 Full set of results for Potato 18: Reveal hidden contents date holders opponents venue score 1977-08-13 Rangers Aberdeen A 1-3 1977-08-20 Rangers Hibernian H 0-2 1977-08-27 Rangers Partick Thistle A 4-0 1977-09-10 Partick Thistle Clydebank [1965] A 4-0 1977-09-17 Clydebank [1965] Dundee United H 0-3 1977-09-24 Clydebank [1965] Celtic A 0-1 1977-10-01 Clydebank [1965] Rangers A 1-4 1977-10-08 Clydebank [1965] Motherwell H 2-1 1977-10-15 Motherwell Rangers H 1-4 1977-10-22 Motherwell Hibernian H 1-0 1977-10-29 Hibernian Rangers H 0-1 1977-11-05 Hibernian Clydebank [1965] A 0-1 1977-11-12 Hibernian Dundee United H 0-0 1977-11-19 Hibernian Partick Thistle H 2-3 1977-11-26 Hibernian St Mirren A 0-3 1977-12-10 Hibernian Ayr United A 1-0 1977-12-17 Ayr United Clydebank [1965] A 2-0 1977-12-24 Clydebank [1965] St Mirren A 0-2 1977-12-31 Clydebank [1965] Aberdeen H 0-1 1978-01-02 Clydebank [1965] Hibernian A 0-2 1978-01-07 Clydebank [1965] Partick Thistle H 2-0 1978-02-04 Partick Thistle St Mirren A 1-1 1978-02-25 Partick Thistle Dundee United H 0-2 1978-03-15 Partick Thistle Ayr United A 3-1 1978-03-18 Ayr United St Mirren H 0-1 1978-03-22 Ayr United Hibernian A 2-4 1978-03-25 Ayr United Aberdeen A 1-4 1978-04-01 Ayr United Motherwell H 0-1 1978-04-08 Ayr United Rangers H 2-5 1978-04-12 Ayr United Rangers A 1-1 1978-04-15 Ayr United Dundee United A 0-1 1978-04-22 Ayr United Hibernian H 2-0 1978-04-29 Hibernian Aberdeen H 1-1 1978-08-12 Hibernian Dundee United A 0-0 1978-08-19 Hibernian Rangers H 0-0 1978-08-26 Hibernian Heart of Midlothian A 1-1 1978-09-09 Hibernian St Mirren H 1-0 1978-09-16 St Mirren Partick Thistle H 1-0 1978-09-23 Partick Thistle Celtic H 2-3 1978-09-30 Partick Thistle Aberdeen A 1-1 1978-10-07 Partick Thistle Greenock Morton A 0-1 1978-10-14 Partick Thistle Hibernian H 2-1 1978-10-21 Hibernian Dundee United H 1-1 1978-10-28 Hibernian Rangers A 1-2 1978-11-04 Hibernian Heart of Midlothian H 1-2 1978-11-11 Hibernian St Mirren A 0-1 1978-11-18 Hibernian Celtic H 2-2 1978-11-25 Hibernian Aberdeen A 1-4 1978-12-09 Hibernian Motherwell H 2-2 1978-12-16 Hibernian Partick Thistle H 0-0 1978-12-23 Hibernian Dundee United A 1-2 1979-01-20 Hibernian Aberdeen H 1-1 1979-02-10 Hibernian Motherwell A 3-0 1979-02-17 Motherwell St Mirren A 0-1 1979-03-03 Motherwell Partick Thistle A 0-0 1979-03-07 Motherwell Dundee United H 0-4 1979-03-10 Motherwell St Mirren H 0-3 1979-03-14 Motherwell Greenock Morton A 0-6 1979-03-17 Motherwell Celtic A 1-2 1979-03-26 Motherwell Aberdeen A 0-8 1979-03-31 Motherwell Dundee United A 1-2 1979-04-04 Motherwell Celtic H 3-4 1979-04-07 Motherwell Heart of Midlothian A 0-3 1979-04-10 Motherwell Rangers A 0-3 1979-04-14 Motherwell Rangers H 2-0 1979-04-21 Rangers Dundee United A 2-1 1979-04-25 Dundee United Heart of Midlothian H 2-1 1979-04-28 Heart of Midlothian Rangers A 0-4 1979-05-02 Heart of Midlothian Aberdeen A 0-5 1979-05-05 Heart of Midlothian Partick Thistle A 0-2 1979-05-07 Heart of Midlothian Greenock Morton H 0-1 1979-05-14 Heart of Midlothian Celtic A 0-1 Final resting places of all potatoes: Hide contents Potato 1 - Vale of Leven Potato 2 - Dumbarton Potato 3 - Clydebank [1914] Potato 4 - Dundee United Potato 5 - Dunfermline Athletic Potato 6 - Greenock Morton Potato 7 - Hamilton Academical Potato 8 - Airdrieonians [1878] Potato 9 - Albion Rovers Potato 10 - Falkirk Potato 11 - Stirling Albion Potato 12 - Queen's Park Potato 13 - Third Lanark Potato 14 - Hamilton Academical (2nd potato) Potato 15 - Ayr United Potato 16 - Dumbarton (2nd potato) Potato 17 - Kilmarnock Potato 18 - Heart of Midlothian Total number of matches with all potatoes: Hide contents team games Clyde 175 Queen's Park 159 Partick Thistle 145 Hibernian 138 Kilmarnock 136 Third Lanark 135 St Mirren 128 Airdrieonians [1878] 125 Raith Rovers 122 Dundee 112 Heart of Midlothian 107 Ayr United 99 Greenock Morton 94 Falkirk 94 Aberdeen 91 Motherwell 89 Hamilton Academical 63 East Fife 56 Dumbarton 55 St Johnstone 52 Stirling Albion 50 Queen of the South 47 Rangers 44 Dunfermline Athletic 43 Arbroath 43 Albion Rovers 37 Dundee United 35 Celtic 35 Vale of Leven 25 St Bernard's 23 Clydebank [1914] 20 Abercorn 19 Port Glasgow Athletic 14 Leith Athletic [1887] 14 Renton 13 Cowdenbeath 12 Clydebank [1965] 8 East Stirlingshire 5 Bo'ness 5 Alloa Athletic 3 Total number of spells in possession of all potatoes: Hide contents team times Clyde 54 Partick Thistle 50 St Mirren 49 Airdrieonians [1878] 49 Dundee 46 Hibernian 45 Kilmarnock 44 Heart of Midlothian 44 Third Lanark 41 Aberdeen 41 Queen's Park 39 Motherwell 36 Falkirk 34 Greenock Morton 32 Raith Rovers 29 Ayr United 27 Rangers 23 Celtic 21 Hamilton Academical 18 St Johnstone 17 Dumbarton 15 East Fife 14 Queen of the South 12 Dunfermline Athletic 12 Dundee United 12 Arbroath 11 Albion Rovers 9 Stirling Albion 8 St Bernard's 8 Leith Athletic [1887] 7 Cowdenbeath 6 Clydebank [1914] 6 Port Glasgow Athletic 4 Abercorn 4 Vale of Leven 2 Renton 2 East Stirlingshire 2 Clydebank [1965] 2 Bo'ness 1 Alloa Athletic 1 Oh the hilarity, if Hearts also ended up with the Hot Potato in 1986! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aim Here Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 For the obligatory arsecheek angle, so far, in the first 90 years of Scottish fitba', the potato never changed hands at an Old Firm match. I suspect that as we get into the modern SPL/SPFL era the smaller top tier and increased quantity of Old Firm derbies might change this. For anyone who cares, Celtic are slightly ahead with two wins and only one retention-by-draw, while Rangers won one and were twice made to keep their already-held potato in a drawn game Stayed at Celtic 1903-01-01 Celtic Rangers A 3-3 (draw) 1932-01-02 Celtic Rangers H 1-2 Stayed at Rangers 1901-10-05 Rangers Celtic H 2-2 (draw) 1954-09-18 Rangers Celtic A 0-2 1964-09-05 Rangers Celtic A 1-3 1975-11-01 Rangers Celtic A 1-1 (draw) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ropy Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 5 hours ago, johnnydun said: Oh the hilarity, if Hearts also ended up with the Hot Potato in 1986! I am waiting for 2019/20, there were 8 games to go! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigkillie Posted September 30, 2021 Author Share Posted September 30, 2021 I'm just glad we won our final game of last season so there's no chance it went down with us. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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