Morton

19th century

Morton Football Club was established in 1874. In the early 1870s the popularity of football was growing, with many clubs being established around Scotland. At the club's inaugural meeting, the first recorded words were "that this club be called Morton Football Club". The true reason for the name 'Morton' remains unclear, though the general consensus is that the club was named after the 'Morton Terrace', a row of houses next to the original playing field, where some of the players lived.

Morton was one of the founding members of the old Second Division, formed in 1893, and finished 8th in its first season. Morton first gained promotion to the old First Division in 1899–1900, and finished 4th in its first season there.

20th century

Morton's greatest success came in its 1–0 defeat of Rangers in the 1922 Scottish Cup Final. Jimmy Gourlay scored the winning goal directly from a free kick in the 11th minute. Right after the match Morton boarded a train to play Hartlepool United in a pre-arranged friendly match. The celebrations were delayed until the following Wednesday when 10,000 fans turned out at Cappielow to celebrate.

Morton has made two other major cup final appearances. On Saturday 17 April 1948, Morton drew 1–1 with Rangers in the Scottish Cup Final. Morton's goal was a free kick scored by Jimmy White. The match was replayed on Wednesday 21 April. This time Rangers won 1–0 after extra time. The goal was said to be highly controversial because it was claimed that Morton goalkeeper Jimmy Cowan was blinded by the flash of a camera. These matches attracted huge crowds: the first match was played in front of 132,629, and the replay, in front of 133,750, was at the time a British record attendance for a midweek match.

Morton's third and most recent major cup final was in the League Cup, on Saturday, 26 October 1963. As in its previous two final appearances, Morton's opponent was again Rangers. The Glasgow side won by five goals to nil(HT: 0–0) in front of 106,000 supporters.

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

Morton has played in a European Club Competition once. After finishing 6th in Scotland's top division in 1967–68 Morton qualified for the European Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (now the UEFA Europa League). Drawn to play Chelsea, the club was eliminated at the first hurdle after a 5–0 defeat at Stamford Bridge and a 4–3 defeat at Cappielow.

In 1992–93 Morton lost 3–2 to Hamilton Academical in the Scottish Challenge Cup Final in front of 7,391 fans. The final was played at Love Street, the home of Morton's arch rivals St Mirren.

The club's name was changed in 1994 to Greenock Morton Football Club, to celebrate the club's links with its hometown, though it is still almost universally referred to as Morton.

21st century

After experiencing financial problems the team was relegated from the First Division at the end of the 2000–01 season after a six-year stay and was put into administration. The club's financial problems continued and a second successive relegation followed. In season 2002–03, Morton's first ever season in the Third Division, the club's financial situation was resolved by the takeover by chairman Douglas Rae. Rae appointed John McCormack as manager, and the team won the Third Division championship at the first attempt, confirming its position with a 1–0 victory over Peterhead in front of a then Third Division record crowd of 8,497 people.

After a strong start to the 2003–04 season, the team fell away after the turn of the year, and finished in 4th place, well outside the promotion places. This came after being 12 points ahead in the Championship race at the half-way stage. This led to unfounded allegations that some players had placed large bets on nearest rivals Airdrie United to win the league, which Airdrie eventually did.

Jim McInally was announced as McCormack's successor, and in his first season as manager the club failed to gain promotion to the First Division by a single point, finishing behind Stranraer in 3rd place.

Morton failed to gain promotion to the First Division during the 2005–06 season. Finishing 2nd was not enough, as the SFL playoffs meant that only the championship-winning team would be promoted automatically. Gretna won the division, so Morton entered play-offs along with Peterhead (3rd), Partick Thistle (4th), and Stranraer (9th in Division One). Morton's first play-off match was against Peterhead, and the Greenock side was defeated 1–0 over two legs, the only goal a penalty in the second match at Balmoor.

The following season, a week after a 9–1 defeat of Forfar Athletic at Cappielow Park, Morton achieved promotion to the First Division, and went on to become Second Division Champions.