SoccerBlogs

A trivia question for you to start with: name the nine cities to have produced more than one club to reach the European Cup (or Champions League) semi-finals. The full list is at the bottom, but I'll give you a headstart by telling you which is the smallest such city it's Dundee, each of the city's senior clubs having lost at that stage on one occasion.

Some statistics are easy to know about the Scottish League Cup:

• today is the 64th final
• Rangers have won the most finals (25)
• Celtic have lost the most finals (13)
• Celtic played in 14 finals in a row (between 1964-1978)
• St Mirren have only made the final once before and lost (1956)

Other statistics are harder to find out:

• today is Craig Thomson's first final as referee
• J A Mowat has refereed 7 finals (1 replay) and R H Davidson refereed 6 (1 replay)
• the 67 finals until now have attracted 3,926,414 fans through the gates
• Hampden Park hosts is 61st final today (including 3 replays)
• Celtic Park hosted 3, Dens Park (1 replay) and Ibrox Stadium have hosted 2 apiece

The top three attendances for the League Cup Final will likely never be beaten (all at Hampden Park):

• 107, 609 - Celtic 2-1 Rangers (1965-66)
• 106, 263 - Rangers 1-0 Celtic (1970-71)
• 105, 907 - Rangers 5-0 Greenock Morton (1963-64)

I guess the surprise, given the number of Old Firm finals in the competition (13 times!

This afternoon's potential league decider at Tannadice between Dundee United and Rangers is the 164th between the two sides.

Last year's title was won at Tannadice, by Celtic, and twice during Rangers' nine in a row run did they win the league at Tannadice - in 1990 and the last in 1998 - so bizarrely the Dundee United fans are rather used to seeing the league won there, although the one title they did win themselves back in 1983, they won just down the street at Dens Park.

This afternoon's potential league decider at Tannadice between Dundee United and Rangers is the 164th between the two sides.

Last year's title was won at Tannadice, by Celtic, and twice during Rangers' nine in a row run did they win the league at Tannadice - in 1990 and the last in 1998 - so bizarrely the Dundee United fans are rather used to seeing the league won there, although the one title they did win themselves back in 1983, they won just down the street at Dens Park.

This afternoon's potential league decider at Tannadice between Dundee United and Rangers is the 164th between the two sides.

Last year's title was won at Tannadice, by Celtic, and twice during Rangers' nine in a row run did they win the league at Tannadice - in 1990 and the last in 1998 - so bizarrely the Dundee United fans are rather used to seeing the league won there, although the one title they did win themselves back in 1983, they won just down the street at Dens Park.

With the speed of a cheetah after it identifies its prey, the Scottish Premier League season approaches. As players in other top flight leagues wake from their midsummer's naps and beginning stretching for their pre-season action, SPL players are back on their training grounds, preparing for matches that mean more than just a bit of fitness.

So the administrator took over at Dens Park yesterday and set about cutting costs, with the sackings of manager Gordon Chisholm, assistant Billy Dodds, nine first team players and two backroom staff. Among the players to go are Mickael Antoine-Curier, for whom they rejected a £50K bid from Hamilton during the summer, and Colin McMenamin, who was at Livingston for their first spell in administration in 2004, and was released by Gretna in 2008 as they hurtled towards oblivion.