Popular Post craigkillie Posted February 12, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted February 12, 2021 (edited) Many of you will be aware of the Hot Potato thread which has been running on the forum for a few years, where basically the biggest loser on the opening day gets awarded the "potato", and then keeps it until they win a game, at which point it is passed to their opponents. Recently on that thread there was some discussion about the possibility of an all-time hot potato. On 19/01/2021 at 15:59, The Other Foot said: One wonders how entertaining it would be to back-date the Hot Potato to the beginnings of Scottish footballing history. Someone should do it. Bagsy not me though. As a self-confessed "jammy wearer" as per @HibsFan's vernacular, I already had all the data on hand to work this out, and have therefore spent the last little while crunching the numbers to find out. Rather than polluting the 2020/21 thread any further, I thought I would start my own separate thread. The way this worked was as follows: On the very first day of Scottish League football (16th August 1890), the hot potato was awarded to the side which suffered the heaviest defeat. That team then holds the potato until they win a game, at which point it is passed to their opponents. The potato continues to be passed around the top flight, with the team who finished one season with it keeping a hold of it over the summer. If a team is relegated whilst holding the potato, they keep that potato for all eternity and a new potato is distributed at the start of the next season. The new potato is again distributed to the side which suffered the heaviest defeat on the first day of the next season. A couple of additional points on my methodology: This works very strictly on days, not matchdays, so if the opening game of the season is on the Friday night whoever loses that will get the potato, even if someone loses more heavily on the Saturday (or Sunday). This is slightly different to how @deej runs the season-by-season ones, mainly because this is much easier to programme. If all the matches on the opening day are draws then we wait until the next day to hand out the potato. If two or more teams suffer equally heavy defeats on the opening day, preference is given to a team which loses at home. If there is still a tie, then the potato is randomly allocated to one of the teams who lose most heavily. Now that I've laid down the ground rules, this thread is going to take you by the hand and lead you through the long and storied history of the Scottish football hot potato, from 1890-2021 (and beyond). We're going to see a total of 31 potatoes being shared around 44 different clubs, and we will discover that even after 131 years, the battle to be the biggest bunch of pathetic losers in Scottish football history is still neck-and-neck in 2021. Edited February 13, 2021 by craigkillie 61 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ropy Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Looking forward to it. Are we operating on Ludo time or do you expect to reveal the results this year? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigkillie Posted February 12, 2021 Author Share Posted February 12, 2021 4 minutes ago, ropy said: Looking forward to it. Are we operating on Ludo time or do you expect to reveal the results this year? I had a wee minor issue there with the table I'm putting together to display the results, but you can expect prompt and regular posting now that has been resolved. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post craigkillie Posted February 12, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 12, 2021 (edited) Potato 1 (1890-1892) Saturday 16th August 1890 was a momentous day in the history of Scottish football. The Scottish Cup had been the only show in town since 1873, but it was time for the introduction of a new competition which would enthrall supporters up and down the country for the next century and more - the famous Hot Potato. Vale of Leven were the first recipients, courtesy of an 8-2 defeat to Cambuslang. Their first ever attempt to offload it saw them turned over by Cowlairs, but the following week we saw the potato change hands for the first time, when they defeated Abercorn 2-1 in Alexandria. Abercorn would hold on to the potato for several weeks, before it travelled across Paisley to spend a few weeks in the company of St Mirren. The potato would subsequently visit Glasgow and Edinburgh with spells in the hands of Third Lanark and Heart of Midlothian, but finished the 1890/91 season exactly where it started after Hearts defeated Vale of Leven 4-2 on the final day of the season. Vale of Leven therefore kicked off 1891/92 as the potato holders, and an absolutely wretched year saw them hold on to it for the entire season, as they failed to win a single one of their 22 league matches, finishing rock bottom with 5 draws and 17 defeats. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they were not re-elected to the league for the following season, and therefore the first potato takes up permanent residence in Alexandria. Potato 1's journey: club start_date games Vale of Leven 1890-08-16 2 Abercorn 1890-08-30 7 St Mirren 1891-01-24 5 Third Lanark 1891-03-14 5 Heart of Midlothian 1891-04-18 4 Vale of Leven 1891-05-09 23 Total matches as Potato 1 holders: team games Vale of Leven 25 Abercorn 7 Third Lanark 5 St Mirren 5 Heart of Midlothian 4 Full set of results for Potato 1: Spoiler date holders opponents venue score 1890-08-16 Vale of Leven Cambuslang A 2-8 1890-08-23 Vale of Leven Cowlairs A 2-3 1890-08-30 Vale of Leven Abercorn H 2-1 1890-09-20 Abercorn St Mirren A 2-4 1890-10-04 Abercorn Third Lanark H 2-4 1890-10-11 Abercorn Dumbarton A 1-5 1890-10-25 Abercorn Celtic H 1-5 1890-12-06 Abercorn Cambuslang H 2-5 1890-12-27 Abercorn Dumbarton H 1-2 1891-01-24 Abercorn St Mirren H 5-1 1891-02-07 St Mirren Celtic A 2-3 1891-02-21 St Mirren Heart of Midlothian A 0-1 1891-02-28 St Mirren Rangers H 3-7 1891-03-07 St Mirren Dumbarton A 1-5 1891-03-14 St Mirren Third Lanark H 3-2 1891-03-21 Third Lanark Heart of Midlothian A 1-4 1891-03-28 Third Lanark Dumbarton A 1-5 1891-04-04 Third Lanark Cambuslang H 1-2 1891-04-11 Third Lanark Cowlairs A 2-2 1891-04-18 Third Lanark Heart of Midlothian H 4-0 1891-04-20 Heart of Midlothian Dumbarton H 0-4 1891-04-25 Heart of Midlothian Abercorn A 0-1 1891-05-02 Heart of Midlothian Cambuslang A 0-2 1891-05-09 Heart of Midlothian Vale of Leven A 4-2 1891-08-15 Vale of Leven Clyde A 3-10 1891-08-22 Vale of Leven Cambuslang H 0-1 1891-08-29 Vale of Leven Renton A 0-3 1891-09-05 Vale of Leven Abercorn H 0-3 1891-09-12 Vale of Leven Rangers H 1-6 1891-09-19 Vale of Leven Leith Athletic [1887] A 0-10 1891-09-26 Vale of Leven St Mirren A 4-6 1891-10-03 Vale of Leven Dumbarton H 1-2 1891-10-10 Vale of Leven Abercorn A 3-6 1891-10-17 Vale of Leven Clyde H 2-2 1891-10-24 Vale of Leven Celtic A 1-6 1891-10-31 Vale of Leven Heart of Midlothian H 2-2 1891-11-14 Vale of Leven St Mirren H 2-2 1891-11-21 Vale of Leven Cambuslang A 0-1 1891-12-12 Vale of Leven Dumbarton A 0-8 1891-12-26 Vale of Leven Third Lanark A 2-9 1892-01-30 Vale of Leven Leith Athletic [1887] H 0-3 1892-02-06 Vale of Leven Third Lanark H 0-2 1892-02-13 Vale of Leven Rangers A 0-7 1892-03-19 Vale of Leven Heart of Midlothian A 0-7 1892-04-02 Vale of Leven Celtic H 2-2 1892-05-07 Vale of Leven Renton H 1-1 Edited February 13, 2021 by craigkillie 21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raidernation Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 This is fantastic, thank you for your efforts [emoji1303][emoji1303][emoji1303] 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashirearab Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 Excellent work. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibsFan Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 Yaaaassssss! Cheers Craig, respect from a non-jammy wearer. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dons_1988 Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 Hearts making an early run for Scottish footballs most embarrassing side. Started as they meant to go on clearly. PS excellent work Craig 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxRover Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 (edited) 6 hours ago, Dons_1988 said: Hearts making an early run for Scottish footballs most embarrassing side. Started as they meant to go on clearly. PS excellent work Craig A wee bit early for fans of any side to take any smug solace in potato holding by disliked rivals, eh? I well suspect there will be some quite interesting twists and turns in this journey. Thumbs up, Craig! Edited February 13, 2021 by TxRover 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigkillie Posted February 13, 2021 Author Share Posted February 13, 2021 (edited) Potato 2 (1892-1896) We kicked off the 1892/93 season with a brand new hot potato, and the departure of the hopeless Vale of Leven meant that there was a much more competitive battle to avoid the potato. Abercorn were the first side to take ownership after losing 4-0 at home to Rangers on the opening day, and they would hold on to it for a few weeks before sending it back east with a win over Leith Athletic. It only stayed in Leith for a couple of matches before joining potato 1 in West Dunbartonshire with a visit to Renton. Renton didn't muck about and immediately passed it back to Abercorn again, but they were able to offload it much quicker this time, sending it back to Glasgow with a win over Clyde. The Bully Wee had seven failed attempts to offload potato before eventually passing it back to Heart of Midlothian, who couldn't get rid of it in the final two matches of the season. Hearts carried the potato into 1893/94, but were able to offload it within a couple of weeks, sending it back to Paisley with St Mirren this time. Saints immediately passed it on to Leith Athletic, and a couple of weeks later it moved across Edinburgh to St Bernard's. Saints quickly sent it back west with a win over Renton, and it spent the whole winter there, before they finally got rid of it at the 12th time of asking, with a win over Leith Athletic in late February. Leith were once more able to get rid of it quickly, and in some style, beating Celtic 5-0 on the final day of the season. That meant that the Hoops, despite being league champions, held on to the potato over the summer. Celtic were able to offload it fairly quickly the start of 1894/95, sending it to Edinburgh with St Bernard's in their second game of the season. Saints offloaded it to Clyde with a win in Glasgow on 8th September, but they got it back in their very next match a fortnight later when the sides met again in Edinburgh. St Bernard's held it for a few more weeks, then it stayed in Edinburgh with Leith Athletic for a single game before making its way to the City of Discovery for the first time with Dundee's defeat to Leith. It was sent back to Leith Athletic in the return fixture a few weeks later, then an epic battle towards the end of the season saw very short spells with Clyde, Dumbarton, St Mirren and Clyde again, before the Bully Wee defeated Dundee 2-0 on the final day of the season. Dundee took three attempts to get rid of the potato in 1895/96, eventually sending it west with a 4-1 win over Dumbarton. The Sons immediately sent it towards Glasgow with a thrilling (I assume) 5-4 win over Clyde, who would go on to keep it for a few weeks before the potato made another voyage to Edinburgh with St Bernard's. After a few matches, it was passed on to another set of Saints thanks to a 4-3 victory over St Mirren. Saints immediately gave it to Clyde, who passed it straight on to Dumbarton. That defeat to Clyde was crucial in the relegation battle too - Dumbarton subsequently lost their final five matches of the season and finished bottom, three points behind the Bully Wee, and therefore sunk into the Second Division, ensuring that potato number 2 took up permanent residence in the Dumbarton trophy room alongside their one and a half league titles. Potato 2's journey: Spoiler club start_date games Abercorn 1892-08-20 5 Leith Athletic [1887] 1892-09-24 2 Renton 1892-10-08 1 Abercorn 1892-10-15 2 Clyde 1892-11-05 8 Heart of Midlothian 1893-04-29 4 St Mirren 1893-08-26 1 Leith Athletic [1887] 1893-09-02 2 St Bernard's 1893-09-18 1 Renton 1893-09-23 12 Leith Athletic [1887] 1894-02-17 2 Celtic 1894-03-17 2 St Bernard's 1894-08-18 2 Clyde 1894-09-08 1 St Bernard's 1894-09-22 3 Leith Athletic [1887] 1894-10-13 1 Dundee 1894-10-20 2 Leith Athletic [1887] 1894-12-01 2 Clyde 1895-03-02 1 Dumbarton 1895-03-16 1 St Mirren 1895-03-30 2 Clyde 1895-05-11 1 Dundee 1895-05-18 3 Dumbarton 1895-08-24 1 Clyde 1895-08-31 3 St Bernard's 1895-09-28 5 St Mirren 1895-11-09 1 Clyde 1895-11-23 1 Dumbarton 1895-11-30 6 Total number of matches with Potato 2: Spoiler team games Clyde 15 Renton 13 St Bernard's 11 Leith Athletic [1887] 9 Dumbarton 8 Abercorn 7 Dundee 5 St Mirren 4 Heart of Midlothian 4 Celtic 2 Full set of results for Potato 2: Spoiler date holders opponents venue score 1892-08-20 Abercorn Rangers H 0-4 1892-08-27 Abercorn Clyde A 2-5 1892-09-03 Abercorn Heart of Midlothian H 3-4 1892-09-10 Abercorn Celtic A 2-3 1892-09-17 Abercorn St Mirren A 0-4 1892-09-24 Abercorn Leith Athletic [1887] H 1-0 1892-10-01 Leith Athletic [1887] Rangers H 1-2 1892-10-08 Leith Athletic [1887] Renton A 3-2 1892-10-15 Renton Abercorn A 2-1 1892-10-22 Abercorn Dumbarton A 1-5 1892-11-05 Abercorn Clyde H 5-1 1893-01-28 Clyde Third Lanark A 1-4 1893-02-11 Clyde St Mirren H 1-2 1893-02-18 Clyde Dumbarton H 1-2 1893-03-11 Clyde Rangers H 0-3 1893-03-18 Clyde Renton A 1-1 1893-04-15 Clyde Dumbarton A 1-3 1893-04-22 Clyde Leith Athletic [1887] H 1-2 1893-04-29 Clyde Heart of Midlothian A 3-2 1893-05-04 Heart of Midlothian Third Lanark H 2-2 1893-05-06 Heart of Midlothian Rangers A 1-2 1893-08-19 Heart of Midlothian Leith Athletic [1887] H 0-2 1893-08-26 Heart of Midlothian St Mirren A 3-2 1893-09-02 St Mirren Leith Athletic [1887] A 5-2 1893-09-09 Leith Athletic [1887] Dundee H 3-5 1893-09-18 Leith Athletic [1887] St Bernard's H 4-2 1893-09-23 St Bernard's Renton H 4-2 1893-09-30 Renton Third Lanark A 3-3 1893-10-07 Renton Dumbarton H 1-1 1893-10-21 Renton Leith Athletic [1887] A 1-2 1893-10-28 Renton St Bernard's H 0-1 1893-11-04 Renton Heart of Midlothian H 2-3 1893-11-11 Renton Celtic H 0-3 1893-11-18 Renton Dumbarton A 0-2 1893-12-02 Renton Celtic A 2-3 1893-12-09 Renton St Mirren H 0-4 1894-01-27 Renton Third Lanark H 0-3 1894-02-10 Renton Dundee A 1-8 1894-02-17 Renton Leith Athletic [1887] H 2-1 1894-03-10 Leith Athletic [1887] St Bernard's A 2-3 1894-03-17 Leith Athletic [1887] Celtic H 5-0 1894-08-11 Celtic Dundee A 1-1 1894-08-18 Celtic St Bernard's H 5-2 1894-08-25 St Bernard's Rangers H 1-4 1894-09-08 St Bernard's Clyde A 4-1 1894-09-22 Clyde St Bernard's A 3-0 1894-09-29 St Bernard's Dundee A 2-2 1894-10-06 St Bernard's Heart of Midlothian A 3-4 1894-10-13 St Bernard's Leith Athletic [1887] A 2-0 1894-10-20 Leith Athletic [1887] Dundee H 3-2 1894-11-03 Dundee Third Lanark H 1-2 1894-12-01 Dundee Leith Athletic [1887] H 4-1 1894-12-22 Leith Athletic [1887] Third Lanark A 1-7 1895-03-02 Leith Athletic [1887] Clyde H 2-1 1895-03-16 Clyde Dumbarton H 3-1 1895-03-30 Dumbarton St Mirren H 4-1 1895-04-04 St Mirren Third Lanark A 0-4 1895-05-11 St Mirren Clyde A 2-0 1895-05-18 Clyde Dundee H 2-0 1895-08-10 Dundee Celtic H 1-2 1895-08-17 Dundee St Bernard's A 2-4 1895-08-24 Dundee Dumbarton H 4-1 1895-08-31 Dumbarton Clyde H 5-4 1895-09-07 Clyde Dundee H 0-1 1895-09-14 Clyde Hibernian A 3-4 1895-09-28 Clyde St Bernard's H 5-0 1895-10-05 St Bernard's Dundee A 1-4 1895-10-12 St Bernard's Rangers A 0-2 1895-10-19 St Bernard's Hibernian H 2-5 1895-10-26 St Bernard's Dumbarton A 3-4 1895-11-09 St Bernard's St Mirren H 4-3 1895-11-23 St Mirren Clyde A 3-1 1895-11-30 Clyde Dumbarton H 5-1 1895-12-07 Dumbarton Dundee H 1-2 1895-12-14 Dumbarton Third Lanark H 2-4 1895-12-21 Dumbarton Celtic A 0-3 1896-01-04 Dumbarton Rangers A 1-3 1896-02-15 Dumbarton Heart of Midlothian A 0-7 Final resting places of all potatoes: Spoiler Potato 1 - Vale of Leven Potato 2 - Dumbarton Total number of matches with all potatoes: Spoiler team games Vale of Leven 25 Clyde 15 Abercorn 14 Renton 13 St Bernard's 11 St Mirren 9 Leith Athletic [1887] 9 Heart of Midlothian 8 Dumbarton 8 Third Lanark 5 Dundee 5 Celtic 2 Total number of spells in possession of all potatoes: Spoiler team times Clyde 6 Leith Athletic [1887] 5 St Mirren 4 St Bernard's 4 Dumbarton 3 Abercorn 3 Vale of Leven 2 Renton 2 Heart of Midlothian 2 Dundee 2 Third Lanark 1 Celtic 1 Edited February 14, 2021 by craigkillie 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnydun Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 As current custodian of the 'Championship Hot Potato' thread, I would just like to congratulate @craigkillie on his great efforts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Tennis Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 This is a fantastically pointless endeavour, which is of course the point. Hats off. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranaldo Bairn Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 22 hours ago, craigkillie said: Potato 2 (1892-1896) Dundee took three attempts to get rid of the potato in 1895/96, eventually sending it west with a 4-1 win over Dumbarton. The Sons immediately sent it towards Glasgow with a thrilling (I assume) 5-4 win over Clyde, who would go on to keep it for a few weeks before the potato made another voyage to Edinburgh with St Bernard's. After a few matches, it was passed on to another set of Saints thanks to a 4-3 victory over St Mirren. Saints immediately gave it to Clyde, who passed it straight on to Dumbarton. That defeat to Clyde was crucial in the relegation battle too - Dumbarton subsequently lost their final five matches of the season and finished bottom, three points behind the Bully Wee, and therefore sunk into the First Division, ensuring that potato number 2 took up permanent residence in the Dumbarton trophy room alongside their one and a half league titles. Sunk into the Second Division, no? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigkillie Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 17 minutes ago, Ranaldo Bairn said: Sunk into the Second Division, no? Yes, well spotted - I've edited now. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nowhereman Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 Within a year of being relegated Dumbarton were voted out of the Scottish league completely. Despite reaching the Cup final in 1897 and it being only five years since they won the league. I had always thought this was odd but now I realise it was down to the Hot Potato. It all makes sense at last 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ropy Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 12 minutes ago, Nowhereman said: Within a year of being relegated Dumbarton were voted out of the Scottish league completely. Despite reaching the Cup final in 1897 and it being only five years since they won the league. I had always thought this was odd but now I realise it was down to the Hot Potato. It all makes sense at last Can we vote teams out now? I have some thoughts on this. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxRover Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 3 hours ago, ropy said: Can we vote teams out now? I have some thoughts on this. They did last year, so why not? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangemouth Bairn Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 8 minutes ago, TxRover said: They did last year, so why not? Right get Rangers and Celtic to f**k then !! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 When's the next installment ? Can't wait!! This is so pointlessly brilliant! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherrif John Bunnell Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 A strong start from The Jambos. The honours page of their matchday programme is about to get a lot busier. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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