Scottish Challenge Cup

The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,[1][2][3] commonly known as the Scottish League Challenge Cup[4][5] or Scottish Challenge Cup,[1][2] and currently known as the Tunnock's Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an association football knock-out cup competition run by the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). It was established by the SPFL's predecessor, the Scottish Football League (SFL) and was originally contested by the 28 or 30 SFL/SPFL teams below the top level in the Scottish football league system. Teams below SPFL level were added in 2011–12, and guest teams from outside Scotland in 2016–17. For the 2019–20 edition there are 58 teams: 30 from the SPFL; the twelve Under-21 teams of the Scottish Premiership clubs; four each from the Highland League and Lowland League; and two guest teams from each of the NIFL Premiership, Cymru Premier League, English National League, and League of Ireland Premier Division.[6]

Not to be confused with the Scottish Cup, or the Scottish League Cup.

Scottish Challenge Cup
Founded1990
RegionScotland
Wales
Northern Ireland
Republic of Ireland
England
Number of teams58 (2018–19)
Current championsRoss County (3rd title)
Most successful club(s)Falkirk (4 titles)
Television broadcastersBBC Alba
Premier Sports
S4C (involving Welsh clubs)
2019–20 Scottish Challenge Cup

The competition was first held during the 1990–91 season as the B&Q Centenary Cup[1] to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the formation of the SFL. It was intended to be a one-off competition but was continued due to its popularity. The first winner of the tournament was Dundee, who defeated Ayr United.[7][8] Falkirk are the most successful team in the tournament, with four wins, most recently in 2012. The most recent winner was Ross County, who defeated Connah's Quay Nomads in the 2019 final.

Format

The Challenge Cup is a knock-out tournament. Within a regionalised format, clubs are paired at random and the first club drawn listed as the home team.[9] The winner of each match progresses to the next round and the loser is eliminated from the tournament. Every match, including the final, is a one-legged tie that lasts 90 minutes plus any additional stoppage time. If no clear winner has been determined after 90 minutes of normal time, 30 minutes of extra time is played. If the score is still level after extra time then the winner is decided by a penalty shoot-out.[9]

Beginning with the 2016–17 season, the competition has been expanded to 58 entrants. All Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs will participate, with the thirty clubs from the Championship, League One and League Two now joined by Under-20 teams from the twelve Premiership clubs. Also participating by invitation will be four teams each from the Highland and Lowland Leagues and eight entrants from outside Scottish football – two each from the NIFL Premiership in Northern Ireland, the National League in England, League of Ireland and the Welsh Premier League in Wales. Teams are seeded to enter the competition over any of the first four rounds, after which eight teams will remain to contest the quarter-finals. The final is played at a neutral venue.[10]

History

The competition was created in the 1990–91 season to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Scottish Football League in 1890.[3][11] It was intended to run for only one season but continued due to its popularity. This was reflected in high attendances at matches in the later rounds of the tournament including a full capacity crowd of 11,500 at Fir Park in the first final.[2][5][8] The cup was sponsored by DIY retail company B&Q and named the B&Q Centenary Cup[12] for the first year and continued as the B&Q Cup for four seasons afterwards. The competition was run for three seasons without a sponsor due to the league covering the tournament costs and prize money, but was unsustainable and resulted in it being cancelled for one season in 1998–99 before being re-established in 1999 with a new sponsor.[5] Although it is not as popular as competitions like the Scottish Cup, it provides smaller clubs with a realistic opportunity of winning a trophy due to the absence of top-tier clubs from the tournament.[4][13] When Stenhousemuir won the final in 1995 it was regarded as the club's greatest achievement in its 111-year history.[14] Attendances at matches in the earlier rounds of the tournament are not dissimilar to average home attendances in league competition [15][16] but as the competition reaches the latter stages they generally increase; Annan Athletic's record attendance of 1,575 was set in a semi-final match against Falkirk in 2011.[17][18]

The number of competitors has varied in relation to the number of clubs with Scottish Football League membership. The first tournament featured the 28 clubs in the First and Second Divisions which reduced to 26 until 1994 when the league was expanded and restructured into three divisions; increasing the number of eligible clubs to 30. In the 2010–11 competition the two highest ranked clubs from the Highland Football League with a Scottish Football Association licence were invited to compete, in order to bring the number of competitors to 32.[19][20] Before the change in 2010, several clubs received a random bye in the first round in order to even out the number of fixtures.[9] The Challenge Cup continued under the auspices of the Scottish Professional Football League after the Scottish Football League merged with the Scottish Premier League in 2013. One change at this time was that the two invitational places were split, with only one place filled by a Highland League club (with a valid SFA club licence) and the other place going to the winner of a preliminary round tie between clubs from the East of Scotland League and the South of Scotland League.[21] This was simplified in the 2014–15 season, with the two additional places going to the Highland League champion (Brora Rangers) and the Lowland League champion (Spartans).[22] From 2016–17 the competition has been further expanded with the addition of Scottish Premiership Under-20 teams, additional places for the Highland and Lowland Leagues, which now have four representatives each, as well as the top two teams from Northern Ireland and Wales.[6] The top two teams from the League of Ireland were included in the competition for the 2017–18 season.[23]

From 2018–19, the competition was further expanded with the two highest ranked teams still remaining in England's National League to take part from the second round. The first English teams to compete were Sutton United and Boreham Wood.[24] The age level was raised for colts teams from under-20 to under-21 in a rule change introduced by the SPFL ahead of 2018–19 competition.[25] The 2018–19 final also saw Connah's Quay Nomads become the first non-Scottish side to play in the final.

The Covid-19 pandemic in Scotland had a significant impact on the competition.[26] The 2019–20 final, between Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Raith Rovers, was originally scheduled for 28 March 2020 but has been indefinitely postponed.[26] Continuing restrictions on fans entering stadiums meant that the competition was unviable for most SPFL clubs, and the scheduled 2020–21 edition was cancelled in October 2020.[26]

Venues
McDiarmid Park in Perth has hosted the final 10 times, more times than any other venue.

In the rounds before the final, the venue of each match is determined when the fixtures are drawn; the first club drawn in a fixture is named the home team and chooses the venue for the match, usually its own home ground.[9] The venue may be switched to that of the away team or changed to a neutral venue for security reasons such as being unable to host a club with a large travelling fan base or the venue being unavailable.[27][28]

Final venue

The final match of the tournament is played at a neutral venue, usually one that is geographically close or equidistant to where the clubs contesting the match are based. As of 2019, ten different venues have hosted the final. Fir Park in Motherwell was the first, in 1990, and has since hosted four more finals, the last in 2017.[3] McDiarmid Park in Perth has been the most frequent venue, staging it ten times between 1994 and 2018. Other venues to host the final more than once are Broadwood Stadium (Cumbernauld), Excelsior Stadium (Airdrie) and Almondvale Stadium (Livingston).[29] The 2016 final was held at Hampden Park, the national stadium in Glasgow, due to the large support of eventual winners Rangers;[30] that final drew the competition's record attendance of over 48,000.[31]

Winners and finalists

A total of 26 clubs have reached the final, of whom 16 have won the competition. The first winners were Dundee in 1990.[1] The most successful club is Falkirk with four wins from four final appearances.[32] The two major Highland clubs Ross County and Inverness Caledonian Thistle are the only two clubs to have reached the final five times, Ross County winning on three occasions with Inverness winning two, while Hamilton Academical, and Queen of the South have all reached the final four times, each club winning twice and losing twice. Three clubs have reached the final in successive seasons; Ayr United did so in the first two years of the tournament but lost both. The only teams to have successfully defended their title are Hamilton Academical and the original Airdrieonians.[33] It is possible for the winner of the tournament to be unable to defend their title; if a club is promoted from the Scottish Championship (second tier) in the same season to the Scottish Premiership (first tier), the club becomes ineligible to compete in the tournament. This has happened to Falkirk twice, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, St Mirren, Rangers and Ross County.

Most winners and finalists have been from the second tier, while only four teams have won the competition from below this division. Stenhousemuir became the first team to do so in 1995, followed by Stranraer a year later in 1996 and Alloa Athletic in 1999. The most recent club to win from below the second tier was Queen of the South, in 2013.[34] All winners and runners-up from below the second tier have been from the third tier.

In 2019, Connah's Quay Nomads of Wales were the first non-Scottish side to get to the final of the Scottish Challenge Cup; despite taking the lead in the 21st minute, they eventually lost 3–1.

Finals

The winner of the tournament is decided by a final elimination match which lasts 90 minutes plus any additional stoppage time.[9] If the score is level and a winner has not been determined after 90 minutes of normal time, 30 minutes of extra time is played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if the score is still level.[9] Eight finals have gone to extra time, with two being decided in this period of play. The further six have been decided by penalty shoot-out.[35]

Key to list of finals
* Match went to extra time
Match decided by a penalty shoot-out after extra time
Winning team won the second tier of Scottish football league system
Italics Team from below the second tier of the Scottish football league system
, , , or Team from outside the Scottish football league system

Results
Scottish Challenge Cup finals
Season Winner[35][36] Score[35][37] Runner-up[35][37] Venue[37] Attendance[37]
1990–91 Dundee  †3–2 * Ayr United Fir Park 11,506
1991–92 Hamilton Academical 1–0 Ayr United Fir Park 9,663
1992–93 Hamilton Academical 3–2 Morton Love Street 7,391
1993–94 Falkirk 3–0 St Mirren Fir Park 13,763
1994–95 Airdrieonians  †3–2 * Dundee McDiarmid Park 8,844
1995–96 Stenhousemuir  †0–0 † Dundee United McDiarmid Park 7,856
1996–97 Stranraer 1–0 St Johnstone Broadwood Stadium 5,222
1997–98 Falkirk 1–0 Queen of the South Fir Park 9,735
1998–99 Competition suspended due to lack of sponsorship
1999–2000 Alloa Athletic  †4–4 † Inverness Caledonian Thistle Excelsior Stadium 4,043
2000–01 Airdrieonians  †2–2 † Livingston Broadwood Stadium 5,623
2001–02 Airdrieonians 2–1 Alloa Athletic Broadwood Stadium 4,548
2002–03 Queen of the South 2–0 Brechin City Broadwood Stadium 6,428
2003–04 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2–0 Airdrie United McDiarmid Park 5,428
2004–05 Falkirk 2–1 Ross County McDiarmid Park 7,471
2005–06 St Mirren 2–1 Hamilton Academical Excelsior Stadium 9,613
2006–07 Ross County  †1–1 † Clyde McDiarmid Park 4,062
2007–08 St Johnstone 3–2 Dunfermline Athletic Dens Park 6,446
2008–09 Airdrie United  †2–2 † Ross County McDiarmid Park 4,091
2009–10 Dundee 3–2 Inverness Caledonian Thistle McDiarmid Park 8,031
2010–11 Ross County 2–0 Queen of the South McDiarmid Park 5,124
2011–12 Falkirk 1–0 Hamilton Academical Almondvale Stadium 5,210
2012–13 Queen of the South  †1–1 † Partick Thistle Almondvale Stadium 9,452
2013–14 Raith Rovers  †1–0 * Rangers Easter Road 19,983
2014–15 Livingston 4–0 Alloa Athletic McDiarmid Park 2,869
2015–16 Rangers 4–0 Peterhead Hampden Park 48,133[31]
2016–17 Dundee United 2–1 St Mirren Fir Park 8,089
2017–18 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1–0 Dumbarton McDiarmid Park 4,602
2018–19 Ross County 3–1 Connah's Quay Nomads Caledonian Stadium 3,057
2019–20[26]
2020–21 Tournament cancelled[26]

Performance by club

Clubs shown in italics are no longer in existence.

Performance by club
Club Wins Last final won Runners-up Last final lost Total final appearances
Falkirk 4 2012 0 — 4
Ross County 3 2019 2 2008 5
Airdrieonians (1878) 3 2001 0 — 3
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2 2018 2 2009 4
Queen of the South 2 2013 2 2010 4
Hamilton Academical 2 1992 2 2012 4
Dundee 2 2009 1 1994 3
St Mirren 1 2005 2 2017 3
Alloa Athletic 1 1999 2 2015 3
Dundee United 1 2017 1 1995 2
Rangers 1 2016 1 2014 2
Livingston 1 2015 1 2000 2
Airdrieonians 1 2008 1 2003 2
St Johnstone 1 2007 1 1996 2
Raith Rovers 1 2014 0 — 1
Stranraer 1 1996 0 — 1
Stenhousemuir 1 1995 0 — 1
Ayr United 0 — 2 1991 2
Connah's Quay Nomads 0 — 1 2019 1
Dumbarton 0 — 1 2018 1
Peterhead 0 — 1 2016 1
Partick Thistle 0 — 1 2013 1
Dunfermline Athletic 0 — 1 2007 1
Clyde 0 — 1 2006 1
Brechin City 0 — 1 2002 1
Morton 0 — 1 1992 1

List of winning managers
List of winning managers
Season Manager[38] Nationality Club Notes
1990–91 Gordon Wallace Scotland Dundee
1991–92 Billy McLaren Scotland Hamilton Academical
1992–93 Iain Munro Scotland Hamilton Academical
1993–94 Jim Jefferies Scotland Falkirk
1994–95 Alex MacDonald Scotland Airdrieonians
1995–96 Terry Christie Scotland Stenhousemuir First manager to win the competition with a club outside of the second tier.
1996–97 Campbell Money Scotland Stranraer
1997–98 Alex Totten Scotland Falkirk
1999–2000 Terry Christie (2) Scotland Alloa Athletic First manager to win the competition more than once, with two different clubs.
2000–01 Steve Archibald Scotland Airdrieonians
2001–02 Ian McCall Scotland Airdrieonians
2002–03 John Connolly Scotland Queen of the South
2003–04 John Robertson Scotland Inverness Caledonian Thistle
2004–05 John Hughes Scotland Falkirk
2005–06 Gus MacPherson Scotland St Mirren
2006–07 Scott Leitch Scotland Ross County
2007–08 Sandy Stewart Scotland St Johnstone
2008–09 Kenny Black Scotland Airdrie United
2009–10 Jocky Scott Scotland Dundee
2010–11 Jimmy Calderwood Scotland Ross County
2011–12 Steven Pressley Scotland Falkirk
2012–13 Allan Johnston Scotland Queen of the South
2013–14 Grant Murray Scotland Raith Rovers
2014–15 Mark Burchill Scotland Livingston
2015–16 Mark Warburton England Rangers First non-Scottish manager to win the competition.
2016–17 Ray McKinnon Scotland Dundee United
2017–18 John Robertson (2) Scotland Inverness Caledonian Thistle First manager to win the cup more than once with the same club.
2018–19 Steven Ferguson and Stuart Kettlewell Scotland Ross County First co-managers to win the cup

Sponsorship and media coverage
Home improvement retailer B&Q were the first sponsors of the tournament, from 1990 until 1995.
Petrofac sponsored the Scottish Challenge Cup from 2014 to 2016.

The Scottish Challenge Cup has been sponsored several times since it was introduced in 1990. The sponsor has been able to determine the name of the competition. There have been four sponsors since the competition's formation as well as several name changes within the duration of each sponsorship.[1] The competition relies on revenue earned from sponsorship although it has been able to run without a sponsor over two periods but had to be suspended for one season in 1998–99 as a consequence.[2]

  • 1990–1995: B&Q (B&Q Centenary Cup (until 1991) then B&Q Cup)[2][4]
  • 1995–1998: No sponsor
  • 1999–2006: Bell's whisky (Bell's Challenge Cup (until 2002) then Bell's Cup)[2][4]
  • 2006–2008: No sponsor
  • 2008–2011: MG Alba (ALBA Challenge Cup)[39]
  • 2011–2014 Ramsdens (Ramsdens Cup)[40]
  • 2014–2016: Petrofac (Petrofac Training Cup)[41][42]
  • 2016–2019: Irn-Bru (Irn-Bru Cup)[43]
  • 2019–2020: Tunnock's (Tunnock's Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup)[44]
  • 2021– : SPFL Trust (SPFL Trust Trophy)[45]

Selected games have been broadcast live on the Scottish Gaelic language television channel BBC Alba since 2008,[46] which is run jointly by former sponsor MG Alba and the BBC.[47] Every final since the 2008 final has been broadcast live on the channel[48] and the arrangement was extended for three more years in 2012 despite the end of MG Alba's sponsorship of the competition in 2011.[49] With the expansion of the competition to include teams from Northern Ireland and Wales from 2016 to 2017, additional contracts for live match coverage have been agreed with Premier Sports and S4C.[6]

See also

References
  1. The Scottish Football League Challenge Cup Final Results, scottishfootballleague.com. Scottish Football League. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  2. Preview Forfar Athletic, dafc.co.uk. Dunfermline Athletic F.C.. 25 July 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  3. Scottish Football League Challenge Cup, scottish-football-historical-archive.com. Scottish Football Historical Archive. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  4. Fisher, Stewart. "Beginner's Guide to the Bell's Cup ...". The Sunday Herald. 4 August 2002.
  5. League Challenge Cup, dundeeunitedfc.co.uk. Dundee United F.C.. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  6. "Scottish Challenge Cup: Bray Wanderers and Sligo Wanderers 'relishing' trophy chance". BBC Sport. 7 June 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  7. Scottish League Challenge Cup, soccer.mistral.co.uk. 14 May 2001. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  8. Caught in Time: Dundee win the B&Q Centenary Cup, 1990, thesundaytimes.co.uk. The Sunday Times. 30 April 2006. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  9. Format, scottishfootballleague.com. Scottish Football League. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  10. "Challenge Cup expansion announced - Scottish Professional Football League". Scottish Professional Football League. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  11. "With the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden; Now You Know". Evening Times, Glasgow. 22 December 2007.
  12. Alba Cup Final: Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2 Dundee 3, dailyrecord.co.uk. Daily Record. 23 November 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  13. McCarra, Kevin. "Shootout victory for Stenhousemuir after 111 years", The Times, 6 November 1995. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  14. A Brief History of Stenhousemuir Football Club, stenhousemuirfc.com. Stenhousemuir F.C.. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  15. "Rangers: Life in Scottish Division Three beckons". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 July 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  16. "Annan v Livingston - 28th Jul 2012". Sky Sports. BSkyB. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  17. "Annan Athletic 0 - 3 Falkirk" Archived 4 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Annan Athletic F.C.. 9 October 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  18. "Record day at Annan", Scottish Football League. 12 October 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  19. "Highland duo enter new Ramsdens Cup". BBC Sport. BBC. 6 June 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  20. Wick Academy to play Raith Rovers in Ramsdens cup, johnogroat-journal.co.uk. John O'Groat Journal. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  21. "Rangers to travel to face Albion Rovers in Ramsdens Cup first round". www.sport.stv.tv. STV. 28 June 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  22. Scottish Challenge Cup gets new sponsorship deal, BBC Sport.
  23. "Sligo Rovers and Bray in next season's Scottish Challenge Cup". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 February 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  24. "National League sides join IRN-BRU Cup - Scottish Professional Football League". spfl.co.uk. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  25. "IRN-BRU CUP RULE CHANGES ANNOUNCED". SPFL. 27 June 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  26. "Scottish Challenge Cup cancelled for season 2020-21". BBC Sport. BBC. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  27. "Rangers to kick off season with Ramsdens Cup tie at Brechin". The Scotsman. 17 July 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  28. Ramsdens Cup Draw, clydefc.co.uk. Clyde F.C.. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  29. Livingston to host Ramsdens Cup final for second season in row, bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  30. "Challenge Cup final: Hampden to stage Rangers v Peterhead". BBC Sport. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  31. "Rangers 4-0 Peterhead". BBC Sport. 10 April 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  32. Scottish Challenge Cup Honours, statto.com. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  33. Airdrie retain Challenge Cup, news.bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 14 October 2001. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  34. Queen of the South 1-1 Partick Thistle (6-5 pens), bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 7 April 2013. Accessed 7 April 2013.
  35. Scottish League Challenge Cup Finals, rsssf.com. RSSSF. 2 December 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  36. PREVIOUS IRN-BRU CUP FINALS, SPFL. 2 1 March 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  37. Bell's Cup, scottishfootballleague.com. Scottish Football League. 2 November 2005. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  38. "Petrofac Cup: Winning managers". SPFL. 5 April 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
    "Irn–Bru Cup: Winning managers". SPFL. 21 March 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
    "IRN-BRU CUP WINNING BOSSES". SPFL. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  39. "SFL Announces Sponsor of the Challenge Cup". Scottish Football League. 30 July 2008. Retrieved 11 April 2009.
  40. Ramsdens Sponsor the Challenge Cup, scottishfootballleague.com. 6 June 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  41. Petrofac Training to sponsor Challenge Cup, spfl.co.uk. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  42. Macpherson, Graeme (8 June 2016). "Revamped Challenge Cup could pave the way for more cross-border competitions". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  43. IRN-BRU adds fizz to Challenge Cup, spfl.co.uk. 9 June 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  44. "Scottish Challenge Cup: New sponsor a sweet deal". BBC Sport. BBC. 26 June 2019.
  45. "SPFL Trust Trophy revealed & new funds launch". spfltrust.org. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  46. "BBC Alba to screen live SFL games". BBC Sport. 3 February 2009. Retrieved 11 April 2009.
  47. BBC Alba to cover Challenge Cup, news.bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 19 September 2008. Retrieved 11 April 2009.
  48. SFL's delight at joy sponsorship deal for Challenge Cup dailyrecord.co.uk. Daily Record. 31 July 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  49. BBC ALBA extend Ramsdens Challenge Cup TV deal, news.bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 25 July 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
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