Scottish Challenge Cup

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Scottish Challenge Cup
Scottish Challenge Cup 2007-08
Founded
1990
Nation
Scotland
Number of teams
30
Holders (2007-08)
St. Johnstone

The Scottish Challenge Cup is a Scottish football competition introduced in 1990 to celebrate the centenary of the Scottish Football League. Entry is open to all 30 member clubs of the Scottish Football League. Its concept is similar in format to the English Football League Trophy.

The competition is of a straightforward knockout format and commences early in the Scottish football season. Often the First Round will be played on the Saturday the week before the Scottish Football League (SFL) season begins, although in recent years SFL sides qualifying for the UEFA Cup have made this unfeasible and the round has been held on a midweek. The rest of the competition, up to and including the Semi-Finals, are also played midweek. The final usually takes place on a Saturday in October or November, at a neutral stadium located close to the two competing clubs. The Semi-Finals are not played at neutral venues.

The First Round is divided into two geographical zones - North-East and South-West - each of 15 clubs. In each zone, 7 ties are drawn and 1 club receives a bye to the Second Round (from which point the competition is nationwide). If an SFL club has qualified for the UEFA Cup, via winning the Scottish Cup or losing in the final to a club which qualified for the UEFA Champions League - this club receives the bye in their zone. It would be conceivable for an SFL club to also qualify for the InterToto Cup, if they were relegated from the SPL the previous season and were the only club to apply - however, this has never occurred.

The current holders of the trophy are St. Johnstone, who beat Dunfermline Athletic 3-2 at Dens Park in the final in November 2007.

It should not be confused with the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Scottish Cup; nor the SFA North and South Challenge Cups, which effectively replaced the Scottish Qualifying Cup from 2007-2008, when all clubs gained direct entry to the Scottish Cup

[edit] Scottish Challenge Cup finals

Season	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Venue
2007–08 Details	St. Johnstone	3 – 2	Dunfermline Athletic	Dens Park
2006–07 Details	Ross County	1 – 1 (a.e.t.) (5 – 4 pen.)	Clyde	McDiarmid Park
2005–06 Details	St. Mirren	2 – 1	Hamilton Academical	Excelsior Stadium
2004–05 Details	Falkirk	2 – 1	Ross County	McDiarmid Park
2003–04	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	2 – 0	Airdrie United	McDiarmid Park
2002–03	Queen of the South	2 – 0	Brechin City	Broadwood Stadium
2001–02	Airdrieonians	2 – 1	Alloa Athletic	Broadwood Stadium
2000–01	Airdrieonians	2 – 2 (a.e.t.) (4 – 3 pen.)	Livingston	Broadwood Stadium
1999–00	Alloa Athletic	4 – 4 (a.e.t.) (5 – 4 pen.)	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Excelsior Stadium
1998–99	Competition suspended due to lack of sponsorship
1997–98	Falkirk	1 – 0	Queen of the South	Fir Park
1996–97	Stranraer	1 – 0	St Johnstone	Broadwood Stadium
1995–96	Stenhousemuir	0 – 0 (a.e.t.) (5 – 4 pen.)	Dundee United	McDiarmid Park
1994–95	Airdrieonians	3 – 2 (a.e.t.)	Dundee	McDiarmid Park
1993–94	Falkirk	3 – 0	St. Mirren	Fir Park
1992–93	Hamilton Academical	3 – 2	Greenock Morton	St. Mirren Park
1991–92	Hamilton Academical	1 – 0	Ayr United	Fir Park
1990–91	Dundee	3 – 2 (a.e.t.)	Ayr United	Fir Park

[edit] Performance by club

Team	Wins	Last win	Runners-up	Last final lost
Airdrieonians	3	2002	0	—
Falkirk	3	2005	0	—
Hamilton Academical	2	1993	1	2006
Alloa Athletic	1	2000	1	2002
Dundee	1	1991	1	1995
Inverness CT	1	2004	1	2000
Queen of the South	1	2003	1	1998
Ross County	1	2007	1	2005
St. Johnstone	1	2008	1	1997
St. Mirren	1	2006	1	1994
Stenhousemuir	1	1996	0	—
Stranraer	1	1997	0	—
Ayr United	0	—	2	1992
Airdrie United	0	—	1	2004
Brechin City	0	—	1	2003
Clyde	0	—	1	2007
Dundee United	0	—	1	1996
Livingston	0	—	1	2001
Morton	0	—	1	1993
Dunfermline Athletic	0	—	1	2008

[edit] External links

Scottish Challenge Cup

Scottish Challenge Cup seasons

v • d • e

1990-91 | 1991-92 | 1992-93 | 1993-94 | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | 1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-00
2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10