Scottish Challenge Cup

Scottish Challenge Cup

Founded	1990
Region	Scotland[note 1]
Number of teams	33 (2013–14) (including preliminary round)
Current champions	Queen of the South (2nd title)
Most successful club(s)	Falkirk (4 titles)
Television broadcasters	BBC Alba
2013–14 Scottish Challenge Cup

The Scottish Football League Challenge Cup,^[1][2][3] commonly known as the Scottish League Challenge Cup^[4][5] or Scottish Challenge Cup,^[1][2] is an association football knock-out cup competition. It is contested by 32 clubs, which in the 2013-14 season includes the 30 members of the Scottish Championship, Scottish League One and Scottish League Two, the top Highland League club with a valid SFA club licence (Formartine United)^[6] and the winner of a preliminary round tie between the highest placed top in the East of Scotland League with a valid SFA club licence (Spartans) & their counterparts in the South of Scotland League (Threave Rovers),^[7] the preliminary tie was a two-legged tie played on the Saturdays of 13 & 20 July with Spartans at home in the 1st leg, Spartans came out on top.^[8] Clubs in the top-tier are ineligible to compete.^[5] The competition is run by the Scottish Professional Football League and named the Ramsdens Cup after sponsor Ramsdens, a British pawnbroker.^[9]

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 Scottish Football League. 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.^[10][11] The most recent winner was Queen of the South, who defeated Partick Thistle 6–5 on penalties after a 1–1 draw in the 2013 final.^[12] From the 2011 competition onwards, two football clubs from the Highland Football League are invited to compete, bringing the total number of competitors to 32.^[13]

Format

The competition is a knock-out tournament contested by 32 teams – the 30 member clubs of the Scottish Football League and two Highland Football League clubs by invitation.^[13] The first round of matches start early in the Scottish football season, around July, a week before the beginning of the Scottish Football League season. In the most recent tournament in 2012–13, the first and second rounds were divided into two geographical regions – north/east and south/west – with 16 clubs in each.^[14] Within each region the clubs are paired at random and the first club drawn listed as the home team.^[14] The winner of each match progresses to the next round and the loser is eliminated from the tournament. After the second round the regional matches end and the remaining eight clubs, four from each region, can be drawn against any other club. 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.^[14]

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][15] 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; the second highest attendance after the 1993 final.^[2][5][11] The cup was sponsored by DIY retail company B&Q and named the B&Q Centenary Cup^[16] 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][17] When Stenhousemuir won the final in 1995 it was regarded as the club's greatest achievement in its 111 year history.^[18] Attendances at matches in the earlier rounds of the tournament are not dissimilar to average home attendances in the Scottish Football League^[19][20] 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.^[21][22]

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. From the 2010 tournament onwards the two highest ranked clubs from the Highland Football League with a Scottish Football Association license are invited to compete to bring the number of competitors to 32.^[13][23] Before the change in 2010, several clubs received a random bye in the first round in order to even out the number of fixtures.^[14]

Venues

McDiarmid Park in Perth has hosted the final 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.^[14] 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.^[24][25]

Final venue

The final match of the tournament is played at a neutral venue, usually one that is geographically close or equally distant to where the clubs contesting the match are based. This happened with the 2010 final between Queen of the South and Ross County who are based approximately 245 miles (394.3 km) apart by road, meeting almost halfway at McDiarmid Park in Perth.^[26][27] Seven venues have hosted the final with Fir Park in Motherwell being the first in 1990 and has hosted three more finals, the last in 1997.^[3] Other venues to host the final more than once are McDiarmid Park, Broadwood Stadium and Excelsior Stadium, with Almondvale Stadium hosting the most recent in 2013.^[28]

Winners and finalists

A total of 21 clubs have reached the final, of whom 13 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.^[29] Ross County, Hamilton Academical and Queen of the South have also reached the final four times but with less success. 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 Airdrieonians.^[30] It is possible for the winner of the tournament to be unable to defend their title; if a club wins the First Division in the same season and is promoted to the Scottish Premier League, the club becomes ineligible to compete in the tournament. This has happened to Falkirk twice, Inverness Caledonian Thistle and St. Mirren.

Most winners and finalists have been from the First Division, the highest level in the Scottish Football League. Only four teams have won from outside 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 last club to win from outside the First Division was Queen of the South in 2013.^[12] All winners and runners-up from below the First Division have been from the Second Division with none from the Third Division.

Finals

The winner of the tournament is decided by a final elimination match which lasts 90 minutes plus any additional stoppage time.^[14] 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.^[14] 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.^[31]

Key to list of finals

*	Match went to extra time
	Match decided by a penalty shoot-out after extra time
	Winning team won the Scottish Football League First Division
Italics	Team from outside the top level of the Scottish Football League

Results

Scottish Football League Challenge Cup finals

Season	Winner[31]	Score[31][32]	Runner-up[31][32]	Venue[32]	Attendance[32]
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		†TBC		Easter Road

Performance by club

Clubs shown in italics are no longer in existence.

Sponsorship and media coverage

The Scottish Football League 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)^[33]
• 2011–present: Ramsdens (Ramsdens Cup)^[9]

Selected games have been broadcast live on the Scottish Gaelic language television channel BBC Alba since 2008,^[34] which is run jointly by former sponsor MG Alba and the BBC.^[35] Every final since the 2008 final has been broadcast live on the channel^[36] and the arrangement was extended for three more years in 2012 despite the end of MG Alba's sponsorship of the competition in 2011.^[37]

Notes

• 1. ^ Every club eligible to compete in the tournament is a member of the Scottish Football League or Scottish Football Association, or both. However, one club – Berwick Rangers – is based in England.

References

External links

• Official website