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The Scottish Challenge Cup is a Scottish football competition introduced in seaseon 1989–90 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).
The current holders of the trophy are Airdrie United, who beat Ross County 3–2 on penalties after a 2–2 draw at McDiarmid Park in the final in November 2008.
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 2007–08, when all clubs gained direct entry to the Scottish Cup.
It was announced in August 2008, that the cup would be sponsored by MG Alba and renamed the Alba Challenge Cup. This partnership also means that one of the competition's semi-finals and the final will be shown live on BBC Alba.
[edit] Scottish Challenge Cup finals
[edit] Performance by club
[edit] References
- ^ Now known as Greenock Morton
[edit] External links
Scotland
