The 2023–24 Scottish League Cup final was an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

match that took place at

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

on 17 December 2023. It was the culmination of the 2023–24 Scottish League Cup, the 78th season of the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

(known as the

Viaplay Viaplay is a Swedish video streaming service owned by Viaplay Group. History Originally owned by Modern Times Group, it was launched in May 2007 as Viasat On Demand. It was rebranded as Viaplay in 2011. Viaplay released its first origina ...

Cup for sponsorship reasons), a competition for the 42 teams in the

Scottish Professional Football League The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) is the national men's association football league in Scotland. The league was formed in June 2013 following a merger between the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League. As well ...

(SPFL). It was played between

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

and

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, meeting at this stage in the competition for the seventh time.Rangers v Aberdeen: Will old foes drum up another classic League Cup final?
Liam McLeod, BBC Sport, 16 December 2023 Rangers won 1–0 through a goal by captain James Tavernier to claim the League Cup for the first time since

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and a record 28th time overall; Aberdeen's trophy drought since their 2014 win in the same competition continued.

Route to the final

As both clubs participated in European competitions, they both received a bye through the 2023–24 Scottish League Cup group stage.

Rangers

Aberdeen

Match

Summary

In a match hampered by poor weather and numerous fouls, Aberdeen offered little offensively but

Philippe Clement Philippe Clement (born 22 March 1974) is a Belgian professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Scottish Premiership club Rangers. He began his professional career at Belgian clubs Beerschot and Genk be ...

's Rangers struggled to make the breakthrough; they eventually went ahead in the 76th minute when captain James Tavernier scored after controlling a cross from

Borna Barišić Borna Barišić (; born 10 November 1992) is a Croatian professional association football, footballer who plays as a left-back for club CD Leganés, Leganés, on loan from Süper Lig club Trabzonspor, and the Croatia national football team, Croa ...

from the left with his right foot before firing to the right of the net. It was the only goal of the game as Rangers claimed a first Scottish League Cup since

. Tavernier's goal was the defender's 14th against Aberdeen (all others coming in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

),Rangers win Viaplay Cup: James Tavernier drags side to win against Aberdeen
Tom English, BBC Sport, 17 December 2023 tying him with

Ally McCoist Alistair Murdoch McCoist (; born 24 September 1962) is a Scottish former association football, footballer who has since worked as a Manager (association football), manager and TV pundit. McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Jo ...

and

Derek Johnstone Derek Joseph Johnstone (born 4 November 1953) is a Scottish former football player and manager. Johnstone played mainly for Rangers winning 14 major trophies during his career. He also had a spell at Chelsea and a brief stint in management wit ...

as the all-time top scorer in the fixture.Player Records (Filtered) Most Goals [Filter: Vs Aberdeen
FitbaStats (Rangers). Retrieved 19 December 2023

Details

Notes

References

2023 D

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

December 2023 sports events in the United Kingdom League Cup final Aberdeen F.C. matches Rangers F.C. matches 2020s in Glasgow {{Scotland-footy-competition-stub