The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Rules of the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup
, Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 2 September 2014. commonly known as the Scottish CupScottish Cup
, Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 2 September 2014. ( sco, Scots Cup; gd, Cupa na h-Alba), is an annual

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

knock-out cup competition for men's football clubs in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. The competition was first held in 1873–74. Entry is open to all 122 clubs with full membership of the Scottish Football Association (SFA), along with up to eight other clubs who are associate members.Archives - The Cup
, Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 2 September 2014. Although it is the second oldest competition in association football history, after the English

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, the Scottish Cup trophy is the oldest in association football and is also the oldest national trophy in the world. It was first presented to Queen's Park, who won the final match of the inaugural tournament in March 1874. The current holders are Rangers, who won the tournament for the 34th time by defeating Heart of Midlothian 2–0 in the 2022 final.

Format

The tournament starts at the beginning of the Scottish football season, in August. The Scottish Cup Final is usually the last game of the season, taking place at the end of May. Participating teams enter the tournament at different stages depending on their league ranking.William Hill Scottish Cup Format & Composition 2014-15
, ''scottishfa.co.uk''. Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 5 June 2015. The lowest ranked clubs enter the tournament at the preliminary round whilst the highest ranked, those that compete in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

, enter at the fourth round stage in January. Hearts vs

The competition is a

knock-out tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

. In each round of games the teams are paired at random, with the first team drawn listed as the home team. Every game lasts 90 minutes plus any additional stoppage time. The winner of each game advances to the next round, whilst the loser is eliminated from the tournament. In prior seasons, if a game ended in a

draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to: Common uses * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anything ...

before the fourth round, the fixture was replayed at the home ground of the other team at a later date, before the fourth round. If the replay also ended in a draw, a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

took place to decide the winner. From the fourth round onwards, if the game ended in a draw there was no replay; 30 minutes of extra time would be played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if there is still no winner. Following a vote by the Scottish FA's member clubs in August 2022, it was decided that, for the 2022-23 competition, there would be no replays following the Preliminary Round, extra time and penalties will be used to decide the winner of drawn games from Round One onwards. The competition has a staggered entry system. For the 2022–23 edition, the preliminary round is contested by 50 clubs. Eighteen Highland League and sixteen Lowland League clubs begin in the first round. Ten Scottish League Two clubs enter the second round. Scottish League One and Scottish Championship clubs start in the third round, while 12

clubs enter in the fourth round.

Eligible clubs and players

Any club that is a full or associate member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) is entitled to compete in the tournament. Full members qualify automatically, which includes every team that plays in the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), Highland League, and Lowland League. Between 1895 and 2007, clubs that were SFA members but not competitors in the country's professional football leagues could only qualify for the tournament through the

Scottish Qualifying Cup The Scottish Qualifying Cup was a football competition played in Scotland between 1895 and 2007. During that time, apart from a brief spell in the 1950s, it was the only way for non-league teams to qualify for the Scottish Cup. The Qualifying Cup ...

Clubs which are not full members of the SFA may still qualify for the tournament by winning one of the six leagues at tier 6 in the

Scottish football league system The Scottish football league system is a series of generally connected leagues for Scottish football clubs. The Scottish system is more complicated than many other national league systems, consisting of several completely separate systems or 'gr ...

(

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

, Midlands, North Caledonian, North Region, South,

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

) or the East, South and West of Scotland Cup-Winners Shield. Clubs that are members of the

Scottish Junior Football Association The Scottish Junior Football Association (SJFA) is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the junior grade of football in Scotland. The term "junior" refers to the level of football ...

(SJFA) have been able to qualify since 2007 by winning the

Scottish Junior Cup The Scottish Junior Cup is an annual football competition organised by the Scottish Junior Football Association. The competition has been held every year since the inception of the SJFA in 1886 and, as of the 2022–23 edition, 108 teams compet ...

. And since 2015, the winners of the

Scottish Amateur Cup The Scottish Amateur Cup is a nationwide knockout tournament supported and organised by the Scottish Amateur Football Association. The Scottish Amateur Cup is contested by hundreds of football clubs every year. The first and second rounds are re ...

are also eligible to qualify. Players that are registered with a competing club are eligible to play, however, cannot represent more than one club during the same tournament. Each club names eleven players and up to seven substitutes before every match. In order to play in the final match, a player must have also been registered to compete in the semi-final round for the same club. If a club fields a player that is not registered, the club may be expelled from the tournament.Buckie reinstated in Scottish Cup after East Stirlingshire expulsion
, ''sport.stv.tv''. STV Sport. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2015.

Venues

Before the semi-final and final rounds, 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 In sports, home is the place and venue identified with a team sport. Most professional teams are named for, and marketed to, particular metropolitan areas; amateur teams may be drawn from a particular region, or from institutions such as sch ...

. In the event of a game ending in a draw, the venue for the replay is the home ground of the second club drawn. The semi-final ties are played at a

neutral venue In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home team is said to ga ...

; usually Hampden Park in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

.Celtic Park and Ibrox announced as Scottish Cup venues
, ''www.scottishfa.co.uk''. Scottish Football Association. 30 October 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2014. On occasions when Hampden has been unavailable, such as when it was being renovated in the late 1990s and when it was being transformed into an athletics stadium for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the semi-finals have been hosted at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is al ...

and Ibrox Stadium, also in Glasgow.SFA defends early decision on Scottish Cup venues
, ''www.scotsman.com''. ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...

''. 31 October 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2014. Hampden Park WP EN

Hampden Park also usually hosts the final match of the tournament. The venue – across three sites in close proximity bearing the name – has hosted the majority of finals including the first in 1874. Other venues that have hosted the final in the tournament's early years are Hamilton Crescent,

Kinning Park Kinning Park is a southern suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. It was formerly a separate police burgh between 1871 and 1905 before being absorbed by the city. In 1897, it had a population of 14,326.Govan Parish School Board, ''The Members' Year Book ...

and the first Cathkin Park; all in Glasgow (although just outside the city boundaries at the time). The last game of the 1896 tournament is the only final that has been hosted outside Glasgow when rivals Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian played at New Logie Green in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

.Logie Green: the final Edinburgh didn't want
, ''scotsman.com'', ''

''. 31 March 2006. Retrieved 2 May 2015. Hampden Park has held world and European records for the highest attendance, some of which were recorded at Scottish Cup games. The 1937 final played between

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

and Celtic attracted a crowd of 147,365 spectators"On this day – 17th April 1937"
, ''scottishfootballmuseum.org.uk''. Scottish Football Museum. 17 April 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015. which was a world record for a national cup final and remains a European record.

European qualification

is a member of the

Union of European Football Associations Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

(UEFA), the winner of the Scottish Cup qualifies to compete in European-wide competitions organised by UEFA. Between 1960 and 1998, the Scottish Cup winners qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup along with winners of other domestic cup competitions across Europe before it was abolished.UEFA Cup Winners' Cup - Competition format
, ''uefa.com''.

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

. 13 July 2005. Retrieved 2 May 2015. The Scottish Cup winners now qualify to compete in the following season's

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

(formerly known as the UEFA Cup).Regulations for the UEFA Europa League 2015-18 Cycle
, ''uefa.com''.

. 20 September 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2015. It is possible for the Scottish Cup winners to have already qualified for a UEFA competition through their league ranking in the

. In this scenario, the qualification spot passes to the highest ranked team in that competition not yet qualified, rather than to the Scottish Cup runners-up.Strategic talks in Dubrovnik
, ''uefa.org''.

. Retrieved 2 May 2015. Until 2014, the Scottish Cup runners-up qualified for European competition if the cup winners had also qualified for the Champions League.

History

The Scottish Football Association was founded in 1873 and the Scottish Cup was created as an annual competition for its members.Brief History of the Scottish FA
''scottishfa.co.uk''. Scottish Football Association. Archived fro
the original
on 1 July 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2015. The first Scottish Cup match took place on 18 October 1873 when Renton defeated Kilmarnock 2–0 in the first round.The Scottish Cup - Then and Now
''scottishfa.co.uk''. Scottish Football Association. Archived fro
the original
on 27 June 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2015. In its early years the competition was dominated by Queen's Park who won the final 10 times in the first twenty years.Tennent’s Scottish Cup Previous Winners
''scottishfa.co.uk''. Scottish Football Association. Archived fro
the original
on 27 June 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2015. Vale of Leven,

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

and Renton were also successful during this period. In 1885, the record margin of victory in the tournament was recorded when Arbroath defeated Bon Accord 36–0 in a first round match.It was also the highest scoring professional football game recorded in history.

Trophy

The Scottish Cup trophy is the oldest national trophy and also the oldest association football trophy in the world.Oldest Association football trophy
, ''guinnessworldrecords.com''. ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

''. Retrieved 2 September 2014.After 137 years, it's official: Scottish Cup is world football's oldest trophy
, ''scotsman.com''. ''

''. 4 July 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2015. It was made by silversmith George Edward & Sons in Glasgow and has been presented to the winners of the tournament since 1874. The solid

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

trophy is 50 cm in height and weighs 2.25 kg. The original trophy is displayed at the

Scottish Football Museum The Scottish Football Museum is Scotland’s national museum of association football, located in Hampden Park in Glasgow. The Museum The museum houses over 2000 objects of football memorabilia, including the world's oldest cap and match ticket fr ...

at Hampden Park. It is removed once each year to be cleaned and presented to the tournament winners.Scottish Cup named oldest national football trophy
, ''eveningtimes.co.uk''. '' Evening Times''. 5 July 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2015. After the presentation ceremony, the trophy is returned to the museum.The Scottish Cup Preparation for the Final
, ''scottishfootballmuseum.org.uk''.

. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2015. A replica of the original trophy is given to the tournament winners after the ceremony and is also used for promotional purposes.

Performances

By club

A total of 34 clubs have appeared in the final, of whom 25 have won the competition. The most successful club in terms of wins and appearances in the final is Celtic, with 40 wins from 59.Scottish FA Cup Honours
, ''statto.com''. Retrieved 5 September 2014. Celtic and Rangers have finished runners-up on more occasions than any other club with 18 defeats each in the final. The most recent winner is Rangers, who defeated Heart of Midlothian 2–0 in the 2022 final.

Domestic double and treble

Clubs that win the Scottish Cup can complete a domestic " double" by becoming Scottish league champions in the same season. Only three clubs have won both competitions in the same season.Doing the Double! - Total Number of Domestic Doubles
, ''rsssf.com''.

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around th ...

. Retrieved 5 June 2015. Celtic have completed the domestic league and Scottish Cup double on 19 occasions, followed by Rangers on 18. The only other Scottish club to achieve this feat was Aberdeen, in 1983–84. Since the creation of the Scottish League Cup in 1947, clubs can complete a domestic treble by also winning this tournament in the same season. Rangers and Celtic have achieved this feat on seven occasions. Celtic won four consecutive domestic trebles ("quadruple treble") in 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 and 2019–20. No team had previously won consecutive trebles.

Cup "shocks"

Some clubs have become renowned for eliminating higher ranked clubs from the tournament despite being underdogs. Division Two club East Fife won the tournament in 1938 by defeating Division One club Kilmarnock, the first team from outside the top-tier of league football to win the trophy. East Fife had previously reached the final in

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 ...

after eliminating three higher ranked clubs in the preceding rounds.Scottish Cup Shocks
, ''londonhearts.com''. London Hearts Supporters' Clubs. Retrieved 16 May 2015. Hibernian became the second second-tier side to win the cup as they defeated Rangers, who were also then in the second tier, in the 2016 final. Only one other club from outside the top-tier of league football has won the competition;

non-league Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to d ...

Queen's Park defeated Celtic in the

1893 Events January–March * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * Mark Twain started writing Puddn'head Wilson. * January 6 – Th ...

final.The Scottish Football League was founded in 1890, seventeen years after the Scottish Cup, so all competitors between 1873 and 1890 were technically non-league. Several other clubs have reached the final whilst competing outside the top-tier of league football, but were defeated in the final. These include

, Kilmarnock, Airdrieonians, Falkirk (twice), Gretna, Queen of the South, Ross County and Hearts. In the rounds before the final some notable shocks have occurred. In 1959, Dundee were eliminated by Highland League club Fraserburgh despite having Scotland internationals in their squad.Dundee Football Club - History
, ''dundeefc.co.uk''. Dundee F.C. Retrieved 16 May 2015. A season later, Eyemouth United reached the quarter-finals after defeating two higher league clubs. In 1967,

Berwick Rangers Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, just south of the border with Scotland. Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite hailing fr ...

eliminated defending champions Rangers in the first round. Celtic's shock defeat by First Division club Inverness Caledonian Thistle in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

led to the famous newspaper headline " Super Caley go ballistic, Celtic are atrocious". In the 2020–21 competition Highland League club

Brora Rangers Brora Rangers Football Club are a Scottish football club from the village of Brora, Sutherland, in the Highland council area of Scotland. They play in the Highland Football League, of which they have been champions four times, having won their ...

knocked out

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

leaders Heart of Midlothian, who had been runners-up in each of the two previous seasons. Cup holders St Johnstone were knocked out by League Two (fourth tier) club Kelty Hearts in 2021–22. Drumchapel United of the West of Scotland Football League First Division in the seventh tier of the Scottish pyramid defeated

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side (third tier) F.C. Edinburgh in the 2022-23 edition, the biggest statistical cup shock in the history of the cup with 62 places separating the teams within the league system at the time. Other results regarded as shocks include Stenhousemuir's win against Aberdeen in 1995 and Albion Rovers' defeat of Motherwell in 2013.

Sponsorship

The Scottish Cup has been sponsored several times since the first organisation backed the tournament in 1983. The sponsor has been able to determine the name of the competition. There have been four sponsors since 1983 as well as several name changes within the duration of each sponsorship. The competition relies on revenue earned from these agreements although it ran without a title sponsor for over 100 years until the late 1980s.Health row as Tennent's win the Cup
, ''The Herald''. 29 July 1989. The Scottish Health Education Group was the first organisation to sponsor the Scottish Cup in 1983 with the largest sponsorship package in Scottish football at the time, worth around £200,000.Health Group's £200,000 Scottish Cup boost
. '' The Glasgow Herald''. 23 October 1982. The partnership was praised for the promotion of a healthy lifestyle linked with football. The deal ended in 1989 when

Tennent Caledonian Breweries Tennent Caledonian is a brewery based in Glasgow, Scotland. The Wellpark Brewery is situated in the city's East End, between the Townhead and Dennistoun districts along Duke Street. It was founded in 1740 on the bank of the Molendinar Burn ...

won the sponsorship rights. Tennent's association with the tournament raised the debate about alcohol sponsorship within sports following the riots at the 1980 Scottish Cup Final which resulted in the sale of alcohol being banned at Scottish sporting events. Despite this controversy, the partnership was largely successful and lasted 18 years until 2007. The SFA received around £25 million over the duration of the sponsorship deal. The Scottish Government in association with businessman Willie Haughey sponsored the Scottish Cup between 2008 and 2010. The 2008–09 competition was known as the Homecoming Scottish Cup to promote Scotland's year of homecoming and tourism. The 2009–10 competition was known the Active Nation Scottish Cup to promote a healthy living through football. Carling was an additional sponsor between 2010 and 2014 as the competition's official beer.

Media coverage

Scottish Cup matches are currently broadcast live by both BBC Scotland in Scotland and

Premier Sports Viaplay Sports and Premier Sports are a group of pay television sports channels owned by Viaplay Group. Viaplay Sports holds exclusive live UK and Republic of Ireland TV rights to La Liga, Scottish League Cup, Elite Ice Hockey League, NHL an ...

across the rest of the United Kingdom.

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scotland, Scottish radio station, radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same na ...

provide radio coverage including several full live commentaries with additional commentaries broadcast on Radio Scotland's local frequencies. Radio broadcasting rights are also held by BBC Radio nan Gàidheal and BBC Radio 5 Live also carry some games. The Scottish FA sells overseas rights separately from their domestic contract. In Australia, the Scottish Cup is broadcast exclusively by Setanta Sports Australia. Premium Sports hold the rights for the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. In the United States, the tournament is broadcast by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

. The Scottish Cup Final is one of several events reserved for live broadcast in Scotland

terrestrial television Terrestrial television or over-the-air television (OTA) is a type of television broadcasting in which the signal transmission occurs via radio waves from the terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV receiver having an ante ...

under the Ofcom Code on Sports and Other Listed and Designated Events.

Notes

References

External links

Tournament home pageThe Scottish Cup at the Scottish FA websiteThe Scottish Cup Archive at the Scottish FA websiteThe Scottish Cup Final Archive at the Scottish FA website
{{National football Cups (UEFA region) 1 National association football cups 1873 establishments in Scotland Recurring sporting events established in 1873