The 2012 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, also known as the Ramsdens Cup Final for sponsorship reasons, was an

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 t ...

match between

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

and

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scottis ...

on 1 April 2012 at

Almondvale Stadium Almondvale Stadium, also known as the Tony Macaroni Arena for sponsorship purposes, but most commonly referred to as ‘The Spaghettihad’ (alluding to the Etihad Stadium), is a football stadium, located in the Almondvale area of Livingston, ...

in Livingston. It was the 21st final of the

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km so ...

. Both teams progressed through four knock-out rounds to reach the final. The match was Falkirk's fourth appearance in the Scottish Challenge Cup Final with the club defending an unbeaten record in the final having won on three previous occasions, the most recent in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. It was also Hamilton's fourth appearance, the club winning twice in successive years in the early-1990s and losing in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

. The tournament was contested by clubs below the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when t ...

with both clubs from the First Division. The match was watched by 5,210 spectators as well as being broadcast live on

BBC Alba BBC Alba is a Scottish Gaelic-language free-to-air public broadcast television channel jointly owned by the BBC and MG Alba. The channel was launched on 19 September 2008 and is on-air for up to seven hours a day with BBC Radio nan Gàidheal ...

.Ramsdens Cup final to be broadcast live on BBC Alba

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside ...

. 28 March 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012. An early goal from

Darren Dods Darren Dods (born 7 June 1975) is a Scottish football player and coach. Dods played as a central defender for Hibernian, St Johnstone, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Dundee United, Falkirk, Forfar Athletic and Brechin City. He also represente ...

in the 2nd minute was enough for Falkirk to win the match 1–0. In doing so Falkirk became the first club to win the tournament for a fourth time.Falkirk 1-0 Hamilton Accies

. 2012-04-01. Retrieved 2012-04-04.

Route to the final

The competition is a knock-out tournament and in 2011–12 was contested by 32 teams: the 30 clubs that played in the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

, Second and Third Divisions of the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km so ...

and two

Highland Football League The Scottish Highland Football League (SHFL, commonly known as the Highland League) is a senior association football, football league based in the north of Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a ...

clubs by invitation. For the first round only, the draw was divided into two geographical regions made up of 16 clubs – north/east and south/west. Teams were paired at random and the winner of each match progressed to the next round and the loser was eliminated.

Falkirk

Falkirk were placed in the north/east region for the first round and were drawn against Second Division side Brechin City away from home. All of the goals came in the first half but

's debut goal in the 33rd minute proved to be the decider in the 2–1 win at Glebe Park."Brechin City 1-2 Falkirk"
''

''. 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2011-10-13. In the second round Falkirk faced fellow First Division side Dundee at the

Falkirk Stadium The Falkirk Stadium is a football stadium in Falkirk, central Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish League One club Falkirk and Lowland Football League club East Stirlingshire. The stadium has a capacity of and currently consists of ...

. The only goal of the game came from Moroccan, Farid El Alagui in the 43rd minute and was enough to send Falkirk through to the quarter-final stage."Falkirk 1 - 0 Dundee : Tuesday, 9th August 2011"
, ''

''. 2011-08-09. Retrieved 2011-10-13. The reward for reaching the quarter-final stage was an away game against East Fife of the Second Division. The

Methil Methil (Scottish Gaelic: Meadhchill) is an eastern coastal town in Scotland. It was first recorded as "Methkil" in 1207, and belonged to the Bishop of St Andrews. Two Bronze Age cemeteries have been discovered which date the settlement as ov ...

based club took the lead on the 27th minute courtesy of a right-foot curler from Ryan Wallace."East Fife 1 - 4 Falkirk : Sunday, 4th September 2011"
, ''

''. 2011-09-04. Retrieved 2011-10-13. However, two goals in quick succession from

Kallum Higginbotham Kallum Michael Higginbotham (born 15 June 1989) is an English footballer who plays as a winger for Tranent in the Lowland League. Higginbotham started his football career as a youth player at Salford City and then in Oldham Athletic's reserv ...

and Craig Sibbald to make the score 3–1 was enough to overcome East Fife, with Higginbotham sealing the scoreline at 4–1 on the 87th minute in the match at Bayview Stadium."East Fife 1-4 Falkirk"
''

''. 2011-09-04. Retrieved 2011-10-13. The semi-final draw paired Falkirk with high flying Annan Athletic of the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

. Annan Athletic had played 12 games and won 10 in all competitions leading up to the semi-final tie and had knocked out First Division club Ayr United in the previous round. However, three first half goals, one from

Mark Millar Mark Millar (; born 24 December 1969) is a Scottish comic book writer and television producer who first came to prominence with a run on the superhero series '' The Authority'', published by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. Millar has written ...

and two from Farid El Alagui"Annan Athletic 0-3 Falkirk"
''

''. 2011-10-09. Retrieved 2011-10-13. saw off Annan Athletic in front of a record official attendance of 1,575 at

Galabank Galabank is a football stadium in the town of Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Annan Athletic, who have played there since 1953. The ground has been shared by non-Leagu ...

."Annan Athletic 0 - 3 Falkirk"
, ''

Annan Athletic F.C. Annan Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football club based in the town of Annan, Dumfries and Galloway. The club was founded in 1942 and competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League. T ...

''. 2011-10-09. Retrieved 2011-10-13."Record day at Annan"
''

''. 2011-10-12. Retrieved 2011-10-13.

Hamilton Academical

Hamilton Academical competed in the south/west region for the first round and faced

side Queen's Park at

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

. Two debutant senior goals from

Ali Crawford Alister Crawford (born 30 July 1991) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Scottish Premiership club St Johnstone. Career Hamilton Academical Born in Lanark and brought up in nearby Carluke, Crawford played as a chi ...

and

David Hopkirk David Hopkirk (born 17 January 1993) is a Scottish professional footballer who last played as a forward for Dumbarton. Hopkirk, who started his career with Hamilton Academical, has previously played for Heart of Midlothian, Queen of the Sout ...

in the 72nd and 80th minutes respectively ensured a 2–0 victory for Accies and a clean sheet to progress to the second round. The opponents drawn were

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. The club have been mem ...

of the First Division. A late penalty goal from Irishman James Chambers in the 86th minute at

New Douglas Park New Douglas Park, currently known as the ZLX Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, which serves as the home of Scottish Championship side Hamilton Academical and Scottish League One s ...

was enough to book a place in the quarter-final stage. The quarter-final draw paired Hamilton Academical with another First Division side, Greenock Morton, whom Accies defeated in the 1992 Final. Despite Greenock Morton taking the lead in the 10th minute from a Paul Di Giacomo goal, Hamilton scored two other first half goals from

Greig Spence Greig Spence (born 6 July 1992) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Stirling Albion. Born in Dunfermline, he started his career at Alloa Athletic, breaking into their first-team at the age of 16. He was then signe ...

and Simon Mensing to win 2–1 at New Douglas Park to progress to the semi-final stage. A third club from the First Division provided the opposition for Hamilton in the semi-final in the form of Livingston. A late first half goal in the 43rd minute from

Mark McLaughlin Mark McLaughlin (born 2 December 1975) is a Scottish former professional footballer. Since turning senior in 1999, McLaughlin has played over 100 games for both Clyde and Hamilton Academical. He has also played for Greenock Morton and Dumbar ...

was enough to knock out the

West Lothian West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geographically by the Av ...

side in front of a crowd of 1,418 and progress to their fourth Scottish Challenge Cup Final in the club's history.

Pre-match

Venue

The 2012 final marked the first time the event was hosted at

in Livingston, the home of

Livingston F.C. Livingston Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Livingston, West Lothian. Livingston currently play in the Scottish Premiership and were founded in 1943 as Ferranti Thistle, a works team. The club was admitted to th ...

The venue opened in 1995 and at the time of the final was officially known as the ''Braidwood Motor Company Stadium'' after its sponsor. Seating arrangements for spectators in the stadium were segregated with Falkirk supporters occupying the East Stand and parts of the North and South Stands whilst Hamilton fans were allocated tickets for the West (Main) Stand.Ramsdens Cup Final Ticket Info
''spfl.co.uk''. ''

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 w ...

''. 24 March 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2013. Falkirk travelled around Directions from Falkirk Football Club to Almondvale Stadium
''bing.com''. Bing Maps. Retrieved 19 August 2013. to the venue and Hamilton Academical travelled approximately .Directions from Hamilton Academical Football Club to Almondvale Stadium
''bing.com''. Bing Maps. Retrieved 19 August 2013.

Analysis

With the inclusion of two Highland League clubs for the first time, this brought the number of teams competing up to 32 which meant that there was no random bye for any club into the second round so both Falkirk and Hamilton entered the first round. Falkirk eliminated three lower league clubs en route to the final whilst Hamilton eliminated only one; defeating three First Division teams before the final. Both teams appeared in the final for the fourth time. Falkirk had won the tournament on their three previous final appearances in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

and

, whereas Hamilton Academical had won the tournament twice in successive years in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the ...

and

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

and came runner-up in

Match

First half

Second half

Details

Statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scottish Challenge Cup Final 2012

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

3 Falkirk F.C. matches Hamilton Academical F.C. matches

finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

April 2012 sports events in the United Kingdom