The 2017 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, also known as the Irn-Bru Cup Final for sponsorship reasons, is a football match that took place on 25 March 2017 at Fir Park, between Dundee United and St Mirren. It was the 26th 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 south ...

and the fourth since 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 ...

was formed. Both teams progressed through four elimination rounds to reach the final. The match was won by Dundee United 2 - 1, marking their first win in the tournament since its inception and their first silverware since the 2009-10 Scottish Cup final.

Route to the final

The competition is a knock-out tournament and was contested by 52 teams from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2016-17. Those participating were the 30 clubs that played in the 2016–17 Championship, League One and

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

of the

along with the top four teams from the 2015–16

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

and Lowland Leagues (

East Stirlingshire East Stirlingshire Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish association football club based in the town of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1881 and competes in the , in the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The club's origins ca ...

, who were relegated from the SPFL, took the place of the Lowland League champions Edinburgh City, who promoted in their place). The top two teams from the

2015–16 Welsh Premier League The 2015–16 Welsh Premier League (known as the Dafabet Welsh Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season of the Welsh Premier League, the highest football league within Wales since its establishment in 1992. The New Saints were t ...

and

2015–16 NIFL Premiership The 2015–16 NIFL Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth season of Northern Ireland's highest national football league in this format since its inception in 2008, the 115th season of Irish league ...

and the U20s squads of the teams competing in the 2016–17 Premiership were also invited to compete. For the first three rounds, the draw was divided into two geographical regions – north and south. These draws were seeded to avoid U20s teams and Highland and Lowland League sides from being drawn against each other. From round four onwards, the draw was regionalised to keep Welsh and Northern Irish teams apart. As both clubs play in the Championship, they received a bye to the third round.

Dundee United

St Mirren

Match details

References

Scottish Challenge Cup Finals Scottish Challenge Cup Final 2017 Scottish Challenge Cup Final 2017

Challenge Cup Final The Challenge Cup of Rugby league was instituted in the 1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season, 1896–97 and the final was contested between Batley Bulldogs, Batley and St Helens R.F.C., St. Helens at Headingley Rugby Stadium, Headingley, ...

3 Scottish Challenge Cup Final {{Scotland-footy-competition-stub