Scottish Challenge Cup
The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,IRN-BRU Cup due to sponsorship reasons, was the 28th season of the competition. The tournament took on a similar format from the previous season with the addition of two teams from England's National League entering the competition for the first time. This took the total number of participating clubs to 58.
Thirty teams from the
Scottish Championship
The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...
,
Scottish League One
The Scottish League One, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foot ...
and
Scottish League Two
The Scottish League Two, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foo ...
competed, along with four teams from the Highland Football League (one eliminated in preliminary round) and four from the Lowland Football League (one eliminated in preliminary round). In addition to this, Under-21 teams of the clubs competing 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 ...
were represented. This was the third edition with two clubs from both Northern Ireland's
NIFL Premiership
The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...
League of Ireland
The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...
entered. A new change was the addition of two entrants from the English National League (fifth tier).
Inverness Caledonian Thistle were the defending champions after they beat
Dumbarton
Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...
Crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...
and
Coleraine
Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...
), England ( Sutton United and Boreham Wood) and the Republic of Ireland ( Bohemians and Sligo Rovers) entered in the second round. Originally, Bray Wanderers were to be the second side to represent the League of Ireland however, they were subsequently thrown out by the FAI on 16 July 2018 for failing to pay their players and replaced by
Limerick
Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...
. A similar statement was released by the FAI hours later about Limerick who were also in financial difficulties. St Patrick's Athletic were then invited to compete as the next ranked team in line but declined. Sligo Rovers accepted the position in their place so they would represent the
League of Ireland
The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...
instead.
Draw
The draw for the second round was made on 16 August 2018 at 1pm live on th SPFL Facebook page
Teams in Bold advanced to the third round.
Teams in ''Italics'' were not known at the time of the draw.
Matches
Third round
Draw
The draw for the third round was made on 11 September 2018 at 1pm live on th SPFL Facebook page
Teams in Bold advanced to the quarter-finals.
Matches
Quarter-finals
Draw
The draw for the quarter-finals was made on 16 October 2018 at 1pm at The Hub in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
live on th SPFL Facebook page
Teams in Bold advanced to the semi-finals.
Matches
;Notes
Semi-finals
Draw
The draw for the semi-finals was made on 21 November 2018 at 1pm at Hampden Park live on th SPFL Facebook page
Final
Player of the Round
The Golden Ball Award is a 'Player of the Round' award given to the player who is adjudged to have had the best performance of that round out of all the players in teams left competing in that round of the competition. The winner is voted for by supporters from a chosen short-list of players, which is posted on the Irn-Bru Football Twitter page.
Broadcasting rights
The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition are held jointly by BBC Alba, S4C (for matches involving Welsh teams) and subscription channel Premier Sports. Prior to the re-format in the 2016–17 season, BBC Alba had exclusive rights.
One of the semi-final matches was also confirmed as being broadcast live on
BT Sport
TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Group, they first launched as B ...
despite no apparent previous announcement of rights.
The following matches were broadcast live on UK television:
Challenge Cup
The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...
Challenge Cup
The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...