The 2024 Scottish Challenge Cup final, also known as the SPFL Trust Trophy final for sponsorship reasons, was a football match on 24 March 2024 between the

Cymru Premier The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to ...

club

The New Saints The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club, also known as The New Saints ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed y Seintiau Newydd) or TNS, are a professional football club that currently play in the Cymru Premier. They are the most successfu ...

and the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Champio ...

side

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie Unite ...

. It was the 31st 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 ...

, and the ninth since the

SPFL 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 we ...

was formed. It was played at

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 ...

. It would subsequently be the last Scottish Challenge Cup final to feature a non-Scottish team due to them no longer being invited the following season.

Route to the final

The New Saints

The New Saints (TNS), as an invited team representing the Cymru Premier, started in the Third Round where they were drawn away at Hibernian B where they won 3–0 at

Meadowbank Stadium Meadowbank Stadium (officially the Meadowbank Sports Centre) is a multi-purpose sports facility located in the Meadowbank area of Edinburgh, Scotland. Built on the site of the earlier New Meadowbank and Old Meadowbank sports venues, it was o ...

. In the next round they played East Fife at home. At their

Park Hall Park Hall is an affluent area near to the south-eastern edge of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. It is considered that the area near to the local Park Hall Primary and Infant schools and the Gillity Village shops are classed as Park Hall ...

, TNS progressed after winning 5–4 on penalties after a 2–2 draw. In the quarter-finals, they overcame

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. ...

4–1 at Park Hall. In the semi-finals, they played

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 ...

away at Falkirk Stadium. TNS won 1–0 becoming the second Welsh team to reach the final after

Connah's Quay Nomads Connah's Quay Nomads Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cei Connah) is a Welsh professional football club based in Connah's Quay, Flintshire. They play in the Cymru Premier. The club was founded in 1946 as Connah's Quay Juniors and adopted ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. TNS also entered this match looking to match the world record for consecutive wins in all competitions.

Airdrieonians

Airdrieonians also started in the Third Round away at the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built ...

and won 3–2 at

Forthbank Stadium Forthbank Stadium is a football stadium in Stirling, Scotland. Opened in 1993, it has been the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Stirling Albion since then. Since 2013 it has also hosted the first team matches of Lowla ...

. In the next round they played away against

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

and progressed after a 4–2 win at

Cappielow Cappielow, also known as Cappielow Park supported by Dalrada Technology UK for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Greenock Morton ...

. They then faced

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Green ...

at Cappielow and won 6–5 on penalties after a 0–0 draw. In the semi-finals they played away at

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leag ...

and progressed to the final after a 1–0 win at

Stark's Park Stark's Park is a football stadium in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. It is the home ground of Raith Rovers, who have played there since 1891. The ground has an all-seated capacity of 9000 History Raith started using the ground in 1891 and it seats . ...

Match details

Notes

* TNS are based in

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads. The town was the administrative headquarters of the Boroug ...

, England but play in the Welsh Cymru Premier

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=March 2024 Scottish Challenge Cup finals Scottish Challenge Cup Final 2024 Scottish Challenge Cup Final 2024

Challenge Cup Final The Challenge Cup of Rugby league was instituted in the 1896–97 and the final was contested between Batley and St. Helens at Headingley, Leeds. In the seasons during the Second World War the final was played over two legs, with the aggregate s ...

3 Scottish Challenge Cup Final