The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,The Scottish Football League Challenge Cup Final Results
''scottishfootballleague.com''.

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct 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&nbs ...

. Retrieved 5 April 2013.Preview Forfar Athletic
, ''dafc.co.uk''. Dunfermline Athletic F.C. 25 July 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2013.Scottish Football League Challenge Cup
''scottish-football-historical-archive.com''. Scottish Football Historical Archive. Retrieved 5 April 2013. commonly known as the Scottish League Challenge CupFisher, Stewart. "Beginner's Guide to the Bell's Cup ...". '' The Sunday Herald''. 4 August 2002.League Challenge Cup
''dundeeunitedfc.co.uk''. Dundee United F.C. Retrieved 5 April 2013. or Scottish Challenge Cup, and currently known as the SPFL Trust Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

knock-out cup competition run by the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). It is recognised as the third most prestigious knockout trophy in Scottish football, after the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

. The competition was first held during the 1990–91 season as the B&Q Centenary Cup to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the formation of the

(SFL). It was intended to be a one-off competition but was continued due to its popularity. It was originally contested by SFL (SPFL since 2013) teams below the top level of the Scottish football league system; select teams from lower levels of the league system were added in 2011–12, and guest teams from outside Scotland in 2016–17. For the 2019–20 edition there were 58 teams: 30 from the SPFL; the twelve Under-21 teams of 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 ...

clubs; four each from the Highland League and Lowland League; and two guest teams from each of the

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 ...

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. It was found ...

, English National League, and League of Ireland Premier Division up until the 2019–20 season. The first winner of the tournament was

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, who defeated Ayr United.Scottish League Challenge Cup
''soccer.mistral.co.uk''. 14 May 2001. Retrieved 5 April 2013.

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a 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 resident population of 32,422 at the ...

are the most successful team in the tournament with four wins, most recently in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. The current holders are Livingston, who defeated Queen's Park in the 2025 final.

Format

The Challenge Cup is a knock-out tournament. Within a regionalised format, clubs are paired at random and the first club drawn listed as the home team. The winner of each match progresses to the next round and the loser is eliminated from the tournament. Every match, including the final, is a one-legged tie that lasts 90 minutes plus any additional stoppage time. If no clear winner has been determined after 90 minutes of normal time, 30 minutes of

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

is played. If the score is still level after extra time then the winner is decided by 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 ...

. Beginning with the 2016–17 season, the competition has been expanded to 58 entrants. All Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs will participate, with the thirty clubs from the

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 sys ...

, League One and League Two now joined by Under-20 teams from the twelve Premiership clubs. Also participating by invitation will be four teams each from the

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

and Lowland Leagues and eight entrants from outside Scottish football – two each from the

in Northern Ireland, the National League in England,

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 ...

and the Welsh Premier League in Wales, until 2021 when the decision was made to only have the Scottish clubs participating due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Teams are seeded to enter the competition over any of the first four rounds, after which eight teams will remain to contest the quarter-finals. The final is played at a neutral venue. In May 2024, it was announced the Cup would return to being Scottish-only for the 2024-25 season, with more Highland and Lowland League teams taking the place of the invited Northern Irish and Welsh clubs. In May 2025, it was announced that for the 2025–26 edition, the cup would be reformatted to involve a 'League Phase', similar to that introduced in UEFA club competitions. This brought around some controversy as the Premiership 'B' Teams were still in the competition at the expense of Highland and Lowland League representatives.

History

The competition was created in the 1990–91 season to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the formation of the

1890 Events January * January 1 – The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony in the Horn of Africa. * January 2 – Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House. * January 11 – 1890 British Ultimatum: The Uni ...

."With the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden; Now You Know". '' Evening Times'', Glasgow. 22 December 2007. It was intended to run for only one season but continued due to its popularity. This was reflected in high attendances at matches in the later rounds of the tournament including a full capacity crowd of 11,500 at Fir Park in the first final.Caught in Time: Dundee win the B&Q Centenary Cup, 1990
''thesundaytimes.co.uk''. ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

''. 30 April 2006. Retrieved 5 April 2013. The cup was sponsored by DIY retail company B&Q and named the ''B&Q Centenary Cup''Alba Cup Final: Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2 Dundee 3
''dailyrecord.co.uk''. '' Daily Record''. 23 November 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2013. for the first year and continued as the ''B&Q Cup'' for four seasons afterwards. The competition was run for three seasons without a sponsor due to the league covering the tournament costs and prize money, but was unsustainable and resulted in it being cancelled for one season in 1998–99 before being re-established in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

with a new sponsor. Although it is not as popular as competitions like the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,McCarra, Kevin. "Shootout victory for Stenhousemuir after 111 years", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 6 November 1995. Retrieved 23 April 2013. When Stenhousemuir won the final in 1995 it was regarded as the club's greatest achievement in its 111-year history.A Brief History of Stenhousemuir Football Club
''stenhousemuirfc.com''. Stenhousemuir F.C. Retrieved 23 April 2013. Attendances at matches in the earlier rounds of the tournament are not dissimilar to average home attendances in league competition but as the competition reaches the latter stages they generally increase; Annan Athletic's record attendance of 1,575 was set in a semi-final match against

in 2011."Annan Athletic 0 – 3 Falkirk"
, '' Annan Athletic F.C.''. 9 October 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2013."Record day at Annan"
''

''. 12 October 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2013. The number of competitors has varied in relation to the number of clubs with Scottish Football League membership. The first tournament featured the 28 clubs in the First and Second Divisions which reduced to 26 until 1994 when the league was expanded and restructured into three divisions; increasing the number of eligible clubs to 30. In the 2010–11 competition the two highest ranked clubs from the Highland Football League with a Scottish Football Association licence were invited to compete, in order to bring the number of competitors to 32.Wick Academy to play Raith Rovers in Ramsdens cup
''johnogroat-journal.co.uk''. '' John O'Groat Journal''. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2013. Before the change in 2010, several clubs received a random bye in the first round in order to even out the number of fixtures. The Challenge Cup continued under the auspices of the Scottish Professional Football League after the Scottish Football League merged with the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

in 2013. One change at this time was that the two invitational places were split, with only one place filled by a Highland League club (with a valid SFA club licence) and the other place going to the winner of a preliminary round tie between clubs from the East of Scotland League and the South of Scotland League. This was simplified in the 2014–15 season, with the two additional places going to the Highland League champion ( Brora Rangers) and the Lowland League champion (

Spartans Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the valley of Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern P ...

).Scottish Challenge Cup gets new sponsorship deal
BBC Sport. From 2016 to 2017 the competition has been further expanded with the addition of

Under-20 teams, additional places for the Highland and Lowland Leagues, which now have four representatives each, as well as the top two teams from Northern Ireland and Wales. The top two teams not to qualify for European competition from the

were included in the competition for the 2017–18 season. From 2018–19, the competition was further expanded with the two highest ranked teams still remaining in England's National League to take part from the second round. The first English teams to compete were Sutton United and Boreham Wood. The age level was raised for colts teams from under-20 to under-21 in a rule change introduced by 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 well ...

ahead of 2018–19 competition. The 2018–19 final also saw Connah's Quay Nomads become the first non-Scottish side to play in the final. The COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland had a significant impact on the competition. The 2019–20 final, between Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Raith Rovers, was originally scheduled for 28 March 2020 but was postponed and later cancelled, with the teams sharing the title. Continuing restrictions on fans entering stadiums meant that the competition was unviable for most SPFL clubs, and the scheduled 2020–21 edition was cancelled in October 2020. It was announced in May 2021, that only Scottish clubs would participate in 2021–22 due to the coronavirus pandemic. In 2024, it was announced that the format following the conclusion of the 2024–25 edition of the cup would change, where non-Scottish teams would no longer participate, whilst, controversially, the Premiership B Teams would still take part.

Venues

In the rounds before the final, 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. The venue may be switched to that of the away team or changed to a neutral venue for security reasons such as being unable to host a club with a large travelling fan base or the venue being unavailable.Ramsdens Cup Draw
''clydefc.co.uk''. Clyde F.C. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2013.

Final venue

The final match of the tournament is played at a neutral venue, usually one that is geographically close or equidistant to where the clubs contesting the match are based. As of 2024, eleven different venues have hosted the final. Fir Park in

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

was the first, in 1990, and has since hosted four more finals, the last in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

McDiarmid Park McDiarmid Park is a stadium in Perth, Scotland, Perth, Scotland, used mainly for association football. It has been the home ground of Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone F.C., St Johnstone since its opening in 1989. The stadium has an All-seat ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

has been the most frequent venue, staging it ten times between

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

. Other venues to host the final more than once are Broadwood Stadium ( Cumbernauld),

Excelsior Stadium The Excelsior Stadium, officially The Albert Bartlett Stadium, is a football stadium in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the home ground of Airdrieonians of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). Since the 2021–22 season ...

( Airdrie),

Almondvale Stadium Almondvale Stadium, also known as The Home of the Set Fare Arena for sponsorship purposes, is a association football, football stadium, located in the Almondvale area of Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland. It has been the home ground of Scottish ...

( Livingston) and Falkirk Stadium (

).Livingston to host Ramsdens Cup final for a consecutive season

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2013. The 2016 final was held at

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

, the national stadium in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, due to the large support of eventual winners Rangers; that final drew the competition's record attendance of over 48,000.

Winners and finalists

A total of 28 clubs have reached the final, of whom 17 have won the competition. The first winners were

in 1990. The most successful club is

with four wins from four final appearances.Scottish Challenge Cup Honours
''statto.com''. Retrieved 6 April 2013. Ross County, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Queen of the South and Hamilton Academical are the only four clubs to have reached the final five times, Ross County and Hamilton Academical winning on three occasions, Inverness Caledonian Thistle winning two and sharing one and Queen of the South winning twice and losing thrice. Four clubs have reached the final in successive seasons; Ayr United did so in the first two years of the tournament but lost both, Hamilton Academical and the original Airdrieonians defending their titles in 1992 and 1993, and 2001 and 2001, respectively, and Raith Rovers,who are the only team to make three finals in a row, sharing their first with Inverness Caledonian Thistle in April 2021, due to the

COVID-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

cancelling the match, before defeating Queen of the South in the following final in 2021–22, then losing the third against Hamilton Academical in 2023. It is possible for the winner of the tournament to be unable to defend their title; if a club is promoted 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 ...

(second tier) in the same season to the

(first tier), the club becomes ineligible to compete in the tournament. This has happened to

twice; in 1994 and 2005, Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2004, Livingston in 2025, St Mirren in 2006, Rangers in 2016, and Ross County in 2019. Most winners and finalists have been from the second tier, while only four teams have won the competition from below this division. Stenhousemuir became the first team to do so in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, followed by

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; ), also known as The Toon or The Cleyhole, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on Loch Ryan and the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland. Stranraer is Dumfries ...

a year later in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and Alloa Athletic in

. The most recent club to win from below the second tier was Queen of the South, in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

.Queen of the South 1-1 Partick Thistle (6-5 pens)

. 7 April 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2013. All winners and runners-up from below the second tier have been from the third tier. In 2019, Connah's Quay Nomads of Wales were the first non-Scottish side to reach the final of the Scottish Challenge Cup; despite taking the lead in the 21st minute, they eventually lost 3–1 to Ross County. In 2024, another Welsh side, The New Saints also made the final of the Challenge Cup, becoming the second non foreign side to achieve this feat, however, like Connah's Quay, fell to defeat after taking an early lead, eventually losing 2–1 to Airdrieonians. They would become the last foreign side to reach the final, as the format for the following seasons would not include non-Scottish sides.

Finals

The winner of the tournament is decided by a final elimination match which lasts 90 minutes plus any additional stoppage time.Format
''scottishfootballleague.com''.

. Retrieved 4 April 2013. If the score is level and a winner has not been determined after 90 minutes of normal time, 30 minutes of

is played, followed by a

if the score is still level. Eight finals have gone to extra time, with two being decided in this period of play. The further six have been decided by penalty shoot-out.

Results

Performance by club

List of winning managers

Sponsorship and media coverage

The Scottish Challenge Cup has been sponsored several times since it was introduced in 1990. The sponsor has been able to determine the name of the competition. There have been four sponsors since the competition's formation as well as several name changes within the duration of each sponsorship. The competition relies on revenue earned from sponsorship although it has been able to run without a sponsor over two periods but had to be suspended for one season in 1998–99 as a consequence. * 1990–1995: B&Q (B&Q Centenary Cup (until 1991) then B&Q Cup) * 1995–1998: No sponsor * 1999–2006: Bell's whisky (Bell's Challenge Cup (until 2002) then Bell's Cup) * 2006–2008: No sponsor * 2008–2011: MG Alba (ALBA Challenge Cup) * 2011–2014 Ramsdens (Ramsdens Cup)Ramsdens Sponsor the Challenge Cup
, scottishfootballleague.com. 6 June 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2011. * 2014–2016: Petrofac (Petrofac Training Cup)Petrofac Training to sponsor Challenge Cup
, spfl.co.uk. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014. * 2016–2019: Irn-Bru (Irn-Bru Cup)IRN-BRU adds fizz to Challenge Cup
, spfl.co.uk. 9 June 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016. * 2019–2020: Tunnock's (Tunnock's Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup) * 2021–2025: SPFL Trust (SPFL Trust Trophy) * 2025–: KDM Group (KDM Evolution Trophy) Selected games have been broadcast live on the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

language television channel BBC Alba since 2008, which is run jointly by former sponsor MG Alba and the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

.BBC Alba to cover Challenge Cup
''news.bbc.co.uk''.

. 19 September 2008. Retrieved 11 April 2009. Every final since the 2008 final has been broadcast live on the channelSFL's delight at joy sponsorship deal for Challenge Cup
''dailyrecord.co.uk''. '' Daily Record''. 31 July 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2013. and the arrangement was extended for three more years in 2012 despite the end of MG Alba's sponsorship of the competition in 2011.BBC ALBA extend Ramsdens Challenge Cup TV deal
''news.bbc.co.uk''.

. 25 July 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2013. With the expansion of the competition to include teams from Northern Ireland and Wales from 2016 to 2017, additional contracts for live match coverage have been agreed with Premier Sports and S4C.

References

External links

* {{Football in Scotland

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 ...

3 Recurring sporting events established in 1990 1990 establishments in Scotland