Scottish League Cup

Scottish League Cup
Founded	1947
Number of teams	42
Current champions	Ross County
Most successful club(s)	Rangers (27 titles)
Television broadcasters	BBC Scotland (2015–16) BT Sport (2016–17 onwards)
2015–16 Scottish League Cup

The Scottish League Cup, known as the Scottish League Cup presented by Utilita for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. In the past it has been sponsored by Coca-Cola, Skol Lager, Bell's whisky, Co-operative Insurance and QTS Group. The competition, like the Scottish Cup, is currently a straight knockout format but will become a group and knockout competition from 2016–17.

Ross County are the current holders, after beating Hibernian 2–1 at Hampden Park on 13 March 2016.

Currently, the domestic television and radio rights are held by BBC Scotland for the 2015–16 season but the TV rights from the 2016–17 season will be held by BT Sport.

Format

Current

The competition is open only to the 42 clubs who compete in the SPFL. There are no replays, so all matches ending in a draw after 90 minutes are decided by extra time and, if necessary, penalty kicks.

The four teams who, based on results of the previous season, have qualified for UEFA competitions are given a bye until the third round of competition, together with the highest placed Premiership finisher not in UEFA competitions. The seven other teams in the Premiership in the previous season receive a bye into the second round.

The 29 teams from the lower three divisions and the team promoted to the SPFL Premiership are seeded based on the previous year's league positions and begin play from the first round. They are drawn into pairs (one seeded and one unseeded) with the games played at the stadium of the first team drawn. (The draw is set up to ensure that a seeded team at home in the first tie is followed by an unseeded team at home in the second, and so on) The 15 teams advancing from the first round are drawn together in the second round with the seven teams receiving a bye. The eleven teams who advance from the second round are joined by the final five teams in the third round, with seeding in place. The remaining rounds of competition are unseeded.

The semi-final matches are played on a neutral ground, determined by the location and size of supports involved. The final game is traditionally played at Hampden Park in Glasgow, though due to renovations some finals have been played at other venues, such as Celtic Park or Ibrox.

Future

From the 2016–17 season, the Scottish League Cup will have a revamped format. On 7 December 2015, the SPFL announced a new format for the League Cup along with a new broadcasting rights deal. From the summer of 2016, the new format will see eight groups of five teams play each other once each in a round-robin format across July with three points being given for a win, one point for a draw but if matches are level after ninety minutes in the group stage then it will be decided with a penalty shoot-out with the winning team gaining a bonus point.^[1]

The eight group winners and four best runners-up will progress into the second round where they will be joined by the clubs that had matches in UEFA competitions during July where the tournament will return to a knockout format. The new format also allowed the SPFL to reintroduce the two-weekend winter break in January. Along with the newly designed tournament, a new television deal for it was announced as BT Sport took over rights from BBC Scotland.^[1] In February 2016 the SPFL announced the League Cup final would be moved to November.^[2]

History

The cup has its origins in a regional cup competition called the Southern League Cup which was introduced in 1940 when wartime restrictions led to a suspension of the Scottish Cup. This tournament was largely regional and did not involve all of the teams who comprised the Scottish Football League prior to the outbreak of war. The first official Scottish Football League Cup was contested during the 1946–47 season, when Rangers defeated Aberdeen in the final.^[3]

The competition was very popular with supporters during the first few decades of its existence. The tournament consisted of 8 or 9 groups consisting of 4 or 5 teams. The groups were seeded into 2 sets with the top 16 teams in Division 1 making up the first four Groups. This guaranteed that 4 'top' teams would play 4 'lesser' teams in the quarter-finals.

Extra games when the Premier League was formed and expanded European competitions meant that by the early 1980s, its long-winded format, which involved group rounds played early on in the season leading to two-legged knock-out rounds similar to the modern UEFA Champions League, attracted much criticism. In the mid-1980s the tournament was revamped to a shorter, single elimination knock-out style with a final played prior to Christmas, which provided the excitement of a cup final early in the season.

During the 1999–2000 competition, the semi-finals and final were moved to the springtime in order to avoid the congestion of fixtures caused by the early rounds of the UEFA club competitions and Scotland’s representatives in Europe were given automatic byes until the third round of competition.

Previous finals

Main article: List of Scottish League Cup finals

Sponsorship

The League Cup has been known by different names due to sponsorship:^[4]

Bell's League Cup (1979–81), sponsored by Bell's whisky
Skol Cup (1984–92), sponsored by Skol Lager
Coca-Cola Cup (1994–97), sponsored by Coca-Cola
CIS Insurance Cup (1999–2008), sponsored by CIS Insurance
Co-operative Insurance Cup (2008–11), sponsored by The Co-operative Insurance^[5]^[6]
Scottish Communities League Cup (2011–13), sponsored by the Scottish Government^[7]^[8]
The Scottish League Cup presented by QTS (2015)^[9]
The Scottish League Cup presented by Utilita (2015–16)^[10]^[11]

Trophy

Since the competition's inception, the winning team has always been awarded the famous three-handled trophy known simply as the Scottish Football League Cup. However, during the 1980s when Skol lager sponsored the competition, a second trophy known simply as the "Skol Cup" was awarded concurrent to the first trophy. During the 1987–88 competition when Rangers won their third Skol Cup, they were given permanent possession of this trophy and a new "Skol Cup" with a slightly different design was introduced the following season.

European qualification

Until 1995, the winners of the Scottish League Cup were granted a place in the UEFA Cup although this privilege was rarely invoked as the winning teams usually qualified for Europe by some other means such as winning the League Championship or Scottish Cup. The most recent example was Raith Rovers who represented Scotland in the 1995–96 UEFA Cup after winning the League Cup the previous season as a First Division club. This privilege has since been discontinued due to the reduction in the number of European places granted to Scottish clubs.

Media coverage

Scottish League Cup matches are currently shown live by BBC Scotland on their Sportscene strand and also UK-wide on the BBC Red Button, though the final is not available via the red button. They are also shown live in Ireland by Setanta Ireland or Setanta Sports 1. Both Setanta Ireland and BBC Scotland show the final live. In Australia the Scottish League Cup is broadcast by Setanta Sports Australia. The 2009 Scottish League Cup Final was shown live on SBS due to a fixture clash on Setanta.

From the 2016–17 edition, the Scottish League Cup rights have been awarded to BT Sport following the new format announcement. BT Sport will screen six group stage matches throughout July and seven matches from the knockout stages including both semi-finals and the final itself.^[1]

References

1 2 3 SPFL. 7 December 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
↑ Scottish League Cup final returns to November date
↑ Ross, James M. (10 April 2015). "Scottish League Cup Finals". www.rsssf.com. RSSSF. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
↑ "SFL League Cup Final Results 1946–47 – 2006–07" (PDF). www.scottishfootballleague.com. Scottish Football League. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 May 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
↑ "Scottish League Cup sponsor boost". BBC Sport. 7 January 2009. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
↑ "Co-operative Insurance end Scottish League Cup deal". BBC Sport. 28 September 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
↑ "Scottish Government crime seizures to fund League Cup". BBC Sport. 21 March 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
↑ "Scottish Government crime seizures to fund League Cup". STV Sport. 12 July 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
↑ "Scottish League Cup finds sponsor for final stages". BBC Sport. BBC. 19 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
↑ "Utilita Energy to back League Cup". www.spfl.co.uk. Scottish Professional Football League. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
↑ "Scottish League Cup: Energy firm Utilita agree sponsorship deal". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.

Scottish Football League (1890–2013)

≫ Scottish Professional Football League (2013–present)

Divisions	Premier Division (1975–1998) First Division (1975–2013) Second Division (1975–2013) Third Division (1994–2013)

Cup competitions	League Cup Challenge Cup

Clubs	Aberdeen Abercorn Airdrieonians (1878) Airdrieonians (2002) Albion Rovers Alloa Athletic Annan Athletic Arbroath Armadale Arthurlie Ayr Ayr Parkhouse Ayr United Bathgate Beith Berwick Rangers Bo'ness Brechin City Broxburn United Cambuslang Celtic Clackmannan Clyde Clydebank Cowdenbeath Cowlairs Dumbarton Dumbarton Harp Dundee Dundee United Dundee Wanderers Dunfermline Athletic Dykehead East Fife East Stirlingshire Edinburgh City Elgin City Falkirk Forfar Athletic Galston Greenock Morton Gretna Hamilton Academical Heart of Midlothian Helensburgh Hibernian Inverness Caledonian Thistle Johnstone Kilmarnock King's Park Leith Athletic Linthouse Livingston Lochgelly United Meadowbank Thistle Mid-Annandale Montrose Motherwell Nithsdale Wanderers Northern Partick Thistle Peebles Rovers Peterhead Port Glasgow Athletic Queen of the South Queen's Park Raith Rovers Rangers Renton Ross County Royal Albert Solway Star St Bernard's St Johnstone St Mirren Stenhousemuir Stirling Albion Stranraer Third Lanark Thistle Vale of Leven

Seasons	1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13

Clubs Stadia Monthly awards Representative team

Scottish League Cup

Seasons	1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

Finals	1947 (April) 1947 (October) 1949 (March) 1949 (October) 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1969 (April) 1969 (October) 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1978 1979 (March) 1979 (December) 1980 1981 1982 1984 (March) 1984 (October) 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Finals

Men's football in Scotland

SFA PFA Scotland

Overview	League system Clubs Venues Champions Second tier winners Third tier winners Fourth tier winners Honours won Managers

National teams	Scotland B U-21 U-20 U-19 U-17 U-16 Scottish League Semi-Pro

League system	SPFL Premiership Championship League One League Two Development Highland Lowland East of Scotland South of Scotland North Caledonian

Cup competitions	Scottish Cup League Cup Challenge Cup Youth Cup

Junior football	SJFA Junior Cup West East North

Amateur football	SAFA Amateur Cup Aberdeenshire Ayrshire Caithness Caledonian Central Fife Inverness & District Kingdom Caledonian Lewis & Harris Lothian & Edinburgh Midlands North & South Lanarkshire Orkney Paisley & District Perthshire Scottish Shetland Stirling & District Strathclyde Uist & Barra West of Scotland

Welfare football	SWFA Forth & Endrick Moray North East Strathspey & Badenoch

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Football in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom	National team Olympic men's team Olympic women's team Nations Cup British Home Championship Rous Cup British League Cup Empire Exhibition Trophy Football World Championship Coronation Cup Texaco Cup Anglo-Scottish Cup FAW Premier Cup International Football Association Board Masters Football England–Scotland football rivalry Football club rivalries

England	National team The FA Footballing history National team history Premier League The Football League FA Cup Football League Cup

Scotland	National team The SFA Footballing history National team history Scottish Professional Football League Scottish Cup Scottish League Cup

Wales	National team FAW National team history Welsh Premier League Welsh Cup Welsh League Cup

Northern Ireland	National team IFA National team history Northern Ireland Football League Irish Cup Northern Ireland League Cup

Records	England Northern Ireland Scotland

Category Commons

National football league cups around the world (FIFA)

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