1997–98 Scottish Challenge Cup

The 1997–98 Scottish Challenge Cup was the eighth season of the competition, competed for by the 30 member clubs of the Scottish Football League. The defending champions were Stranraer, who defeated St Johnstone 1–0 in the 1996 final.^[1]

The final was played on 2 November 1997,^[2] between Falkirk and Queen of the South at Fir Park in Motherwell. Falkirk won 1–0,^[2] to win the tournament for the second time after winning the tournament in 1993.

Schedule

First round

Brechin City and Ross County received random byes into the second round.

Stranraer v Arbroath

9 August 1997	Stranraer	4 – 4 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p)	Arbroath	Stair Park, Stranraer
	Young  15' Docherty  25' Friels  70' Crawford  119'		Thomson  3' Peters  86' Gallagher  90' Spence  116'

Ayr United v Queen's Park

12 August 1997	Ayr United	3–0	Queen's Park	Somerset Park, Ayr
	Kerrigan  9',  58' (pen.) Wordsworth  72'

Berwick Rangers v Montrose

12 August 1997	Berwick Rangers	1–0	Montrose	Shielfield Park, Berwick-upon-Tweed
	Walton  53'

Clyde v Raith Rovers

12 August 1997	Clyde	2–4	Raith Rovers	Broadwood Stadium, Cumbernauld
	Gauley  36' Gibson  61'		Wright  13' Cameron  18' Lennon  64' Dair  74'

Cowdenbeath v Clydebank

12 August 1997	Cowdenbeath	0–1	Clydebank	Central Park, Cowdenbeath
			Lovering  4'

Dumbarton v Falkirk

12 August 1997	Dumbarton	0–2	Falkirk	Boghead Park, Dumbarton
	Reilly  90'		Corrigan  8' McGraw  44'

East Fife v St Mirren

12 August 1997	East Fife	1 – 0 (a.e.t.)	St Mirren	Bayview Park, Methil
	Dyer  114' Gillies  89'

Forfar Athletic v East Stirlingshire

12 August 1997	Forfar Athletic	2–1	East Stirlingshire	Station Park, Forfar
	Mann  3' Glennie  83'		Parks  72' Campbell  58'

Hamilton Academical v Partick Thistle

12 August 1997	Hamilton Academical	2–1	Partick Thistle	Firhill Stadium, Glasgow
	Ritchie  72',  87'		Hetherston  23'

Greenock Morton v Albion Rovers

12 August 1997	Greenock Morton	3–1	Albion Rovers	Cappielow, Greenock
	Flannery  2' (pen.),  35' Anderson  76'		Bruce  72'

Stenhousemuir v Livingston

12 August 1997	Stenhousemuir	1 – 1 (a.e.t.) (4–5 p)	Livingston
	Henderson  106'		Magee  116'

Airdrieonians v Dundee

13 August 1997	Airdrieonians	1–0	Dundee	Broadwood Stadium, Cumbernauld
	Cooper  88'

Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Queen of the South

13 August 1997	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	0–2	Queen of the South	Caledonian Stadium, Inverness
			Flannigan  54' Rowe  59'

Stirling Albion v Alloa Athletic

13 August 1997	Stirling Albion	2–1	Alloa Athletic	Forthbank Stadium, Stirling
	Paterson  18' McKechnie  81'		Irvine  48'

Source: Soccerbase

Second round

Ayr United v Clydebank

26 August 1997	Ayr United	0 – 1 (a.e.t.)	Clydebank	Somerset Park, Ayr
			McCall  110'

Berwick Rangers v Airdrieonians

26 August 1997	Berwick Rangers	1–4	Airdrieonians	Shielfield Park, Berwick-upon-Tweed
	Walton  47'		Lawrence  10' Connelly  28' Black  44' Cooper  48'

Brechin City v Livingston

26 August 1997	Brechin City	2–1	Livingston	Glebe Park, Brechin
	Brand  4' Feroz  27'		Raynes  73'

Falkirk v Forfar Athletic

26 August 1997	Falkirk	3–1	Forfar Athletic	Brockville Park, Falkirk
	Craig  18' (pen.),  45',  76'		Morgan  35' (pen.)

Hamilton Academical v East Fife

26 August 1997	Hamilton Academical	2–1	East Fife	Firhill Stadium, Glasgow
	Cunnington  44' Davidson  82'		Moffat  27'

Queen of the South v Stirling Albion

26 August 1997	Queen of the South	2–0	Stirling Albion	Palmerston Park, Dumfries
	Mallan  54',  55'

Raith Rovers v Stranraer

26 August 1997	Raith Rovers	0–1	Stranraer	Stark's Park, Kirkcaldy
			Young  69'

Ross County v Greenock Morton

26 August 1997	Ross County	1–2	Greenock Morton
	Wood  89'		Blaikie  33',  74'

Source: Soccerbase

Quarter-finals

2 September 1997

Queen of the South	3–2	Airdrieonians
Mallan  26',  42' Flannigan  66'	Report	McPhee  45',  80'

Palmerston Park, Dumfries

3 September 1997

Falkirk	3–0	Stranraer
Craig  72' McGrillen  77' Hagen  90'	Report

Brockville Park, Falkirk

3 September 1997

Greenock Morton	1–0	Clydebank
McArthur  85'	Report

Cappielow, Greenock

5 September 1997

Hamilton Academical	4–0	Brechin City
McFarlane  48' Cunnington  52' Geraghty  62',  85'	Report

Firhill Stadium, Glasgow

Semi-finals

15 September 1997

Hamilton Academical	1–2	Falkirk
Clark  89' Quintongo  44'	Report	McAllister  22' McGowan  57'

Firhill Stadium, Glasgow

17 September 1997

Greenock Morton	0–2	Queen of the South
	Report	Flannigan  2' Mallan  54'

Cappielow, Greenock

Final

2 November 199715:00

Falkirk	1–0	Queen of the South
Hagen  65'	Report

Fir Park, Motherwell

Attendance: 9,735

Referee: R. Tait

Notes

A. ^ The 1998–99 tournament was suspended due to lack of sponsorship

References

External links

• Scottish Football League Scottish Challenge Cup on Scottish Football League website
• ESPN Soccernet Scottish League Challenge Cup homepage on ESPN Soccernet
• BBC Sport – Scottish Cups Challenge Cup on BBC Sport