2016–17 Scottish Challenge Cup

2016–17 Scottish Challenge Cup
Country Scotland Scotland
 Wales
 Northern Ireland
Teams 54
Defending champions Rangers
Champions Dundee United
Runners-up St Mirren
Matches played 53
Goals scored 207 (3.91 per match)
Top goal scorer(s) Stephen Dobbie (6 goals)
All statistics correct as of 26 March 2017.

The 2016–17 Scottish Challenge Cup, known as the IRN-BRU Cup[1] due to sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season of the competition. The tournament took on a different format from previous seasons with a total of 54 teams participating. It was the first season with two clubs from both Northern Ireland and Wales competing alongside the 30 members of the 2016–17 Scottish Championship, 2016–17 Scottish League One and 2016–17 Scottish League Two, four teams from the 2016–17 Highland Football League and four from the 2016–17 Lowland Football League as well as the Under-20 teams of the teams competing in the 2016–17 Scottish Premiership.[2]

The defending champions, Rangers, who defeated Peterhead in the 2016 final,[3] did not compete in the competition due to their promotion to the Scottish Premiership.[4] Irn Bru replaced Petrofac as the main sponsor of the competition in June 2016.[1][5]

Format

Round Date[6] Fixtures Clubs New Entries
First round2–3 August 20161454 → 4012 Under-20 teams from 2016–17 Scottish Premiership
8 teams placed 3rd–10th from 2015–16 Scottish League Two
4 teams from 2015–16 Lowland Football League
4 teams from 2015–16 Highland Football League
Second round16–17 August 20161240 → 282 teams placed 1st and 2nd from 2015–16 Scottish League Two
8 teams placed 3rd–10th from 2015–16 Scottish League One
Third round3–4 September 20161228 → 162 teams placed 1st and 2nd from 2015–16 Scottish League One
9 teams from 2015–16 Scottish Championship plus Dundee United
Fourth round8–9 October 2016816 → 82 teams from 2015–16 NIFL Premiership
2 teams from 2015–16 Welsh Premier League
Note: Fourth round draw was regionalised to keep Northern Irish and Welsh teams apart.[2]
Quarter-finals12–13 November 201648 → 4
Semi-finals18–19 February 201724 → 2
Final25 or 26 March 201712 → 1

First round

The draw for the first round was made on 23 June at Hampden Park.[7] The 28 teams entering at this stage were separated into 4 regional pools. This was to ensure that U20s teams were not drawn against each other and that teams from the Highland and Lowland Leagues were not drawn against each other.[7]

North Section

Draw and seeding

Teams from Pool A will be drawn against teams from Pool B. Teams in Bold qualified for the Second round.

Pool A Pool B

Matches

South Section

Draw and seeding

Teams from Pool C will be drawn against teams from Pool D. Teams in Bold qualified for the Second round.

Pool C Pool D

Matches

Second round

The draw for the second round was made at 12:30pm on Thursday, 4 August at Hampden Park and streamed live on Periscope by Irn-Bru's football Twitter account.[8] The 14 teams advancing from the first round were joined by the top two teams from the 2015–16 Scottish League Two and the eight teams placed third to 10th from the 2015–16 Scottish League One.

The second round ties will take place on Tuesday 16 or Wednesday 17 August 2016.[6]

North Section

Draw and seeding

Teams from Pot A will be drawn against teams from Pot B.[9] Teams in Bold advanced to the third round.

Pot A Pot B

Matches

South Section

Draw and seeding

Teams from Pot C will be drawn against teams from Pot D.[9] Teams in Italics were not known at the time of the draw. Teams in Bold advanced to the third round.

Pot C Pot D

Matches

Third round

The draw for the third round was made on Thursday 18 August at 1pm at The Kelpies[10] and was streamed live on Periscope by Irn-Bru's football Twitter account.[11] The 12 teams advancing from the second round will be joined by the ten teams from the 2016–17 Scottish Championship and the bottom two teams from the 2015–16 Scottish Championship.

The third round ties took place on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 September 2016.[6]

North Section

Draw and seeding

Teams from Pot A will be drawn against teams from Pot B.[12] Teams in Bold advanced to the fourth round.

Pot A Pot B

Matches

South Section

Draw and seeding

Teams from Pot C will be drawn against teams from Pot D. Teams in Bold advanced to the fourth round.[12]

Pot C Pot D

Matches

Fourth round

The 12 teams advancing from the third round were to be joined by the four teams that finished first and second in the 2015–16 NIFL Premiership and the 2015–16 Welsh Premier League.

Draw and seeding

The draw for the fourth round was made at the Oriam National Performance Centre, Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh on Tuesday, September 6 at 12pm.[13] The draw was made by John Hartson and IRN-BRU super fan Michael Douglas. There was no seeding for the draw however, teams for Northern Ireland and Wales could not be drawn against each other. As a result they were placed into two separate pots (A and B) before being drawn against the remaining Scottish teams (Pot C). The Welsh teams were drawn first followed by the Northern Irish teams with one of each playing at home and one away.[14][15]

Teams in Bold advanced to the quarter-finals.

Pot A Pot B Pot C

Matches

Replay

Notes
  1. ^ A- Livingston's 2–1 win against Crusaders on Friday, October 7 was ordered to be replayed after Livingston plead guilty to a breach of SPFL rules in the original fixture. The club was fined £4,000 after they played Alan Lithgow for the full 90 minutes. Lithgow was ineligible for the match as he was still under an SFA suspension at the time.[16]

Quarter-finals

Draw

The draw for the quarter-finals was made at the Titan Crane on the River Clyde in Clydebank on Monday, October 10 at 2pm and was streamed live on Periscope by Irn-Bru's football Twitter account. The draw was be made by former Dundee United and Scotland striker Kevin Gallacher and Rio 2016 silver medallist Dan Wallace. There was no seeding for the draw however, as with the previous round, teams from Northern Ireland and Wales, should they qualify, would not be drawn against each other. The ties took place on the weekend of November 12 and 13.[17]

Teams in Bold advanced to the semi-finals.

Teams

Matches

Semi-finals

Draw

The draw for the semi-finals was made at the Toryglen Regional Football Centre in Glasgow on Monday, November 14 and streamed live on Periscope by Irn-Bru's football Twitter account. The draw was made by former Manchester City and Scotland striker Paul Dickov and current Scotland and Hibernian striker Abi Harrison. There was no seeding for the draw and the ties are due to take place on the weekend of February 18 and 19, 2017.[18]

Teams in Bold advanced to the final.

Teams

Matches

Final

Dundee United 2–1 St Mirren
Andreu  37'
Mikkelsen  75'		 BBC report Loy  38'
Attendance: 8,089
Referee: Nick Walsh

Statistics

Top goalscorers

As of matches played on 19 February 2017
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Scotland Stephen Dobbie Queen of the South 6
2 Scotland Josh Peters Forfar Athletic 4
Scotland Liam Buchanan Livingston
Scotland Craig Malcolm Stranraer
England John Sutton St Mirren
6 Scotland Scott Wright Aberdeen U20s 3
Scotland Ross Dunlop Albion Rovers
Scotland Greig Spence Alloa Athletic
France Tony Andreu Dundee United
Scotland Kevin Nisbet Partick Thistle U20s
Scotland Rory McAllister Peterhead
New Zealand Greg Draper The New Saints
Scotland Stevie Mallan St Mirren

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.[19] The winner is voted for by supporters from a chosen short-list of players on the official Irn-Bru Football twitter page.[19]

Round Player Club Match Ref
First Round Scotland Josh Jeffries Rangers U20s 4–0 v Stirling University (H) [20]
Second Round Scotland Craig Malcolm Stranraer 7–1 v Spartans (H) [19]
Third Round Scotland Stephen Dobbie Queen of the South 7–1 v Stenhousemuir (H) [21]
Fourth Round Morocco Farid El Alagui Dunfermline Athletic 2–1 v Queen's Park (H) [22]
Quarter-finals England John Sutton St Mirren 2–1 v Ayr United (H) [23]
Semi-finals Scotland Stevie Mallan St Mirren 4–1 v The New Saints (H) [24]

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.[25]

The following matches are to be broadcast live on UK television:

Round BBC Alba S4C Premier Sports
First Round N/A Celtic U20s v Annan Athletic
Second Round N/A Cowdenbeath v Celtic U20s[26]
Third Round Turriff United v Hibernian[27] N/A Livingston v Celtic U20s[27]
Fourth Round Queen of the South v Linfield[28] Bala Town v Alloa Athletic[28] Crusaders v Livingston (original tie)[28]
Quarter-Finals Livingston v The New Saints[29] Livingston v The New Saints[29] Dunfermline Athletic v Dundee United
St Mirren v Ayr United[29]
Semi-Finals Queen of the South v Dundee United[30]
St Mirren v The New Saints.[30]		 St Mirren v The New Saints.[30]
Final Dundee United v St Mirren[31]

References

  1. 1 2 "IRN-BRU adds fizz to Challenge Cup". spfl.co.uk. 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Northern Irish and Welsh sides to join top flight U20s in Challenge Cup". stv.tv/sport. 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  3. ↑ English, Tom (10 April 2015). "Rangers 4–0 Peterhead". bbc.co.uk/sport. BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  4. ↑ Burke, Andy (5 April 2015). "Rangers 1–0 Dumbarton". bbc.co.uk/sport. BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  5. ↑ Third, Paul (9 June 2016). "Explained: Here is how the new Challenge Cup will work". The Press and Journal. Aberdeen. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 "IRN-BRU Cup 2016/17 dates". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  7. 1 2 "IRN-BRU Cup - First Round Draw". spfl.co.uk. SPFL. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  8. ↑ "IRN-BRU Cup Rd 2 draw on Thursday". spfl.co.uk. SPFL. 3 August 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  9. 1 2 "IRN-BRU FOOTBALL on Twitter". twitter.com/irnbrufootball. Irn-Bru. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  10. ↑ "IRN-BRU CUP R3 draw tomorrow". spfl.co.uk. SPFL. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  11. ↑ "IRN-BRU FOOTBALL on Twitter". twitter.com/irnbrufootball. Irn-Bru. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  12. 1 2 "IRN-BRU Cup R3 draw live today". spfl.co.uk. SPFL. 18 August 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  13. ↑ "IRN-BRU FOOTBALL on Twitter". twitter.com/irnbrufootball. Irn-Bru. 6 September 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  14. ↑ "IRN-BRU FOOTBALL on Twitter". twitter.com/irnbrufootball. Irn-Bru. 6 September 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  15. ↑ "SPFL on Twitter". twitter.com/spfl. SPFL. 6 September 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  16. ↑ "Livingston charged by SPFL at disciplinary hearing". spfl.co.uk. SPFL. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  17. ↑ "IRN-BRU Cup QF draw on Monday". spfl.co.uk. SPFL. 7 October 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  18. ↑ "IRN-BRU Cup semi-final draw". spfl.co.uk. SPFL. 14 November 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  19. 1 2 3 "Malcolm voted Player of the Round". SPFL. 2 September 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  20. ↑ "Jeffries voted Player of the Round". SPFL. 18 August 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  21. ↑ "Dobbie nets Golden Balls award". SPFL. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  22. ↑ "Golden Balls award for El Alagui". SPFL. 18 October 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  23. ↑ "Sutton lands Golden Balls award". SPFL. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  24. ↑ "Magic Mallan is IRN-BRU golden boy!". SPFL. 1 March 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  25. ↑ "Challenge Cup expansion announced". Scottish Professional Football League. 8 June 2016.
  26. ↑ "Cowdenbeath v Celtic Under 20's". Cowdenbeath FC. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  27. 1 2 "IRN-BRU Cup R3 Fixtures Confirmed". Scottish Professional Football League. 24 August 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  28. 1 2 3 "Live TV games for IRN-BRU Cup R4". Scottish Professional Football League. 8 September 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  29. 1 2 3 "IRN-BRU CUP quarter-final details". Scottish Professional Football League. 13 October 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  30. 1 2 3 "IRN-BRU Cup semi-final details". Scottish Professional Football League. 23 December 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  31. ↑ "Fir Park to host IRN-BRU Cup Final". Scottish Professional Football League. 22 February 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
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