2017–18 Scottish Challenge Cup

2017–18 Scottish Challenge Cup
Country Scotland Scotland
 Wales
 Northern Ireland
Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland
Teams 56
Defending champions Dundee United
Champions Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Runners-up Dumbarton
Matches played 55
Goals scored 169 (3.07 per match)
Top goal scorer(s) Stephen Dobbie & Lewis Vaughan (4 goals)
All statistics correct as of 24 March 2018.

The 2017–18 Scottish Challenge Cup, known as the IRN-BRU Cup[1] due to sponsorship reasons, is the 27th season of the competition. The tournament takes on a similar format from the previous season, however, two teams from the Republic of Ireland's Airtricity League (Sligo Rovers and Bray Wanderers) entered the competition for the first time taking the total number of participating clubs to 56. This is the second season with two clubs from both Northern Ireland and Wales competing alongside the 30 members of the 2017–18 Scottish Championship, 2017–18 Scottish League One and 2017–18 Scottish League Two, four teams from the 2017–18 Highland Football League and four from the 2017–18 Lowland Football League as well as the Under-20 teams of the teams competing in the 2017–18 Scottish Premiership. The Welsh teams are The New Saints and Connah's Quay Nomads while the Northern Irish teams are Crusaders and Linfield.[2]

Dundee United were the defending champions after they beat St Mirren 2–1 in the 2017 final[3], but were eliminated in the Quarter-finals by Crusaders.

Irn Bru replaced Petrofac as the main sponsor of the competition in June 2016.[1]

Format

Round Date[4] Fixtures Clubs New entries
First round15–16 August 20172456 → 32Teams placed 3rd–10th from 2016–17 Scottish Championship
10 teams from 2016–17 Scottish League One
10 teams from 2016–17 Scottish League Two
4 teams from 2016–17 Highland Football League
4 teams from 2016–17 Lowland Football League
12 U20s teams from 2017–18 Scottish Premiership
Second round2–3 September 20171632 → 1612th placed team from 2016–17 Scottish Premiership
2nd placed team from 2016–17 Scottish Championship
2 teams from 2016–17 NIFL Premiership
2 teams from 2016–17 Welsh Premier League
2 teams from 2017 League of Ireland Premier Division
Third round7–8 October 2017816 → 8
Quarter-finals11–12 November 201748 → 4
Semi-finals17–18 February 201824 → 2
Final24 or 25 March 201812 → 1

First round

The draw for the first round was made at 1 pm on 27 June 2017 at the Summerlee Industrial Museum in Coatbridge and was streamed live on the SPFL's Facebook page. The draw was regionalised into northern and southern sections with each section containing 14 SPFL clubs, four Highland Football League or Lowland Football League clubs and six U20s teams with any team able to face any other within their section.[4]

North Section

Draw

Teams in Bold advanced to the second round.

North section

Matches

South Section

Draw

Teams in Bold advanced to the second round.

South section

Matches

Notes
  1. ^ A-Spartans were awarded a 3–0 win against Albion Rovers at a disciplinary hearing on 24 August 2017. Albion Rovers pleaded guilty to fielding Liam McGuigan as a second half substitute when he was ineligible to play in the match. The match had ended 0–0 with Albion Rovers winning 5–4 on penalties. Albion Rovers were also fined £2,000 for the breach of IRN-BRU Cup regulations.[5] Both teams were included in the draw for the second round on 17 August 2017.[6]

Second round

Draw

The draw for the second round was made at 1 pm on 17 August 2017 at the Falkirk Wheel and streamed live on the SPFL's Facebook page. The draw was unseeded but the six non-Scottish teams were kept apart with one team from each country drawn at home and one away. Linfield were allocated an away tie due to the unavailability of Windsor Park so Crusaders played at home.[7]

Teams in Italics were not known at the time of the draw.

Teams in Bold advanced to the third round.

Draw numbers

Matches

The SPFL launched an investigation after two different methods of penalty shootout were used in the second round matches that required the tiebreaker. Montrose's 6–5 win over Ayr United used the traditional ABAB method where one team follows the other whereas The New Saints' 6–5 win over Livingston used the trial ABBA method where one team goes first before the other takes two consecutively and then the first team takes their second. SPFL rules state that the ABAB method should be used. The mix up is suspected to have come after confusion between the Irish referee and Welsh linesmen in The New Saints-Livingston match over which method was to be used. The result of the investigation is not expected to impact the result of The New Saints-Livingston tie.[8]

Third round

Draw

The draw for the third round was made at 1 pm on 5 September 2017 at the Riverside Museum and was streamed live on the SPFL's Facebook page. The draw was unseeded and there were no longer any requirements for non-SPFL sides to be kept apart.[9]

Teams in Bold advanced to the third round.

Draw numbers

Matches

Quarter-finals

Draw

The draw for the quarter-finals was made at 1 pm on 10 October 2017 at the Forth Road Bridge Visitor Centre and was streamed live on the SPFL's Facebook page. The draw was unseeded.[10][11]

Teams in Bold advanced to the semi-finals.

Draw Numbers

Matches

Semi-finals

Draw

The draw for the semi-finals was made at 1pm on 14 November 2017 at the SEC Armadillo and was streamed live on the SPFL's Facebook page. The draw was unseeded.[12]

Teams in Bold advanced to the final.

Draw Numbers

01. Crusaders
02. The New Saints
03. Inverness Caledonian Thistle
04. Dumbarton

Matches

Final

Statistics

Top goalscorers

As of matches played on 24 March 2018[13]
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Scotland Stephen Dobbie Queen of the South 4
Scotland Lewis Vaughan Raith Rovers
3 Scotland Aidan Smith Annan Athletic 3
Scotland Mitchel Megginson Cove Rangers
Democratic Republic of the Congo Patrick N'Koyi Dundee United
Scotland Andy Ryan Dunfermline Athletic
Scotland Neil McLaughlin Partick Thistle U20s
Scotland Gavin Reilly St Mirren
9 20 players 2

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. The winner is voted for by supporters from a chosen short-list of players, which is posted on the Irn-Bru Football Twitter page.

Round Player Club Match Ref
First Round Scotland Kevin Fraser Buckie Thistle 2–1 v Brechin City (H) [14]
Second Round Scotland Gavin Reilly St Mirren 3–1 v Heart of Midlothian U20s (H) [15]
Third Round England Myles Hippolyte Falkirk 2–0 v Dunfermline Athletic (H) [16]
Quarter-finals Northern Ireland Gavin Whyte Crusaders 2–1 v Dundee United (A) [17]
Semi-finals Cyprus Dimitris Froxylias Dumbarton 2–1 v The New Saints (A)

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.[18]

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

Round BBC Alba S4C Premier Sports
Second Round The New Saints v Livingston[19]
Third Round Dundee United v Linfield[20] The New Saints v Elgin City[20]
Quarter-Finals Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Falkirk[21] The New Saints v Queen of the South[21]
Semi-Finals Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Crusaders[22] The New Saints v Dumbarton[23]
Final Dumbarton v Inverness Caledonian Thistle[24]

References

  1. 1 2 "Explained: Here is how the new Challenge Cup will work". pressandjournal.co.uk. Press & Journal. 9 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  2. ↑ "IRN-BRU Cup expanded for 2017/18". spfl.co.uk. SPFL. 7 June 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  3. ↑ Young, Chick (25 March 2017). "Dundee United 2–1 St Mirren". bbc.co.uk/sport. BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  4. 1 2 "SPFL reveal updated IRN-BRU Cup format". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  5. ↑ "Press Release: Disciplinary hearing". spfl.co.uk. Scottish Professional Football League. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  6. ↑ "SPFL press release: IRN-BRU Cup". spfl.co.uk. Scottish Professional Football League. 16 August 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  7. ↑ "IRN-BRU Cup Rd 2 draw on Thursday". Scottish Professional Football League. 14 August 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  8. ↑ Stewart, Craig (4 September 2017). "SPFL probe after 'wrong penalty shoot-out' used in Irn-Bru Cup tie". scotsman.com. The Scotsman. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  9. ↑ "Date set for IRN-BRU Cup R3 draw". Scottish Professional Football League. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  10. ↑ "Date set for IRN-BRU Cup QF draw". Scottish Professional Football League. 4 October 2017. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  11. ↑ "IRN-BRU Cup quarter-final draw today". Scottish Professional Football League. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  12. ↑ "IRN-BRU Cup semi-final draw". Scottish Professional Football League. 14 November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  13. ↑ "Scotland Challenge Cup 2017/2018 Predictions, H2H Stats, Match Fixtures, Odds and Results". Soccer Punter. 5 September 2017.
  14. ↑ @irnbrufootball (30 August 2017). "Round 1 "Golden Balls" winner" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. ↑ "Golden Balls award for Reilly". Scottish Professional Football League. 14 September 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  16. ↑ @irnbrufootball (13 October 2017). "Round 3 "Golden Balls" winner" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  17. ↑ @irnbrufootball (15 November 2017). "Quarter-finals "Golden Balls" winner" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  18. ↑ "Challenge Cup expansion announced". Scottish Professional Football League. 8 June 2016.
  19. ↑ "IRN-BRU Cup R2: dates and venues". Scottish Professional Football League. 18 August 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  20. 1 2 "IRN-BRU Cup R3 - dates and TV selections". Scottish Professional Football League. 8 September 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  21. 1 2 "IRN-BRU Cup TV selections confirmed". Scottish Professional Football League. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  22. ↑ "IRN-BRU Cup: Date for ICT v Crusaders". Scottish Professional Football League. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  23. ↑ "Date set for TNS v Dumbarton". Scottish Professional Football League. 29 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  24. ↑ "McDiarmid Park to host IRN-BRU final". Scottish Professional Football League. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
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