2018–19 Scottish Challenge Cup

2018–19 Scottish Challenge Cup
Country  Scotland
 England
 Wales
 Northern Ireland
 Ireland
Teams 58
Defending champions Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Matches played 51
Goals scored 155 (3.04 per match)
Top goal scorer(s) Blair Henderson
(7 goals)
2019–20 →
All statistics correct as of 13 October 2018.

The 2018–19 Scottish Challenge Cup, known as the IRN-BRU Cup[1] due to sponsorship reasons, is the 28th season of the competition. The tournament takes on a similar format from the previous season with the addition of two teams from England's National League entering the competition for the first time. This will take the total number of participating clubs to 58.

Thirty teams from the Scottish Championship, Scottish League One and Scottish League Two will compete, along with four teams from the Highland Football League (one eliminated in preliminary round) and four from the Lowland Football League (one eliminated in preliminary round). In addition to this, Under-21 teams of the clubs competing in the Scottish Premiership will be represented. This will be the third edition with two clubs from both Northern Ireland's NIFL Premiership and the Welsh Premier League and will be the second time that two teams from the League of Ireland will enter. A new change is the addition of two entrants from the English National League (fifth tier).[2]

Inverness Caledonian Thistle are the defending champions after they beat Dumbarton 1–0 in the 2018 final.[3]

Format

Round Date[4] Fixtures Clubs New entries
Preliminary round31 July–1 August 2018258 → 56Teams placed 3rd and 4th in 2017–18 Lowland Football League & teams placed 3rd and 4th in 2017–18 Highland Football League
First round14–15 August 20182456 → 32Teams from 2018–19 Scottish Championship
Teams from 2018–19 Scottish League One
Teams from 2018–19 Scottish League Two
3 teams from 2018–19 Highland Football League (including preliminary round winner)
3 teams from 2018–19 Lowland Football League (including preliminary round winner)
12 U21 teams from 2018–19 Scottish Premiership
Second round8–9 September 20181632 → 162 teams from 2017–18 NIFL Premiership
2 teams from 2017–18 Welsh Premier League
2 teams from 2018 League of Ireland Premier Division
2 teams from 2017–18 National League
Third round13–14 October 2018816 → 8
Quarter-finals17–18 November 201848 → 4
Semi-finals16–17 February 201924 → 2
Final24 March 201912 → 1

Preliminary round

Matches

First round

The draw for the first round was made on 26 June 2018 at 1pm live on the SPFL Facebook page.

North Section

Draw

Teams in Bold advanced to the second round.

North section

Matches

Notes
  1. ^ A-The Livingston U21s-Forfar Athletic match was abandoned with Livingston U21s leading 1–0 after 71 minutes due poor lighting caused by a power outage. The match was replayed on 21 August 2018.

Replay

South Section

Draw

Teams in Bold advanced to the second round.

South section

Matches

Second round

Teams from Wales (The New Saints and Connah's Quay Nomads), Northern Ireland (Crusaders and Coleraine), England (Sutton United and Boreham Wood) and the Republic of Ireland (Bohemians and Sligo Rovers) will enter in the second round.[5] Originally, Bray Wanderers were to be the second side to represent the League of Ireland however, they were subsequently thrown out by the FAI on 16 July 2018 for failing to pay their players and replaced by Limerick.[6] A similar statement was released by the FAI hours later about Limerick who were also in financial difficulties.[7] St Patrick's Athletic were then invited to compete as the next ranked team in line but declined. Sligo Rovers accepted the position in their place so they will represent the League of Ireland instead.[8]

Draw

The draw for the second round was made on 16 August 2018 at 1pm live on the SPFL Facebook page.

Teams in Bold advanced to the third round.

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

Championship League One League Two Other Scottish Teams from other countries

Highland League

Lowland League

Premiership U21s

English National League

Northern Irish Premiership

Welsh Premier League

League of Ireland Premier Division

Matches

Third round

Draw

The draw for the third round was made on 11 September 2018 at 1pm live on the SPFL Facebook page.

Teams in Bold advanced to the quarter-finals.

Championship League One League Two Other Scottish Teams from other countries

Premiership U21s

English National League

Northern Irish Premiership

Welsh Premier League

League of Ireland Premier Division

Matches

Quarter-finals

Draw

The draw for the quarter-finals will be made on 16 October 2018 at 1pm at The Hub in Edinburgh live on the SPFL Facebook page.[11] Teams in Bold advanced to the Semi Finals.

Championship League One League Two Other Scottish Teams from other countries

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 Aidan Fitzpatrick Partick Thistle 5–0 v Stranraer (A) [12]
Second Round Republic of Ireland Michael Drennan Sligo Rovers 4–1 v Livingston U21s (H) [13]
Third Round
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals

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.[14]

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

Round BBC Alba S4C Premier Sports
Second Round The New Saints v Queen's Park[15]
Third Round Arbroath v Edinburgh City[16] Connah's Quay Nomads v Coleraine[16]
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final

References

  1. ↑ "Explained: Here is how the new Challenge Cup will work". pressandjournal.co.uk. Press & Journal. 9 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  2. ↑ "Sutton United & Boreham Wood to enter Irn Bru Scottish Challenge Cup". BBC Sport. 8 June 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  3. ↑ Crawford, Kenny (24 March 2018). "Dumbarton 0–1 Inverness Caledonian Thistle". bbc.co.uk/sport. BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  4. ↑ "IRN-BRU CUP - SEASON 2018/19" (PDF). Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  5. ↑ "National League sides join IRN-BRU Cup". spfl.co.uk. SPFL. 8 June 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  6. ↑ "Bray Wanderers thrown out of IRN BRU Cup and banned from signing players". leagueofireland.ie. League of Ireland. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  7. ↑ "Deja Vu? FAI release statement on Limerick FC". leagueofireland.ie. League of Ireland. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  8. ↑ "Sligo Rovers to play in this season's Scottish Challenge Cup". irishmirror.ie. Irish Mirror. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  9. ↑ "Season 2018-2019". Raith Rovers FC. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  10. ↑ @sligorovers (8 September 2018). "Sligo Rovers v Livingston Colts attendance" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ↑ "IRN-BRU CUP R3 THIS WEEKEND". spfl.co.uk. Scottish Professional Football League. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  12. ↑ @irnbrufootball (29 August 2018). "Round 1 "Golden Balls" winner" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. ↑ @irnbrufootball (20 September 2018). "Round 2 "Golden Balls" winner" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ↑ "Challenge Cup expansion announced". Scottish Professional Football League. 8 June 2016.
  15. ↑ "IRN-BRU CUP TV SELECTION". Scottish Professional Football League. 20 August 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  16. 1 2 "IRN-BRU CUP R3 TV SELECTIONS". Scottish Professional Football League. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
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