2016–17 Scottish Challenge Cup

2016–17 Scottish Challenge Cup
Country  Scotland
 Northern Ireland
 Wales
Teams 54
Defending champions Rangers
Matches played 48
Goals scored 187 (3.9 per match)
Top goal scorer(s) Stephen Dobbie (5 goals)
← 2015–16 2017–18 →
All statistics correct as of 9 October 2016.

The 2016–17 Scottish Challenge Cup, known as the IRN-BRU Cup[1] due to sponsorship reasons, will be the 26th season of the competition. The tournament will take on a different format from previous seasons with a total of 54 teams participating. This will be 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 the U20 sides of the teams competing in the 2016–17 Scottish Premiership.[2]

The first team of the champions, Rangers, who defeated Peterhead in the 2016 final,[3] will 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 round 2–3 August 2016 14 54 → 40 12 U20 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 round 16–17 August 2016 12 40 → 28 2 teams placed 1st and 2nd from 2015–16 Scottish League Two
8 teams placed 3rd-10th from 2015–16 Scottish League One
Third round 3–4 September 2016 12 28 → 16 2 teams placed 1st and 2nd from 2015–16 Scottish League One
9 teams from 2015–16 Scottish Championship plus Dundee United
Fourth round 8–9 October 2016 8 16 → 8 2 teams from 2015–16 NIFL Premiership
2 teams from 2015–16 Welsh Premier League
Note: Fourth round draw will be regionalised to keep Northern Irish and Welsh teams apart.[2]
Quarter-finals 12–13 November 2016 4 8 → 4
Semi-finals 18–19 February 2017 2 4 → 2
Final 25 or 26 March 2017 1 2 → 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

01. Peterhead
02. Brechin City
03. Forfar Athletic
04. East Fife
05. Elgin City
06. Montrose

07. Aberdeen U20s
08. Heart of Midlothian U20s
09. Cove Rangers
10. Brora Rangers
11. Turriff United
12. Arbroath

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

13. Stranraer
14. Airdrieonians
15. Albion Rovers
16. Stenhousemuir
17. Cowdenbeath
18. Queen's Park

19. Celtic U20s
20. Hamilton Academical U20s
21. Motherwell U20s
22. Partick Thistle U20s
23. Rangers U20s
24. Spartans

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

01. Dundee United
02. Falkirk
03. Hibernian
04. Raith Rovers
05. Alloa Athletic
06. Dunfermline Athletic

07. Peterhead
08. Brechin City
09. Forfar Athletic
10. East Fife
11. Elgin City
12. Turriff United

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

13. Greenock Morton
14. St Mirren
15. Queen of the South
16. Dumbarton
17. Livingston
18. Ayr United

19. Stranraer
20. Airdrieonians
21. Albion Rovers
22. Stenhousemuir
23. Queen's Park
24. Celtic U20s

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

01. The New Saints
02. Bala Town

03. Crusaders
04. Linfield

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

Livingston were originally drawn to face The New Saints, however, they were ordered to replay their fourth round match against Crusaders after they played Alan Lithgow, who was ineligible for the match, in the original fixture.[16]

Teams in Bold advanced to the semi-finals.

Teams

01. The New Saints
02. Dundee United
03. St Mirren
04. Queen of the South
05. Livingston
06. Alloa Athletic
07. Dunfermline Athletic
08. Ayr United

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

Dundee United
Queen of the South
St. Mirren
The New Saints

Matches

Statistics

Top goalscorers

As of matches played on 13 November 2016
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Scotland Stephen Dobbie Queen of the South 5
2 Scotland Josh Peters Forfar Athletic 4
Scotland Liam Buchanan Livingston
Scotland Craig Malcolm Stranraer
5 Scotland Scott Wright Aberdeen U20s 3
Scotland Ross Dunlop Albion Rovers
Scotland Greig Spence Alloa Athletic
Scotland Kevin Nisbet Partick Thistle U20s
Scotland Rory McAllister Peterhead
New Zealand Greg Draper The New Saints
England John Sutton St Mirren

Broadcasting rights

The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition are held jointly by BBC Alba, S4C (from round 4 onwards) and subscription channel Premier Sports. Prior to the re-format in the 2016–17 season, BBC Alba had exclusive rights.[19]

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[20]
Third Round Turriff United v Hibernian[21] N/A Livingston v Celtic U20s[21]
Fourth Round Queen of the South v Linfield[22] Bala Town v Alloa Athletic[22] Crusaders v Livingston (original tie)[22]
Quarter-Finals Livingston v The New Saints[23] Livingston v The New Saints[23] Dunfermline Athletic v Dundee United
St Mirren v Ayr United[23]
Semi-Finals
Final

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. 1 2 "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. ↑ "Challenge Cup expansion announced". Scottish Professional Football League. 8 June 2016.
  20. ↑ "Cowdenbeath v Celtic Under 20's". Cowdenbeath FC. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  21. 1 2 "IRN-BRU Cup R3 Fixtures Confirmed". Scottish Professional Football League. 24 August 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  22. 1 2 3 "Live TV games for IRN-BRU Cup R4". Scottish Professional Football League. 8 September 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  23. 1 2 3 "IRN-BRU CUP quarter-final details". Scottish Professional Football League. 13 October 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2016.

External links

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