| Founded | 1990 |
|---|---|
| Teams | 40 |
| Current champions | Livingston (2 titles) |
| Most championships | Falkirk (4 titles) |
 2025–26 Scottish Challenge Cup | |
TheScottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,[1][2][3] commonly known as theScottish League Challenge Cup[4][5] orScottish Challenge Cup,[1][2] and currently known as theKDM Evolution Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is anassociation football knock-out cup competition run by theScottish Professional Football League (SPFL). It is recognised as the third most prestigious knockout trophy in Scottish football, after theScottish Cup and theScottish League Cup.
The competition was first held during the1990–91 season as theB&Q Centenary Cup[1] to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the formation of theScottish Football League (SFL). It was intended to be a one-off competition but was continued due to its popularity. It was originally contested by SFL (SPFL since 2013) teams below the top level of theScottish football league system; select teams from lower levels of the league system were added in2011–12, and guest teams from outside Scotland in2016–17. For the2019–20 edition there were 58 teams: 30 from the SPFL; the twelve Under-21 teams of theScottish Premiership clubs; four each from theHighland League andLowland League; and two guest teams from each of theNIFL Premiership,Cymru Premier, EnglishNational League, andLeague of Ireland Premier Division up until the 2019–20 season.[6]
The first winner of the tournament wasDundee, who defeatedAyr United.[7][8]Falkirk are the most successful team in the tournament with four wins, most recently in2012. The current holders areLivingston, who defeatedQueen's Park in the 2025 final.[9]
Until the 2025–26 season the Challenge Cup was aknock-out tournament. Within a regionalised format, clubs are paired at random and the first club drawn listed as thehome team.[10] The winner of each match progresses to the next round and the loser is eliminated from the tournament. Every match, including the final, is a one-legged tie that lasts 90 minutes plus any additionalstoppage time. If no clear winner has been determined after 90 minutes of normal time, 30 minutes ofextra time is played. If the score is still level after extra time then the winner is decided by apenalty shoot-out.[10]
From the2016–17 season, the competition was expanded to 58 entrants. AllScottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs participated, with the thirty clubs from theChampionship,League One andLeague Two now joined byUnder-20 teams from the twelvePremiership clubs. Also participating by invitation will be four teams each from theHighland andLowland Leagues and eight entrants from outside Scottish football – two each from theNIFL Premiership in Northern Ireland, theNational League in England,League of Ireland and theWelsh Premier League in Wales, until 2021 when the decision was made to only have the Scottish clubs participating due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Teams are seeded to enter the competition over any of the first four rounds, after which eight teams will remain to contest the quarter-finals. The final is played at a neutral venue.[11]
In May 2024, it was announced the Cup would return to being Scottish-only for the 2024-25 season, with more Highland and Lowland League teams taking the place of the invited Northern Irish and Welsh clubs.[12]
In May 2025, it was announced that for the 2025–26 edition, the cup would be reformatted to involve a 'League Phase', similar to that introduced in UEFA club competitions.[13]
The competition was created in the1990–91 season to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the formation of theScottish Football League in1890.[3][14] It was intended to run for only one season but continued due to its popularity. This was reflected in high attendances at matches in the later rounds of the tournament including a full capacity crowd of 11,500 atFir Park in the first final.[2][5][8] The cup was sponsored byDIY retail companyB&Q and named theB&Q Centenary Cup[15] for the first year and continued as theB&Q Cup for four seasons afterwards. The competition was run for three seasons without a sponsor due to the league covering the tournament costs and prize money, but was unsustainable and resulted in it being cancelled for one season in 1998–99 before being re-established in1999 with a new sponsor.[5] Although it is not as popular as competitions like theScottish Cup, it provides smaller clubs with a realistic opportunity of winning a trophy due to the absence of top-tier clubs from the tournament.[4][16] WhenStenhousemuir won the final in 1995 it was regarded as the club's greatest achievement in its 111-year history.[17] Attendances at matches in the earlier rounds of the tournament are not dissimilar to average home attendances in league competition[18][19] but as the competition reaches the latter stages they generally increase;Annan Athletic's record attendance of 1,575 was set in a semi-final match againstFalkirk in 2011.[20][21]
The number of competitors has varied in relation to the number of clubs with Scottish Football League membership. The first tournament featured the 28 clubs in theFirst andSecond Divisions which reduced to 26 until 1994 when the league was expanded and restructured into three divisions; increasing the number of eligible clubs to 30. In the 2010–11 competition the two highest ranked clubs from theHighland Football League with a Scottish Football Association licence were invited to compete, in order to bring the number of competitors to 32.[22][23] Before the change in 2010, several clubs received a randombye in the first round in order to even out the number of fixtures.[10] The Challenge Cup continued under the auspices of theScottish Professional Football League after the Scottish Football League merged with theScottish Premier League in 2013. One change at this time was that the two invitational places were split, with only one place filled by a Highland League club (with a valid SFA club licence) and the other place going to the winner of a preliminary round tie between clubs from theEast of Scotland League and theSouth of Scotland League.[24] This was simplified in the 2014–15 season, with the two additional places going to the Highland League champion (Brora Rangers) and the Lowland League champion (Spartans).[25] From 2016 to 2017 the competition has been further expanded with the addition ofScottish PremiershipUnder-20 teams, additional places for the Highland and Lowland Leagues, which now have four representatives each, as well as the top two teams from Northern Ireland and Wales.[6] The top two teams not to qualify for European competition from theLeague of Ireland were included in the competition for the 2017–18 season.[26]
From2018–19, the competition was further expanded with the two highest ranked teams still remaining in England'sNational League to take part from the second round. The first English teams to compete wereSutton United andBoreham Wood.[27] The age level was raised for colts teams from under-20 to under-21 in a rule change introduced by theSPFL ahead of 2018–19 competition.[28] The 2018–19 final also sawConnah's Quay Nomads become the first non-Scottish side to play in the final.
TheCOVID-19 pandemic in Scotland had a significant impact on the competition.[29] The2019–20 final, betweenInverness Caledonian Thistle andRaith Rovers, was originally scheduled for 28 March 2020 but was postponed and later cancelled, with the teams sharing the title.[29][30] Continuing restrictions on fans entering stadiums meant that the competition was unviable for most SPFL clubs, and the scheduled 2020–21 edition was cancelled in October 2020. It was announced in May 2021, that only Scottish clubs would participate in2021–22 due to the coronavirus pandemic.[29]
In 2024, it was announced that the format following the conclusion of the 2024–25 edition of the cup would change, where non-Scottish teams would no longer participate, whilst, controversially, the Premiership B Teams would still take part.
In the rounds before the final, the venue of each match is determined when the fixtures are drawn; the first club drawn in a fixture is named the home team and chooses the venue for the match, usually its ownhome ground.[10] The venue may be switched to that of theaway team or changed to a neutral venue for security reasons such as being unable to host a club with a large travelling fan base or the venue being unavailable.[31][32]
The final match of the tournament is played at aneutral venue, usually one that is geographically close or equidistant to where the clubs contesting the match are based. As of 2025, eleven different venues have hosted the final.Fir Park inMotherwell was the first, in1990, and has since hosted four more finals, the last in2017.[3]McDiarmid Park inPerth has been the most frequent venue, staging it ten times between1994 and2018. Other venues to host the final more than once areBroadwood Stadium (Cumbernauld),Excelsior Stadium (Airdrie),Almondvale Stadium (Livingston) andFalkirk Stadium (Falkirk).[33] The2016 final was held atHampden Park, the national stadium inGlasgow, due to the large support of eventual winnersRangers;[34] that final drew the competition's record attendance of over 48,000.[35]
A total of 28 clubs have reached the final, of whom 17 have won the competition. The first winners wereDundee in1990.[1] The most successful club isFalkirk with four wins from four final appearances.[36]Ross County,Inverness Caledonian Thistle,Queen of the South andHamilton Academical are the only four clubs to have reached the final five times, Ross County and Hamilton Academical winning on three occasions, Inverness Caledonian Thistle winning two and sharing one and Queen of the South winning twice and losing thrice. Four clubs have reached the final in successive seasons;Ayr United did so in the first two years of the tournament but lost both, Hamilton Academical and the original Airdrieonians defending their titles in 1992 and 1993, and 2001 and 2001, respectively, and Raith Rovers,who are the only team to make three finals in a row, sharing their first withInverness Caledonian Thistle in April 2021, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic cancelling the match, before defeatingQueen of the South in the following final in2021–22, then losing the third against Hamilton Academical in 2023. It is possible for the winner of the tournament to be unable to defend their title; if a club is promoted from theScottish Championship (second tier) in the same season to theScottish Premiership (first tier), the club becomes ineligible to compete in the tournament. This has happened toFalkirk twice; in 1994 and 2005,Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2004,Livingston in 2025,St Mirren in 2006,Rangers in 2016, andRoss County in 2019.
Most winners and finalists have been from the second tier, while only four teams have won the competition from below this division.Stenhousemuir became the first team to do so in1995, followed byStranraer a year later in1996 andAlloa Athletic in1999. The most recent club to win from below the second tier wasQueen of the South, in2013.[37] All winners and runners-up from below the second tier have been from thethird tier.
In 2019,Connah's Quay Nomads of Wales were the first non-Scottish side to reach the final of the Scottish Challenge Cup; despite taking the lead in the 21st minute, they eventually lost 3–1 toRoss County. In 2024, another Welsh side,The New Saints also made the final of the Challenge Cup, becoming the second foreign side to achieve this feat, however, like Connah's Quay, fell to defeat after taking an early lead, eventually losing 2–1 toAirdrieonians. They would become the last foreign side to reach the final, as the format for the following seasons would not include non-Scottish sides.
The winner of the tournament is decided by afinal elimination match which lasts 90 minutes plus any additionalstoppage time.[10] If the score is level and a winner has not been determined after 90 minutes of normal time, 30 minutes ofextra time is played, followed by apenalty shoot-out if the score is still level.[10] Eight finals have gone to extra time, with two being decided in this period of play. The further six have been decided by penalty shoot-out.[38]
| * | Match went toextra time |
| † | Match decided by apenalty shoot-out after extra time |
| ‡ | Winning team won the second tier ofScottish football league system |
| Italics | Team from below the second tier of theScottish football league system |
 , , , or | Team from outside theScottish football league system |
| Club | Wins | Last final won | Runners-up | Last final lost | Total final appearances |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falkirk | 4 | 2012 | 0 | — | 4 |
| Hamilton Academical | 3 | 2023 | 2 | 2012 | 5 |
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 3 | 2020* | 2 | 2009 | 5 |
| Ross County | 3 | 2019 | 2 | 2008 | 5 |
| Raith Rovers | 3 | 2022 | 1 | 2023 | 4 |
| Airdrieonians (1878) | 3 | 2001 | 0 | — | 3 |
| Queen of the South | 2 | 2013 | 3 | 2022 | 5 |
| Dundee | 2 | 2009 | 1 | 1994 | 3 |
| Airdrieonians | 2 | 2024 | 1 | 2003 | 3 |
| Livingston | 2 | 2025 | 1 | 2000 | 3 |
| St Mirren | 1 | 2005 | 2 | 2017 | 3 |
| Alloa Athletic | 1 | 1999 | 2 | 2015 | 3 |
| Dundee United | 1 | 2017 | 1 | 1995 | 2 |
| Rangers | 1 | 2016 | 1 | 2014 | 2 |
| St Johnstone | 1 | 2007 | 1 | 1996 | 2 |
| Stranraer | 1 | 1996 | 0 | — | 1 |
| Stenhousemuir | 1 | 1995 | 0 | — | 1 |
| Ayr United | 0 | — | 2 | 1991 | 2 |
| Queen's Park | 0 | — | 1 | 2025 | 1 |
| The New Saints | 0 | — | 1 | 2024 | 1 |
| Connah's Quay Nomads | 0 | — | 1 | 2019 | 1 |
| Dumbarton | 0 | — | 1 | 2018 | 1 |
| Peterhead | 0 | — | 1 | 2016 | 1 |
| Partick Thistle | 0 | — | 1 | 2013 | 1 |
| Dunfermline Athletic | 0 | — | 1 | 2007 | 1 |
| Clyde | 0 | — | 1 | 2006 | 1 |
| Brechin City | 0 | — | 1 | 2002 | 1 |
| Morton | 0 | — | 1 | 1992 | 1 |
The Scottish Challenge Cup has beensponsored several times since it was introduced in1990. The sponsor has been able to determine the name of the competition. There have been four sponsors since the competition's formation as well as several name changes within the duration of each sponsorship.[1] The competition relies on revenue earned from sponsorship although it has been able to run without a sponsor over two periods but had to be suspended for one season in1998–99 as a consequence.[2]
Selected games have been broadcast live on theScottish Gaelic language television channelBBC Alba since 2008,[50] which is run jointly by former sponsorMG Alba and theBBC.[51] Every final since the2008 final has been broadcast live on the channel[52] and the arrangement was extended for three more years in 2012 despite the end of MG Alba's sponsorship of the competition in 2011.[53] With the expansion of the competition to include teams from Northern Ireland and Wales from 2016 to 2017, additional contracts for live match coverage have been agreed withPremier Sports andS4C.[6]