The 1995 Scottish Challenge Cup Final was an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

match between

Stenhousemuir Stenhousemuir (; gd, Featha Thaigh nan Clach) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk (council area), Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in ...

and

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

on 5 November 1995 at

McDiarmid Park McDiarmid Park is a stadium in Perth, Scotland, used mainly for association football. It has been the home ground of Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone since its opening in 1989. The stadium has an all-seated capacity of . As well as St Jo ...

in Perth. It was the sixth final of the

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

. The match was Stenhousemuir's first national cup final in its 111-year history; whilst it was Dundee United's first since winning the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

. The tournament was contested by clubs below the Scottish Premier Division; Dundee United from the First Division and Stenhousemuir the first club to reach the final from the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. After 90 minutes of normal time and 30 minutes of

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

the score was 0–0 so the winner was decided by a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

;Glenn, Patrick. "SOCCER: SPIRITED CELTIC BREAK TREND; Scottish round-up", '' The Guardian (London)'', 6 November 1995. Retrieved 22 April 2013. the first Scottish Challenge Cup final to be decided this way. In a best-of-five,

Craig Brewster Craig James Brown Brewster (born 13 December 1966) is a Scottish former professional footballer, turned coach. He made his name in a long playing career as a striker for numerous clubs in Scotland, particularly Forfar Athletic, Raith Rovers, Du ...

took the first penalty for Dundee United which was saved by Stenhousemuir goalkeeper

Roddy McKenzie Roderick McKenzie (born 8 August 1975) is a Scottish retired professional association footballer who played as goalkeeper. He is currently a coach at Thorniewood United in the Scottish Junior Football Association, West Region after leaving Q ...

.Stenhousemuir 1995-96
''wsc.co.uk''. ''

When Saturday Comes ''When Saturday Comes'' (''WSC'') is a monthly magazine about football, first published in London in 1986. "It aims to provide a voice for intelligent football supporters, offering both a serious and humorous view of the sport, covering all the ...

''. March 2005. Retrieved 22 April 2013. Both clubs scored each of their next penalties which meant Stenhousemuir won 5–4.Bell's Cup
''scottishfootballleague.com''.

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

. 2 November 2005. Retrieved 21 April 2013.Keevins, Hugh. "Warriors conquer United", ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'', 6 November 1995. Retrieved 22 April 2013. The result was notable in that Dundee United progressed through every round of tournament without conceding a single goal and still lost the final.

Route to the final

Stenhousemuir

Along with

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 18 ...

, Stenhousemuir received a random bye into the second round. The draw in the second round saw Montrose travel to

Ochilview Park Ochilview Park is a football stadium in Stenhousemuir in the Falkirk council area of Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish League Two club Stenhousemuir, and is also currently shared by Scottish Championship club Queen's Park and East ...

with The Warriors winning 3–1. The reward for reaching the quarter-final was an away game against Dundee at

Dens Park Dens Park, officially known as Kilmac Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland, which is the home of club Dundee F.C. and has a capacity of . Tannadice Park, the home of rivals Dundee United, is just 200 yards ...

with Stenhousemuir producing a 3–0 victory and first

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

of the tournament to progress to the semi-finals. The opposition was an away game against Stirling Albion, who had ground shared with Stenhousemuir in 1992–93. The game was played at Albion's new

Forthbank Stadium Forthbank Stadium is a football stadium in Stirling, Scotland. Opened in 1993, it has been the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Stirling Albion since then. Since 2013 it has also hosted the first team matches of Lowland ...

which saw Stenhousemuir win 2–1 to send the club into the Scottish Challenge Cup Final for the first time in its history.

Dundee United

Dundee United faced a trip to Stranraer in the first round which saw the team emerge 2–0 winners. The second round was the first and only home game of the tournament for Dundee United with the visitors in the form of Hamilton Academical with United producing a 3–0 victory at

Tannadice Tannadice Park ( gd, Pàirc Thanachais), usually referred to as Tannadice, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland. It is the home ground of Dundee United F.C., who have played at Tannadice since the club was founded as Dundee Hibernian in 1 ...

. A trip to Clydebank was the reward for reaching the quarter-finals with Dundee United edging the opposition out to win 1–0, in the process completing a third consecutive clean sheet. Dunfermline Athletic provided the opposition for Dundee United in the semi-finals with the team producing a 4–0 victory at

East End Park East End Park, currently named KDM Group East End Park for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium situated in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland with a seating capacity of . The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Championship sid ...

and a fourth consecutive clean sheet of the tournament. Dundee United reached the Scottish Challenge Cup Final for the first time.

Pre-match

Analysis

Stenhousemuir had played only one game at their home of

and two away in the games preceding the final. Dundee United also played one home game but played three away from home. Despite receiving a bye into the second round, Stenhousemuir amassed a total of eight goals scored with only two conceded, whilst keeping one

. Dundee United scored a total of ten goals and conceded none before the final, thus amassing a total of four clean sheets. This was the first appearance for both Stenhousemuir and Dundee United in the Scottish Challenge Cup Final since its inauguration in 1990.

Match

Summary

Details

Teams

Post-match

Dundee United failed to concede a single goal throughout the entire tournament but still lost the final in the form of a penalty shootout against Stenhousemuir. This was Stenhousemuir's first national silverware since 1902.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scottish Challenge Cup Final 1995

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

Challenge Cup Final The Challenge Cup of Rugby league was instituted in the 1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season, 1896–97 and the final was contested between Batley Bulldogs, Batley and St Helens R.F.C., St. Helens at Headingley Rugby Stadium, Headingley, ...

Dundee United F.C. matches Stenhousemuir F.C. matches Sport in Perth, Scotland November 1995 sports events in the United Kingdom Scottish Challenge Cup Final 1995