The 1999 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, also known as the Bell's Challenge Cup Final for sponsorship reasons, was a football match between

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

and Alloa Athletic on 21 November 1999 at

Excelsior Stadium The Excelsior Stadium, is a football stadium in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the home ground of Airdrieonians of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). Since the 2021–22 season it has also been used by Celtic for t ...

in Airdrie. It was the ninth 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 so ...

. Both teams progressed through four elimination rounds to reach the final. The match was Alloa Athletic's first national cup final in its 121-year historyTraynor, John. "CAIRNS TAKES THE PLAUDITS AS WASPS WIN FIRST CUP IN 121 YEARS; Alloa taste success after feast of goals", '' The Herald'' (Glasgow), 22 November 1999. Retrieved 30 May 2013. whilst it was Inverness Caledonian Thistle's first since the club was founded five years beforehand in 1994. The tournament was contested by clubs below the Scottish Premier League; Inverness Caledonian Thistle from the First Division and Alloa Athletic from the Second Division. Alloa led the match 2–1 at half-time but only two minutes after the interval both teams scored to make it 3–2 by the 47th minute.

Paul Sheerin Paul George Sheerin (born 28 August 1974) is a Scottish former football player and coach. Sheerin played as a midfielder for Alloa Athletic, Southampton, Östersunds FK, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Ayr United, Aberdeen, St Johnstone and ...

scored a second penalty for Inverness in the 56th minute to make the score 3–3 which is how the scoreline remained after 90 minutes, which forced an additional 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 only ...

to be played. Martin Cameron scored his second goal for Alloa in the 104th minute to take a 4–3 lead but was cancelled out when Sheerin completed a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

of goals for Inverness to make it 4–4 and take the game to

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * P ...

. Alloa Athletic emerged victorious after winning the shoot-out 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 so ...

. 2 November 2005. Retrieved 27 May 2013.

Route to the final

The competition is a

knock-out tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

and in 1999 was contested by the 30 teams that played in the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

, Second and Third Divisions of the

. 28 of the teams entered the first round and two received random byes into the second round to even the number of fixtures."Bell's ringing again for SFL", '' The Herald'' (Glasgow), 13 July 1999. Retrieved 30 May 2013. Teams were paired at random and the winner of each match progressed to the next round and the loser was eliminated. The tournament returned for the first time since

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

after it was suspended for one season due to the absence of a sponsor.Wright, Angus. "BELL'S BACKS SFL WITH 2M POUND DEAL", ''

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 pa ...

'', 13 July 1999. Retrieved 30 May 2013.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Newly promoted to the First Division as runners-up in the Second Division the previous season, Inverness entered the first round and faced fellow First Division club St. Mirren at

Caledonian Stadium Caledonian Stadium is a football ground in the Longman area of Inverness, Scotland, near the banks of the Moray Firth. It hosts home matches of Scottish Professional Football League club Inverness Caledonian Thistle. History Inverness Caled ...

. Inverness won the match 1–0 with a late goal in the 88th minute from

Mike Teasdale Mike Teasdale (born 28 July 1969) is a Scottish former footballer, who played for Elgin City, Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United K ...

to progress to the second round."Results – BELL'S SCOTTISH LEAGUE CHALLENGE CUP First round", ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' (London), 11 August 1999. Retrieved 28 May 2013. The second round draw paired the club with Second Division club Hamilton Academical at

Douglas Park Douglas Park was a football stadium in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, the home ground of Hamilton Academical from 1888 to 1994. The stadium holds the record for Hamilton Academical's largest ever attendance, 28,690 people against Hearts in 19 ...

. Inverness comfortably won the tie 3–0 with two goals from Iain Stewart and one from Scott McLean to advance to the quarter-finals. Results & Matches on: Tue, 24 Aug 1999
''soccerbase.com'', Retrieved 28 May 2013. Inverness faced a home game against Clydebank in the quarter-finals. Goals in each half from Martin Glancy and Barry Robson resulted in a 2–0 win for Inverness over the First Division club. Results & Matches on: Tue, 14 Sep 1999
''soccerbase.com'', Retrieved 28 May 2013. With four teams left in the competition, Inverness were drawn against Livingston, also from the First Division. The scoreline was 0–0 most of the game until Paul Sheerin scored a late winner for Inverness in the 88th minute to win the match 1–0 for the club. The result meant that Inverness kept four

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 ...

s before qualifying for the first national cup final in the club's history. Results & Matches on: Tue, 28 Sep 1999
''soccerbase.com'', Retrieved 28 May 2013.

Alloa Athletic

Alloa Athletic also entered the first round and were drawn against Third Division club Cowdenbeath away from home. Goals from Martin Cameron, David Beaton, Gregor McKechnie and an

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

from Scott Sneddon was enough for Alloa to comfortably win 4–0 at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

and advance to the next round."BELL'S CHALLENGE CUP", '' The Herald'' (Glasgow), 11 August 1999. Retrieved 28 May 2013. The second round also saw Alloa drawn away from home; facing First Division club Airdrieonians at Excelsior Stadium. With Airdrie the favourites to win the match, Alloa took a shock 2–0 lead with goals from Mark Nelson and Gregor McKechnie. Airdrie scored a consolation goal in the last minute from

Forbes Johnston Forbes Johnston (3 August 1971 – 12 July 2007) was a Scottish professional footballer playing primarily in defence, but also spending some time in the midfield. Life He started his career playing for junior side Musselburgh Athletic, and jo ...

to make it 2–1, but Alloa held on to win and progressed to the quarter-finals.Burns, Scott. "Wasps in night of cup glory", ''

Aberdeen Press and Journal ''The Press and Journal'' is a daily regional newspaper serving northern and highland Scotland including the cities of Aberdeen and Inverness. Established in 1747, it is Scotland's oldest daily newspaper, and one of the longest-running newspap ...

'', 25 August 1999. Retrieved 28 May 2013. In the quarter-finals, Alloa faced another away game, this time at fellow Second Division club Ross County. George Shaw scored to give Ross County a 1–0 lead before half-time and Alloa equalised late in the second half through Mark Donaghy in the 82nd minute which made the score 1–1 to force extra time.

Willie Irvine William John Irvine (born 18 June 1943) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a centre forward. Born in Eden, County Antrim, into a large family, he grew up in the nearby town of Carrickfergus. He did well at schoo ...

scored the winner for Alloa in the 113th minute to send the club through to the semi-finals. With the last four clubs left in the tournament, Alloa was drawn against local rival Stirling Albion with both clubs aiming to reach the first national cup final in their history.Burns, Scott. "Stirling and Alloa are one step away from first final", ''

'', 28 September 1999. Retrieved 28 May 2013. Stirling took the lead in the first half but were reduced to 10-men after Chris Wood was sent off in the 71st minute. Alloa replied with a goal from Scott Bannerman and then a penalty in the 80th minute from Willie Irvine to win 2–1 and reach the final.

Pre-match

Venue

The 1999 final marked the first time the event was hosted at

in Airdrie, the home of

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie Unite ...

. The venue opened only a year before the final in 1998 and was officially known as ''Shyberry Excelsior Stadium'', after its sponsor. Alloa had previously played at the stadium during the same tournament having eliminated Airdrieonians 2–1 away from home in the second round. Inverness travelled around to the venue whereas Alloa had to travel only around .Hammond, Dave. "Sheerin hat-trick fails to halt Alloa", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

'' (London), 22 November 1999. Retrieved 28 May 2013.

Analysis

In order to reach the final, Alloa played all four matches in the preceding rounds away from home, keeping only one clean sheet and recording three successive 2–1 away wins. Inverness kept a clean sheet in all four matches, scoring seven goals without reply in the rounds before the final.Scottish League Challenge Cup 1999/00
''soccerbase.com'', Retrieved 9 June 2013. Alloa were in good form before the match, losing only three of their previous 22 games in all competitions since the start of the season in late July.
''londonhearts.com''. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 28 May 2013. At the time of the final, Alloa were equal on points at the top of the Second Division table but ranked third on goal difference.Alloa Athletic 1999–2000 : Scottish Division Two Table on 20.11.1999
''statto.com'', Retrieved 28 May 2013. Inverness were favourites to win the match being the higher ranked club as a competitor in the First Division, one tier above Alloa who were in the Second Division.Traynor, John. "Wasps show no fear of big boys", '' The Herald'' (Glasgow), 20 November 1999. Retrieved 28 May 2013. Inverness were ranked seventh from ten in the First Division at the time of the final, 20 points behind runaway leaders St. Mirren.Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1999–2000 : Scottish Division One Table on 20.11.1999
''statto.com'', Retrieved 28 May 2013. After five games unbeaten in the league, Inverness lost their last league game before the final 5–1 away to

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film ''Horton ...

. Terry Christie, the Alloa manager, had won the Scottish Challenge Cup once before with Second Division club

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

after a surprise

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 pe ...

win against

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 ...

in the 1995 final and hoped to replicate his success with Alloa. The two finalists had met in the Scottish Challenge Cup once before; Alloa won 2–1 away to Caledonian Thistle at

Telford Street Park Telford Street Park was a football ground in Inverness, Scotland. It was the home ground of Caledonian F.C. and latterly Caledonian Thistle F.C. History Caledonian played at the eponymous Caledonian Park until the mid-1920s, when Telford St ...

in the first round of the 1995–96 tournament, the same year Christie won with Stenhousemuir.Scottish Challenge Cup 1995–1996 : First Round
''statto.com''. Retrieved 9 June 2013.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 9 June 2013.

Match

First half

Inverness played in a 4–4–2 formation whilst Alloa played a 3–4–3 arrangement. After ten minutes, Alloa missed a goal scoring opportunity when Martin Cameron's shot went above the cross-bar after a pass from Gary Clark and three minutes later Mark Wilson's shot forced a save from Inverness goalkeeper

Les Fridge Leslie Francis Fridge (born 27 August 1968) is a Scottish former football goalkeeper. He was formerly manager at Nairn County. Career A product of the Scottish Highland Football League, Fridge began his senior career with his home town clu ...

. Alloa scored the first goal of the game in the 19th minute with a 12-yard shot from Gary Clark when Inverness failed to clear the ball from a

corner kick A corner kick is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defending team. The kick is taken ...

. Shortly after, Alloa went close to doubling their lead when Fridge was forced to make another save. Alloa dominated the match for most of the first half-hour but Inverness equalised the score at 1–1 on 28 minutes when Alloa goalkeeper Mark Cairns deflected the ball into the path of striker Barry Wilson after making his first save of the game from a shot by

Davide Xausa Davide Antonio Xausa (born 10 March 1976) is a Canadian former soccer player. Club career Xausa started his career with Metro Ford Wolves before accepting a scholarship with the University of Portland where he was a 3 time All American, 4 time W ...

. Three minutes later, Alloa midfielder Mark Wilson ran clear down the

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...

and shot the ball past goalkeeper Fridge to restore Alloa's lead to 2–1 before half-time.

Second half

Only one minute into the second half, Alloa player Derek Clark committed a foul on Dennis Wyness in the

penalty box The penalty box or sin bin (sometimes called the bad box, or simply bin or box) is the area in ice hockey, rugby union, rugby league, roller derby and some other sports where a player sits to serve the time of a given penalty, for an offence not ...

and Inverness were awarded a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

. Inverness midfielder Paul Sheerin took the penalty kick in the 46th minute and equalised the score to 2–2. One minute after the penalty, Alloa restored their lead when Cameron dispossessed the ball from defender Mike Teasdale and scored to take a 3–2 lead after 47 minutes. Referee Jim McCluskey awarded Inverness their second penalty kick of the game ten minutes later when Alloa defender David Beaton handled the ball in the box and Sheerin again equalised the scoreline at 3–3. Between the 65th and 67th minute, Alloa made the first substitutions of the game: Mark Wilson and Gary Clark were replaced by Gregor McKechnie and Max Christie respectively. Five minutes later, Inverness substituted defender

Stuart Golabek Stuart Golabek (born 5 November 1974 in Inverness) is a Scottish retired professional footballer who last played for Highland League side Brora Rangers. Career Golabek began his career with Highland League side Clachnacuddin, before moving to ...

with Kevin Byers. After the equalising goal, Inverness players Sheerin and Charlie Christie started to dominate the midfield area of the pitch and Christie and Xausa both had chances to win the match for Inverness. Alloa managed to keep the score at 3–3 for the rest of the match until the full-time whistle to force the game into extra time.

Extra time and penalties

Cameron had a chance to score for Alloa in the 92nd minute but his shot was blocked by goalkeeper Fridge. However, he then scored his second goal of the game in the 103rd minute after a pass from Max Christie. Ten minutes later, Sheerin then completed a

of goals for Inverness in the 112th minute, becoming only the second player to score three goals in the final match of the competition after

Billy Dodds William Dodds (born 5 February 1969) is a Scottish football coach and former player who is the manager of Inverness Caledonian Thistle. His playing career started with English club Chelsea and the rest of his career was spent in Scotland wi ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

. With the score equal at 4–4 at the end of extra time, the game was decided by a penalty shoot-out. The shoot-out was a best-of-five and Willie Irvine took the first penalty for Alloa and scored. Paul Sheerin took Inverness's first penalty and despite scoring three goals during the game, two of which were from penalty kicks, he missed. David Beaton then struck the bar and missed for Alloa and Mark McCulloch levelled the score for Inverness to 2–2. Both teams then scored their next three penalties to make it 4-all from five attempts so the shoot-out went to sudden death. Alloa goalkeeper Cairns took the penalty and scored; he then saved Teasdale's attempt to ensure Alloa won 5–4 in the shoot-out.

Details

Post-match

The trophy was presented to Alloa captain Craig Valentine after the game by Lord Macfarlane of Bearsden. Jim McCluskey, the referee of the game, retired a year after the final and when reflecting on his time as a referee, mentioned the game was one of the highlights of his career saying: "It was an unbelievable game of football between two teams who were appearing in their first major cup final and they both just went for it. I was proud to have refereed it." The two clubs were drawn against each other at the first possible opportunity in the first round of the 2000–01 tournament.Challenge Cup draw made
''news.bbc.co.uk''.

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside ...

. 19 July 2000. Retrieved 30 May 2013. Inverness won the match 3–2 despite Alloa scoring the fastest goal in the history of the tournament to take a 1–0 lead after 54 seconds.Alloa 2–3 Inverness CT
''news.bbc.co.uk''.

. 15 August 2000. Retrieved 30 May 2013. Both clubs have made further appearances in the final of the tournament since the match; Alloa lost to Airdrieonians and

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

in the

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

and

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

finals respectively, whilst Inverness beat

Airdrie United Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie Unite ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

and lost to Dundee in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scottish Challenge Cup Final 1999

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

Alloa Athletic F.C. matches Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. matches 1999–2000 in Scottish football Association football penalty shoot-outs November 1999 sports events in the United Kingdom