The 2005 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, also known as the Bell's Cup Final for sponsorship reasons, 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 St Mirren and

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scotti ...

on 6 November 2005 at

Excelsior Stadium The Excelsior Stadium, is a Association football, football stadium in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the home ground of Airdrieonians F.C., Airdrieonians of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). Since the 2021–22 season ...

in Airdrie. It was the 15th final of the Scottish Challenge Cup since it was first organised in 1990 to celebrate the centenary of the Scottish Football League. St Mirren emerged winners after defeating Hamilton Academical 2–1 with goals from Simon Lappin and John SuttonSt Mirren 2-1 Hamilton Accies

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 flag ...

. 2005-11-06. Retrieved 2009-12-31. to win the tournament for the first time after being losing finalists in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

Route to the final

St Mirren

The first round draw paired St Mirren with Forfar Athletic at

Love Street "Love Street" is a song performed by the American rock band the Doors. Sequenced as the second album track on '' Waiting for the Sun'', its lyrics were written by lead singer Jim Morrison and as with other songs, it was dedicated to his girlfrien ...

with the home team winning 1–0 after extra time.Scottish League Challenge Cup Round 1 Results - 2005/06
ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 2011-10-09. The second round was a trip to Dumfries to face Queen of the South at

Palmerston Park Palmerston Park is a football stadium on Terregles Street in Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish League One club Queen of the South, who have played there since 1919. South of Scotland League club He ...

with The Buddies producing 2–1 winScottish League Challenge Cup Round 2 Results - 2005/06
ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 2011-10-09. to progress to the quarter-finals. The opponents drawn were Stenhousemuir at home in the quarter-finals and St Mirren won 3–2.Scottish League Challenge Cup Round 3 Results - 2005/06
ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 2011-10-09. The reward for reaching the semi-final was a home game at against Renfrewshire rivals, Greenock Morton with St Mirren edging out the opponents to win 4–2 on penalties after 0–0 after extra time.Scottish League Challenge Cup Semi-finals Results - 2005/06
ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 2011-10-09. St Mirren reached the Scottish Challenge Cup final for the second time, since losing the 1993 final against Falkirk.

Hamilton Academical

Hamilton Academical were drawn against Queen's Park at home in the first round and Hamilton came out 3–0 winners The second round draw saw Accies drawn against Ross County away from home with Hamilton emerging 1–0 winners. The quarter-final draw brought Dundee to

New Douglas Park New Douglas Park, currently known as the ZLX Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, which serves as the home of Scottish Championship side Hamilton Academical and Scottish League One si ...

which saw Hamilton produce a 2–0 and awarded Accies their third consecutive clean sheet of the tournament to progress to the semi-finals. The opposition provided in the semi-final draw was St Johnstone and another away game which saw Hamilton triumph with a 2–1 victors to proceed to the Scottish Challenge Cup final for the third time in the club's history since winning both the

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

and 1992 tournaments.

Match

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scottish Challenge Cup Final 2005 2005 St Mirren F.C. matches Hamilton Academical F.C. matches Challenge Cup Final November 2005 sports events in the United Kingdom