The 2019–20

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

(also known as the

Betfred Betfred is a bookmaker based in the United Kingdom, founded by Fred Done.Pronounced to rhyme with "bone". It was first established as a single betting shop in Ordsall, Greater Manchester, Ordsall, County Borough of Salford, Salford, in 1967. Its ...

Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 74th season of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

's second-most prestigious

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

knockout competition. The format for the 2019–20 competition was the same as the previous three seasons. It began with eight groups of five teams which included all 2018–19 Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs, excluding those competing in Champions League and

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

qualifiers, as well as the winners of the

2018–19 Highland Football League The 2018–19 Highland Football League (known as the Breedon Highland League for sponsorship reasons) was the 116th season of the Highland Football League, and the fifth season as the fifth-tier of the Scottish football pyramid system. The season ...

(

Cove Rangers Cove Rangers Football Club is a senior Scottish football club currently playing in the Scottish Championship. They are based in the Cove Bay area of Aberdeen and play their football at Balmoral Stadium, having left their former home at Allan ...

) and the

2018–19 Lowland Football League The 2018–19 Scottish Lowland Football League (known as the Geosonic Lowland League for sponsorship reasons) was the 6th season of the Lowland Football League, the fifth tier of the Scottish football pyramid system. The season began on 28 July ...

(

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

Schedule

Format

The competition began with eight groups of five teams. The four clubs competing in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

(

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) and

( Rangers,

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

, and

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

) qualifying rounds were given a bye through to the second round. The 40 teams competing in the group stage consisted of the other eight teams that competed in the

2018–19 Scottish Premiership The 2018–19 Scottish Premiership (known as the Ladbrokes Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football. The fixtures were published on 15 June 2018 and the sea ...

, and all of the teams that competed in the

2018–19 Scottish Championship The 2018–19 Scottish Championship (known as the Ladbrokes Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season in the current format of 10 teams in the second tier of Scottish football. The fixtures were published on 15 June 2018, with the ...

2018–19 Scottish League One The 2018–19 Scottish League One (known as the Ladbrokes League One for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season in the current format of 10 teams in the third-tier of Scottish football. The fixtures were published on 15 June 2018 and the seaso ...

and

2018–19 Scottish League Two The 2018–19 Scottish League Two (known as Ladbrokes League Two for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season in the current format of 10 teams in the fourth-tier of Scottish football. The fixtures were published on 15 June 2018 and the season beg ...

, as well as the

and the

champions. The winners of each of the eight groups, as well as the four best runners-up progressed to the second round (last 16), which includes the four UEFA qualifying clubs. At this stage, the competition reverts to the traditional

knock-out A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking ...

format. The four group winners with the highest points total and the clubs entering at this stage are seeded, with the four group winners with the lowest points unseeded along with the four best runners-up.

Bonus point system

In December 2015, the SPFL announced that alongside the new group stage format, a bonus point system would be introduced to provide greater excitement and increase the number of meaningful games at this stage. The traditional point system of awarding three points for a win and one point for a draw is used, however, for each group stage match that finishes in a draw, 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 ...

takes place, with the winner being awarded a bonus point.

Group stage

The group stage was made up of eight teams from the

, and all ten teams from each of the

and

, as well as the winners of the

and

. The 40 teams were divided into two sections – North and South – with each section containing four top seeds, four second seeds and 12 unseeded teams. Each section was drawn into four groups with each group comprising one top seed, one second seed and three unseeded teams. The draw for the group stage took place on 28 May 2019 and was broadcast live on the SPFL YouTube channel.

North

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

South

Group E

Group F

Group G

Group H

Best runners-up

Knockout phase

Second round

Draw and seeding

The draw for the second round took place on 28 July 2019 at the conclusion of the

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 Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

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 ...

match.

and Rangers entered the competition at this stage, after receiving a bye for the group stage due to their participation in

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

club competitions. The four UEFA-qualifying clubs and the four group winners with the best record were seeded for the draw. Teams in Bold advanced to the quarter-finals. ;Notes *† denotes teams playing in the Championship. ** denotes teams playing in League One.

Matches

Quarter-finals

Draw

Teams in Bold advanced to the semi-finals.

Matches

Semi-finals

Draw

Teams in Bold advanced to the final. Teams in ''Italics'' were not known at the time of the draw.

Matches

Final

Media coverage

The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition are held exclusively by

BT Sport BT Sport is a group of broadcasting of sports events, pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, Warner Bros. Dis ...

. The following matches were broadcast live on UK television:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2019-20 Scottish League Cup Scottish League Cup seasons

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...