The 2020–21 SFA South Region Challenge Cup (known as The SoccerShop Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th edition of the annual knockout cup competition for senior

non-league Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

clubs in the central and southern regions of Scotland. This season sees the tournament increase from 70 to 121 teams thanks to additional clubs joining the

East of Scotland Football League The East of Scotland Football League (EoSFL) is a senior football league based in the east and south-east of Scotland. The league sits at levels 6–9 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League. Fo ...

and the inclusion of 67 clubs from the inaugural

West of Scotland Football League The West of Scotland Football League (WoSFL) is a senior football league based in the west of Scotland. The league sits at levels 6–10 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League. Founded in 202 ...

. Arniston Rangers and Cumbernauld Colts are not competing due to a breach of rules in the previous season's competition. A number of clubs withdrew before the start of the tournament, including those who declined to take part in the WoSFL. Due to Scottish Government restrictions, games were played behind closed doors because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. On 11 January 2021 the competition was suspended by the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...

due to the escalating pandemic situation. With the season already complete for each of the four leagues competing in the tournament, the competition was declared null and void on 26 April 2021.

Format

The South Challenge Cup initially featured 142 senior non-league clubs from the

Lowland Football League The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) is a senior football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the ...

(16),

(47),

South of Scotland Football League The South of Scotland Football League (SoSFL) is a senior football league based in south-west Scotland. The league sits at level 6 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League. Founded in 1946, it i ...

(12), and

(67). The reserve teams of

Stirling University The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built w ...

, Caledonian Braves, and

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...

do not take part. The draw is unseeded, with matches proceeding to extra time and penalties if they are tied after 90 minutes.

Calendar

First round

The draw for the first and second rounds took place on Saturday 5 September 2020 and was broadcast live on th
Official Catchup YouTube channel
The majority of the first round fixtures took place on the weekend of Saturday 24 October 2020.

Second round

The majority of the second round fixtures took place on the weekend of 21 November 2020. A number of teams received a bye to the third round after 18 teams from the West of Scotland League withdrew from the competition. ;Replay

Third round

The third round was due to take place on the weekend of Saturday 6 February 2021. The draw for the third round took place on Friday 12 December 2020 and was broadcast live on th
Official Catchup YouTube channel
Due to teams withdrawing in the previous rounds, Gartcairn and

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow ( gd, Port Ghlaschu, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recen ...

received a bye to the fourth round.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 South Challenge Cup 2020–21 in Scottish football cups South Challenge Cup seasons