The Scottish Women's Football League Cup, previously known as the Scottish Women's League Cup and Scottish Women's Football League First Division Cup, is a

Scottish women's football Scottish Women's Football (SWF), formerly known as the Scottish Women’s Football Association (SWFA) between 1972 and 2001, is the governing body for women's association football in Scotland. It is an affiliated national association of the Scotti ...

competition founded in 1972. It is open only to teams in the Scottish Women's Football League (SWFL). It was the top-level league cup until 2002. The SWFL Cup is played at present as the league cup of level 4 clubs in the SWFL, now a standalone amateur league tier. Teams at levels 1–3 now play for the SWPL Cup and

SWF Championship Cup The Scottish Women's Football Championship Cup is an annual knockout competition in Scottish women's football, for teams playing in the SWF Championship, the third tier league below the two-division SWPL. Established as part of a reorganisation ...

, following a reorganisation of the system in 2019.

Background

The trophy started out as the ''Scottish Women's League Cup''. The competition began in the 1972–73 season along with the foundation of the Scottish Women's League.SFA women’s chief says hails good times for Scots
Edinburgh News. 18-10-2013. Retrieved 03-03-2015.

Westthorn United Westthorn United Ladies Football Club was an early women's football team in Scotland. The team was founded in 1967 by women working at Gay's biscuit factory in Glasgow. It was initially known as the Glasgow Gay Ladies, or Glasgow Gay Eleven. It s ...

won the first edition of the competition, as part of a treble along with the Scottish Women's League and

Scottish Women's Cup The Scottish Women's Cup is the national knockout cup competition for women's football in Scotland. First held in 1970–71, the competition is owned and managed by Scottish Women's Football (SWF), an affiliated body of the Scottish Football Assoc ...

. High street store Sports Connection became the first official sponsor of the Scottish Women's League and Scottish Women's League Cup in 1997. Premier Division clubs broke away to form a new top division, the

Scottish Women's Premier League The Scottish Women's Premier League (SWPL) is the highest level of league competition in women's football in Scotland. Its two divisions are SWPL 1 and SWPL 2. The league was formed when the Premier Division of the Scottish Women's Football League ...

(SWPL), before the 2002–03 season. The

Scottish Women's Premier League Cup The Scottish Women's Premier League Cup or SWPL Cup is a league cup competition in women's football in Scotland. The Cup is open only to the teams in the Scottish Women's Premier League. There are four rounds, including the final. The competition ...

, a competition only open to SWPL teams was also introduced. With the top division in Scotland now having its own exclusive

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 ...

competition, the existing competition became the equivalent to the men's

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,Scottish Women's Football Scottish Women's Football (SWF), formerly known as the Scottish Women’s Football Association (SWFA) between 1972 and 2001, is the governing body for women's association football in Scotland. It is an affiliated national association of the Scotti ...

launched separate cup competitions for its First and Second Division teams, and the top trophy became exclusively for teams in the First Division, the national second league tier (which became the third tier in 2016, below SWPL 2). From 2009, women's football in Scotland adopted a summer season running from March to November each year. Following the 2019 reorganisation, the SWFL First and Second Divisions ceased to exist as they had. A new equivalent knockout tournament for the new Championship, the

, was introduced. The older trophy became the Scottish Women's Football League Cup, open to clubs playing at that 'Recreational' level. The 2021 competition was played as a straight knockout cup, won by Bishopton, but the 2022 cup had a group phase. From this, the top teams qualified for the knockout stage, while eliminated clubs competed for the SWFL Plate.

SWFL Second Division Cup

The Scottish Women's Football League Second Division Cup was played from 2012 to 2019, and was only open to teams in the four groups of the

Scottish Women's Football League Second Division The Scottish Women's Football League Second Division (SWFL 2) was a division in the Scottish women's football pyramid between 1999 and 2019. The third league tier from 1999 to 2015, it later became the fourth tier. Its top teams won promotion to t ...

(Central, East, North and West). Representing level 3 (2012–2015) and then level 4 (2016–2019), it was the league cup for the lowest tier at that time in the women's football league system. The tournament consisted of six rounds, including the final. All matches were played over only one leg. With between 40 and 50 teams entering, only some teams took part in the first round. The winners met the remainder in the second round, a standard last-32 knockout. The league reconstruction in 2020 introduced a new SWF Championship division (and cup), along similar lines to the SWFL First Division, while the teams below formed a standalone 'Recreational' setup, continuing the SWFL name and the format of regional groups.Scottish Women’s Football announces new league structure
SheKicks.net, 20 September 2019 The First Division Cup again became the SWFL League Cup, but with no second tier below the new SWFL groups, the Second Division Cup was discontinued.

List of winners

The Scottish Women's League Cup competition began in season 1972–73.

1972 to 2002

From 1972 to 2002, the cup was a competition open to all league clubs. :''Note: Details incomplete''

2002 to 2011

From 2002 to 2011, the cup was open to all league clubs below the Premier League, i.e. in the SWFL First Division, Second Division and (initially) Third Division.

2012 to 2019

Scottish Women's Football League First Division Cup: Scottish Women's Football League Second Division Cup:

2020–present

Since 2020, the cup has been a competition for all SWFL clubs. The previous two tiers were merged into one (below the SWF Championship). The 2020 competition was not completed due to 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 ...

. The SWFL Plate was introduced in 2021 for clubs knocked out in the SWFL Cup group phase. Scottish Women's Football League Cup: Scottish Women's Football League Plate:

References

External links

Football League Cup
at Scottish FA

at RSSSF {{Women's Football in Scotland 3 Scottish Women's Football League 1972 establishments in Scotland Recurring sporting events established in 1972