2015–16 Scottish League Cup

The 2015–16 Scottish League Cup was the 70th season of Scotland's second-most prestigious football knockout competition. It is also known as The Scottish League Cup presented by Utilita for sponsorship reasons.

Ross County defeated Hibernian 2–1 in the final on 13 March.

This was Ross County's second major trophy final ever, having previously lost the 2010 Scottish Cup Final, and their first major Scottish honour.

Despite losing this final, Hibs would recover from the blow and end up winning the Scottish Cup two months later, ending a 114-year drought.

This edition of the tournament also marked the first time in the competition's history in which there were six different champions in the most recent six editions, with Celtic, Aberdeen, St. Mirren, Kilmarnock and Rangers having been the five previous champions.

Format

The competition is a single elimination knock-out competition. In each round, fixtures are determined by random draw, with the first to third rounds seeded according to last season's league positions (higher 50% of finishers drawn v lower 50% of finishers, alternating which is at home with each tie drawn).

Fixtures are played to a finish, with extra time and then penalties used in the event of draws. The competition is open to all clubs in the Scottish Professional Football League. Clubs involved in European competitions are given a bye to the third round to avoid congestion of fixtures.

Qualified teams

The following teams qualified and competed in the 2015–16 Scottish League Cup.

Scottish Premiership teams

There are 12 teams from the 2014–15 Scottish Premiership.

*Aberdeen
* Celtic
*Dundee
* Dundee United
* Hamilton Academical
* Inverness CT
* Kilmarnock
*Motherwell
* Partick Thistle
* Ross County
* St Johnstone
* St Mirren

Scottish Championship teams

There are 10 teams from the 2014–15 Scottish Championship.

* Alloa Athletic
* Cowdenbeath
* Dumbarton
*Falkirk
* Heart of Midlothian
* Hibernian
* Livingston
* Queen of the South
* Raith Rovers
* Rangers

Scottish League One teams

There are 10 teams from the 2014–15 Scottish League One.

* Airdrieonians
* Ayr United
* Brechin City
* Dunfermline Athletic
* Forfar Athletic
* Greenock Morton
*Peterhead
* Stenhousemuir
* Stirling Albion
*Stranraer

Scottish League Two teams

There are 10 teams from the 2014–15 Scottish League Two.

* Albion Rovers
* Annan Athletic
*Arbroath
* Berwick Rangers
* Clyde
* East Fife
* East Stirlingshire
* Elgin City
* Montrose
* Queen's Park

First round

The first round draw took place on Monday 6 July 2015 at 2:30pm BST at the Hampden Park Stadium. The 30 clubs that participated in the Championship, League One and League Two in the 2014–15 season entered the competition at this stage. The 12 clubs that participated in the 2014–15 Scottish Premiership received a bye.

Draw and Seeding

Matches

Second round

The second round draw took place on Monday 3 August 2015 at 2:30pm BST at the Hampden Park Stadium. The clubs that finished in the bottom 7 places of last season's Premiership entered at this stage joining the 15 first round winners.

Draw and Seeding

Matches

Third round

The third round draw took place on Thursday 27 August 2015 at 2:30pm BST at the Hampden Park Stadium. The 4 clubs that participated in the 2014–15 Scottish Premiership season and qualified for European competition entered the competition at this stage along with Dundee United, the highest placed non-Europe qualifying side.

Draw and Seeding

Matches

Quarter-finals

Draw and Seeding

The quarter-final draw took place on Monday 28 September 2015 at 2:30pm at Hampden Park, all teams were placed in the same pot.

Matches

Semi-finals

Draw and seeding

The semi-final draw took place on Monday 9 November 2015 at 2:00pm at Hampden Park, all teams were placed in the same pot.

Matches

Final

Statistics

Top goalscorers

References

External links

Scottish Professional Football League – League Cup official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:2015-16 Scottish League Cup

Scottish League Cup seasons
League Cup
Cup