The Scottish Challenge Cup, known as the Irn Bru Cup for sponsorship purposes, is a competition traditionally for the clubs outwith the top division of Scottish Professional football.
It was initiated as an annual competition in 1991 following a successful one-off Centenary Cup, which was contested to commemorate 100 years of the Scottish Football League.
The format changed little for the first 25 years of the competition, though north-east and south-west regionalisation has become a feature in recent years. Highland and Lowland League champions have also been invited to take part.
2016-17 saw controversial and radical change, with the addition of the U20 teams of Premiership clubs, invited Northern Irish and Welsh clubs and three more clubs from each of the Lowland and Highland Leagues. This season, two League of Ireland representatives have been added, taking the total entry to 56 clubs, a competition record
2017-18 COMPETITION (2016-17)
First Round (Aug 15 unless stated)
North Section
- Aberdeen U20 1-0 St Johnstone U20 (@ Glebe Park)
- Buckie Thistle 2-1 Brechin City
- Dundee United 2-0 Cowdenbeath
- Dunfermline Athletic 2-0 Arbroath
- East Fife 0-2 Peterhead
- Formartine United 2-3 Heart of Midlothian U20
- Hibernian U20 1-2 Elgin City (@ Ainslie Park)
- Raith Rovers 3-0 Brora Rangers
- Ross County U20 2-1 Forfar Athletic
- Stenhousemuir 0-2 Cove Rangers
- Stirling Albion 1-3 Montrose
- Dundee U20 2-4 Alloa Athletic (Aug 16)
South Section
- Albion Rovers 0-0(5-4p) Spartans
- Albion Rovers disqualified – ineligible player
- Annan Athletic 3-1 Celtic U20
- Clyde 2-3 Stranraer
- Greenock Morton 0-2 Livingston
- Hamilton Accies U20 1-0 Edinburgh City
- Kilmarnock U20 0-2 Berwick Rangers
- Partick Thistle U20 6-1 Stirling University
- Queen of the South 4-0 Airdrieonians
- St Mirren 2-1 East Kilbride – £12/£6
- Dumbarton 2-1 Rangers U20 (Aug 16)
- East Stirlingshire 1-5 Ayr United (Aug 16)
- Motherwell U20 2-1 Queen’s Park (@ Forthbank Stadium, Aug 16)
Second Round (Sept 2)
- Ayr United 1-1(5-6p) Montrose (Aug 29)
- Stranraer 2-0 Partick Thistle U20 (Sept 1)
- Aberdeen U20 2-4 Inverness Caledonian Thistle (@ Glebe Park)
- Berwick Rangers 0-5 Queen of the South
- Buckie Thistle 0-3 Dunfermline Athletic
- Crusaders 3-2 Motherwell U20
- Dumbarton 2-1 Connah’s Quay Nomads
- Dundee United 3-1 Alloa Athletic
- Elgin City 2-0 Bray Wanderers
- Hamilton Accies U20 1-3 Cove Rangers
- Peterhead 2-0 Annan Athletic
- Raith Rovers 4-0 Ross County U20
- St Mirren 3-1 Heart of Midlothian U20
- Sligo Rovers 1-2 Falkirk
- Spartans 1-2 Linfield
- The New Saints 1-1(6-5p) Livingston (Sept 3) – S4C
Third Round (October 7)
- Dumbarton 2-1 Stranraer (Oct 6)
- Cove Rangers 0-3 Crusaders (@ Station Park, Forfar)
- Dundee United 1-0 Linfield – BBC Alba
- Falkirk 2-0 Dunfermline Athletic
- Inverness Caley Thistle 3-0 Peterhead
- Montrose 1-3 Queen of the South
- The New Saints 4-0 Elgin City – S4C
- St Mirren 1-3 Raith Rovers
Quarter Finals (November 11)
- Dumbarton 2-0 Raith Rovers
- Dundee United 1-2 Crusaders
- Inverness Caley Thistle 1-0 Falkirk – BBC Alba
- The New Saints 0-0(4-3p) Queen of the South (Nov 12) – S4C
Semi Finals (February 17/18)
- The New Saints 1-2 Dumbarton (Feb 17) – S4C
- Inverness Caley Thistle 3-2 Crusaders (Feb 18) – BBC Alba
Final (March 24)
- Dumbarton 0-1 Inverness Caley Thistle (@ McDiarmid Park)
Scottish Football Fixtures 