The History and Future of The Challenge Cup

The History and Future of The Challenge Cup

First starting in 1990, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Scottish Football League, the Challenge Cup brought a chance for teams outside of Scotland’s top tier to get their hands on some major silverware. In the early years of the Challenge Cup, crowds of clubs outside of the top tier turned up hoping that they could progress in the competition, hoping that this could be their year.

Until the 2011/12 season, the Cup was mostly untouched and teams from the second, third and fourth tiers would compete in the competition. Then, the first of many format changes happened; guest teams entered the competition. In this season’s case, it was the top two teams of the Highland League that started in the first round. This would last until the 2015/16 season.

Then it was all changed come 2016; a host of new clubs and teams entered, including two clubs from both Northern Ireland and Wales, four teams from the Highland League and four from the Lowland League. All were well-received additions to the competition, but the next addition was much less welcomed; the 12 Under 20s teams from the Scottish Premiership entered, giving a chance for young and inexperienced players to compete against professional or semi-professional players. A move which would please Premiership clubs, giving their young players a chance to play football outwith the Reserve Leagues.

However, for lower league fans, the chance to play St. Mirren’s U20s would clearly not appeal as much as travelling to play Brora Rangers or Turriff United, or even to Belfast to play Linfield.

The additions of the Highland and Lowland League teams gave the lower SPFL fans a chance to go to some rare Scottish away days and also a chance of playing “European football” if they were lucky enough to be drawn against a team from Northern Ireland or Wales. In 2017, two teams from the League of Ireland entered the competition and in 2018, teams from England’s National League entered, growing the competition to 58 participating clubs.

Many unusual fixtures took place, giving excitement to fans; such games as Boreham Wood v Dunfermline Athletic, Airdrieonians v Sutton United, Coleraine v Formartine United and even Connah Quay Nomads v Coleraine were all actual fixtures in 2018/19 alone and boosted excitement; games such as Livingston U21s v Forfar Athletic, Dundee U21s v Hibernian U21s and Kilmarnock U21s v St. Mirren U21s simply did not.

The competition then had its next format change in 2021; after the COVID pandemic, clubs from Northern Ireland, Wales, the Republic of Ireland and England did not enter the competition in order to reduce unnecessary travel.

Then in 2024, it became a Scotland-only competition. Fans who once attended hoping that one day they could leave with it have now turned their backs to it, with some, if not most, fans believing the cup has now become an unnecessary distraction to the regular league season.

The continuation of the Premiership’s U20s teams, now called B teams in the cup, has seen attendances decrease in most games. Whilst most organisations would do something to fix the situation to bring the cup back to its former glories, the SPFL has looked to UEFA for this season’s new format. Like UEFA competitions, the Challenge Cup now has a 30-team league phase which consists of 10 Premiership B teams and the 20 League One and Two clubs, with the top 22 advancing to the next round to play knockout matches, where Championship clubs enter. In this season’s league phase, all 10 B teams placed in the bottom 10 of the table, emphasising the lack of quality in these sides.

The SPFL announced back in May that the new format would “help develop some of our most promising players across the country.” Whilst this can be true, fans have not exactly been flooding to their seats in the League Phase. Queen of the South’s 2-1 win over Rangers B boosts the League Phase’s highest attended match with only 946 watching inside Palmerston. Edinburgh City’s win over Kilmarnock B was attended by only 86.

When the knockouts come around, attendances will boost up, but until then, for most fans, the cup will be a distraction from their regular league season.

The additions of the Highland League and Lowland League, along with teams from Northern Ireland, Wales, the Republic of Ireland and England, gave the competition a freshness it probably needed and a chance of something different. Perhaps the future of Scotland’s third most prestigious trophy is to bring back the guest teams from the Highland League, the Lowland League and teams from outside Scotland.

However, with no regular Reserve League structure in Scotland at present, fans of the lower leagues will have to keep the B teams for a while yet. If you are a fan of a lower-league club, tell us what you think! Would you prefer the reintroduction of guest participants, or are you a fan of the current format?