2024–25 Scottish League Cup


The 2024–25 Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 79th season of Scotland's second-most prestigious football knockout competition. Rangers were the defending champions, but they lost 4–5 on penalties to Celtic in the final.

Format

The competition began with eight groups of five teams. The five clubs initially competing in the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Conference League received a bye to the second round. The group stage consists of 40 teams: all remaining teams that competed across the SPFL in 2023–24, the 2023–24 Highland Football League champions and runners-up, and the 2023–24 Lowland Football League champions.
The winners of each of the eight groups, as well as the three best runners-up, progressed to the second round. At this stage, the competition reverted to the traditional knock-out format. The three group winners with the highest points total and the European entrants were seeded.

Bonus point system

The traditional point system of awarding three points for a win and one point for a draw was used. In addition, for each group stage match that finishes in a draw, a penalty shoot-out took place, with the winner being awarded a bonus point.

Group stage

The teams were seeded according to their final league positions in 2023–24 and drawn into eight groups, with each group comprising one team from each pot. The draw for the group stage took place on 29 May 2024 and was broadcast live on the Premier Sports and SPFL YouTube channels.

Group H

Knockout phase

Second round

Draw and seeding

Celtic, Rangers, Heart of Midlothian, Kilmarnock and St Mirren entered the competition at this stage, due to their participation in UEFA club competitions.
Teams in bold advanced to the quarter-finals.
SeededUnseeded

  • Airdrieonians†
  • Dundee United
  • Falkirk†
  • Hibernian
  • Motherwell
  • Queen's Park†
  • St Johnstone
  • The Spartans**
  • ;Notes

    Draw

    The draw for the quarter-finals took place on 18 August 2024 following the Celtic v Hibernian match live on Premier Sports 1.
    Teams in bold advanced to the semi-finals.
    PremiershipChampionshipLeague Two

  • Falkirk
  • The Spartans
  • Draw

    The draw for the semi-finals took place on 22 September 2024 following the Celtic v Falkirk match live on Premier Sports 1.
    Teams in bold advanced to the final.

    Media coverage

    The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition are held exclusively by Premier Sports, who will broadcast between 12 and 16 live matches per season, as well as highlights. Premier Sports further announced they would stream up to 25 additional games from the group stage on their website. The broadcaster will also broadcast all games live from the second round onwards, either streamed or televised, subject to blackout rules.
    The following matches will be broadcast live:
    RoundDateMatch
    Group stage13 July 2024

    Group stage16 July 2024
    Group stage20 July 2024
    Group stage23 July 2024
    Group stage27 July 2024
    • Aberdeen v Dumbarton
    • Hibernian v Peterhead
    • Dundee v Inverness CT
    • St. Johnstone v East Fife
    • Ross County v Stirling Albion
    Group stage28 July 2024Motherwell v Partick Thistle
    Second Round17 August 2024
    Second Round18 August 2024
  • Dundee United v St. Mirren
  • Motherwell v Kilmarnock
  • Celtic v Hibernian
  • Quarter-Finals20 September 2024
  • Motherwell v Dundee United
  • Quarter-Finals21 September 2024
  • Aberdeen v The Spartans
  • Rangers v Dundee
  • Quarter-Finals22 September 2024
  • Celtic v Falkirk
  • Semi-Finals2 November 2024
  • Celtic v Aberdeen
  • Semi-Finals3 November 2024
  • Motherwell v Rangers
  • Final15 December 2024
  • Celtic v Rangers