Scottish Cup

The Scottish Cup has a long and proud history. Although not the oldest cup competition in the world, the trophy awarded to the winners of the Scottish Cup is the oldest trophy in the world (created in 1885). 16 clubs competed for the first Scottish Cup in 1873/74.

Over the years, club football in Scotland became very complicated. Too many leagues were created to cater for the various clubs that were formed. Today, there are four leagues in the national league structure - 42 clubs in total. There are another three leagues in the regional league structure - 54 clubs in total. The clubs playing in the regional leagues had to play in the Scottish Qualifying Cup in order to gain entry into the Scottish Cup. To further complicate matters, each regional league in the regional league structure had their own cup competition for their clubs.

All of this resulted in too many teams competing for too many cups, most of which held little or no significance outside of their particular league. The only cup competition in Scotland that had any real value was the Scottish Cup. The winner of the Scottish Cup qualified automatically for the UEFA Cup. From the 2007/2008 season, the Scottish Cup was restructured, primarily so that more clubs could participate for this prestigious trophy. The various qualifying cups played for by the teams in the ‘lower’ regional leagues were disbanded. Instead, these regional, league teams gained automatic entry into the 1^st round of the newly restructured Scottish Cup.

The better-known clubs playing in the four ‘national’ leagues are then phased in during the later cup rounds. This new structure allows the lower ‘regional’ league clubs their shot at glory. It gives them a chance of playing and possibly beating some of the bigger and more famous clubs.

Past Winners

The winners and runners-up of the Scottish Cup for the past 20 years are:

* - after extra time

Major Cup Shocks

Over the years there have been a number of Scottish Cup shocks. Some of the major cup shocks in the modern era are:

• 1967 – Berwick Rangers defeated Rangers 1-0.
• 2000 – Inverness Caledonian Thistle (First Division) defeated Celtic (Premier League) 3-1 at Celtic Park. This gave rise to the memorable headline in the Sun “Super Caley Go Ballistic Celtic Are Atrocious”.
• 2006 - Clyde defeated Celtic 2-1. The average age of Clyde was 21 and for them to defeat the top team in Scotland was a wonderful achievement.
• 2008 – First Division Queen of the South defeated Premier League Aberdeen 4-3 in the semi-final.

What are the odds on seeing some more major cup shocks during the 2008/2009 Scottish Cup?