2017–18 Scottish League Cup

The 2017–18 Scottish League Cup (also known as the Betfred Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 72nd season of Scotland's second-most prestigious football knockout competition.

2017–18 Scottish League Cup

Tournament details
Country	Scotland
Dates	15 July 2017 – 26 November 2017
Teams	44
Defending champions	Celtic
Final positions
Champions	Celtic
Runners-up	Motherwell
Tournament statistics
Matches played	95
Goals scored	324 (3.41 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Simon Murray (8 goals)[1]
← 2016–17 2018–19 →

The format for the 2017–18 competition remained the same as that which was introduced in the previous season's competition.

It began with eight groups of five teams which included all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs, excluding those competing in Champions League and Europa League qualifiers, as well as the winners of the 2016–17 Highland Football League (Buckie Thistle) and the 2016–17 Lowland Football League (East Kilbride).

The competition was won by Celtic, who beat Motherwell 2–0 in the final on 26 November 2017.^[2]

Schedule

Round	First match date	Fixtures	Clubs
Group stage	15 July 2017[3]	80	44 → 16
Second round	8 August 2017[3]	8	16 → 80
Quarter finals	19 September 2017[3]	4	8 → 4
Semi finals	21 October 2017[3]	2	4 → 2
Final	26 November 2017[3]	1	2 → 1

Format

The competition began with eight groups of five teams. The four clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League (Celtic) and Europa League (Aberdeen, Rangers and St Johnstone) qualifying rounds were given a bye through to the second round. The 40 teams competing in the group stage consisted of the other eight teams that competed in the 2016–17 Scottish Premiership, and all of the teams that competed in the 2016–17 Scottish Championship, 2016–17 Scottish League One and 2016–17 Scottish League Two, as well as the 2016–17 Highland Football League and the 2016–17 Lowland Football League champions.^[4]

The winners of each of the eight groups, as well as the four best runners-up progressed to the second round (last 16), which included the four UEFA qualifying clubs.^[4] At this stage, the competition reverted to the traditional knock-out format.^[4] The four group winners with the highest points total and the clubs entering at this stage were seeded, with the four group winners with the lowest points unseeded along with the four best runners-up.

Bonus point system

In December 2015, the SPFL announced that alongside the new group stage format, a bonus point system would be introduced to provide greater excitement and increase the number of meaningful games at this stage.^[5] The traditional point system of awarding three points for a win and one point for a draw was used, however, for each group stage match that finished in a draw, a penalty shoot-out took place, with the winner being awarded a bonus point.^[4]

Group stage

Main article: 2017–18 Scottish League Cup group stage

The group stage was made up of eight teams from the 2016–17 Scottish Premiership, and all ten teams from each of the 2016–17 Scottish Championship, 2016–17 Scottish League One and 2016–17 Scottish League Two, as well as the winners of the 2016–17 Highland Football League and 2016–17 Lowland Football League. The 40 teams were divided into two sections: North and South; with each section containing four top seeded teams, four second seeded teams and 12 unseeded teams. Each section was drawn into four groups with each group being made up of one top seed, one second seed and three unseeded sides.^[6][7] Seedings for the draw were confirmed on 31 May 2017, two days before the draw.^[7]

The draw for the group stages took place on Friday 2 June 2017 at 6:30pm BST at the BT Sport Studio in London and was shown live on BT Sport 2.^[4]

North section

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		FAL	INV	STI	BRE	FOR
1	Falkirk (Q)	4	4	0	0	0	13	1	+12	12	Qualification for the Second Round		—	—	4–1	—	4–0
2	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	4	2	1	0	1	5	3	+2	8			0–2	—	—	3–0	—
3	Stirling Albion	4	2	0	1	1	6	5	+1	7			—	0–0p	—	2–0	—
4	Brechin City	4	0	1	0	3	1	9	−8	2			0–3	—	—	—	p1–1
5	Forfar Athletic	4	0	0	1	3	3	10	−7	1			—	1–2	1–3	—	—

Source: ^[8]
Rules for classification: 1) goal difference, 2) goals scored, 3) away goals scored, 4) matches won, 5) away matches won, 6) drawing of lots.^[9]
(Q) Qualified to the phase indicated

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		DNF	PET	HOM	EFI	ELG
1	Dunfermline Athletic (Q)	4	2	2	0	0	13	3	+10	10	Qualification for the Second Round		—	5–1	—	—	6–0
2	Peterhead	4	3	0	0	1	7	6	+1	9			—	—	2–1	1–0	—
3	Heart of Midlothian	4	2	0	1	1	7	4	+3	7			2–2p	—	—	3–0	—
4	East Fife	4	1	0	1	2	3	6	−3	4			0–0p	—	—	—	3–2
5	Elgin City	4	0	0	0	4	2	13	−11	0			—	0–3	0–1	—	—

Source: ^[10]
Rules for classification: 1) goal difference, 2) goals scored, 3) away goals scored, 4) matches won, 5) away matches won, 6) drawing of lots.^[11]
(Q) Qualified to the phase indicated

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		DUN	DND	RAI	COW	BUC
1	Dundee United (Q)	4	3	1	0	0	10	2	+8	11	Qualification for the Second Round		—	—	2–0	4–1	—
2	Dundee (Q)	4	3	0	1	0	8	2	+6	10			1–1p	—	—	—	2–0
3	Raith Rovers	4	2	0	0	2	9	5	+4	6			—	1–2	—	2–0	—
4	Cowdenbeath	4	1	0	0	3	5	11	−6	3			—	0–3	—	—	4–2
5	Buckie Thistle	4	0	0	0	4	3	15	−12	0			0–3	—	1–6	—	—

Source: ^[12]
Rules for classification: 1) goal difference, 2) goals scored, 3) away goals scored, 4) matches won, 5) away matches won, 6) drawing of lots.^[13]
(Q) Qualified to the phase indicated

Group D

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		HIB	ROS	ARB	MON	ALO
1	Hibernian (Q)	4	3	0	1	0	13	1	+12	10	Qualification for the Second Round		—	—	6–1	4–0	—
2	Ross County (Q)	4	2	2	0	0	8	0	+8	10			p0–0	—	—	—	2–0
3	Arbroath	4	1	1	1	1	6	7	−1	6			—	0–0p	—	4–0	—
4	Montrose	4	1	0	0	3	2	15	−13	3			—	0–6	—	—	2–1
5	Alloa Athletic	4	0	0	1	3	2	8	−6	1			0–3	—	1–1p	—	—

Source: ^[14]
Rules for classification: 1) goal difference, 2) goals scored, 3) away goals scored, 4) matches won, 5) away matches won, 6) drawing of lots.^[15]
(Q) Qualified to the phase indicated

South section

Group E

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		AYR	KIL	CLY	ANN	DUM
1	Ayr United (Q)	4	4	0	0	0	15	3	+12	12	Qualification for the Second Round		—	1–0	5–1	—	—
2	Kilmarnock (Q)	4	3	0	0	1	9	3	+6	9			—	—	4–2	—	3–0
3	Clyde	4	2	0	0	2	7	11	−4	6			—	—	—	2–1	2–1
4	Annan Athletic	4	0	1	0	3	2	10	−8	2			1–6	0–2	—	—	—
5	Dumbarton	4	0	0	1	3	2	8	−6	1			1–3	—	—	0–0p	—

Source: ^[16]
Rules for classification: 1) goal difference, 2) goals scored, 3) away goals scored, 4) matches won, 5) away matches won, 6) drawing of lots.^[17]
(Q) Qualified to the phase indicated

Group F

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		MOT	GMO	QPA	EDC	BER
1	Motherwell (Q)	4	4	0	0	0	12	2	+10	12	Qualification for the Second Round		—	4–0	—	—	1–0
2	Greenock Morton	4	2	1	0	1	8	6	+2	8			—	—	p2–2	5–0	—
3	Queen's Park	4	2	0	1	1	9	9	0	7			1–5	—	—	3–0	—
4	Edinburgh City	4	0	1	0	3	3	12	−9	2			1–2	—	—	—	p2–2
5	Berwick Rangers	4	0	0	1	3	4	7	−3	1			—	0–1	2–3	—	—

Source: ^[18]
Rules for classification: 1) goal difference, 2) goals scored, 3) away goals scored, 4) matches won, 5) away matches won, 6) drawing of lots.^[19]
(Q) Qualified to the phase indicated

Group G

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		HAM	ALB	QOS	EKI	STE
1	Hamilton Academical (Q)	4	2	1	1	0	10	6	+4	9	Qualification for the Second Round		—	—	p1–1	—	3–0
2	Albion Rovers	4	1	1	2	0	12	9	+3	7			p4–4	—	—	—	1–1p
3	Queen of the South	4	1	1	2	0	6	4	+2	7			—	p2–2	—	0–0p	—
4	East Kilbride	4	1	1	0	2	5	9	−4	5			1–3	2–5	—	—	—
5	Stenhousemuir	4	0	1	0	3	3	9	−6	2			—	—	1–3	1–2	—

Source: ^[20]
Rules for classification: 1) goal difference, 2) goals scored, 3) away goals scored, 4) matches won, 5) away matches won, 6) drawing of lots.^[21]
(Q) Qualified to the phase indicated

Group H

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LIV	PAR	STM	AIR	STR
1	Livingston (Q)	4	3	1	0	0	8	3	+5	11	Qualification for the Second Round		—	p1–1	—	2–0	—
2	Partick Thistle (Q)	4	3	0	1	0	9	2	+7	10			—	—	5–0	—	1–0
3	St Mirren	4	2	0	0	2	9	7	+2	6			0–1	—	—	5–0	—
4	Airdrieonians	4	1	0	0	3	4	10	−6	3			—	1–2	—	—	3–1
5	Stranraer	4	0	0	0	4	4	12	−8	0			2–4	—	1–4	—	—

Source: ^[22]
Rules for classification: 1) goal difference, 2) goals scored, 3) away goals scored, 4) matches won, 5) away matches won, 6) drawing of lots.^[23]
(Q) Qualified to the phase indicated

Best runners-up

Pos	Grp	Team v t e	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	D	Ross County (Q)	4	2	2	0	0	8	0	+8	10	Qualification for the Second Round
2	H	Partick Thistle (Q)	4	3	0	1	0	9	2	+7	10
3	C	Dundee (Q)	4	3	0	1	0	8	2	+6	10
4	E	Kilmarnock (Q)	4	3	0	0	1	9	3	+6	9
5	B	Peterhead	4	3	0	0	1	7	6	+1	9
6	F	Greenock Morton	4	2	1	0	1	8	6	+2	8
7	A	Inverness CT	4	2	1	0	1	5	3	+2	8
8	G	Albion Rovers	4	1	1	2	0	12	9	+3	7

Source: ^[24]
Rules for classification: 1) goal difference, 2) goals scored, 3) away goals scored, 4) matches won, 5) away matches won, 6) drawing of lots.^[25]
(Q) Qualified to the phase indicated

Knockout phase

Second round

Draw and seeding

The following teams qualified and competed in the second round of the 2017–18 Scottish League Cup. Aberdeen, Celtic, Rangers and St Johnstone entered the competition at this stage, after receiving a bye for the group stage due to their participation in UEFA club competitions.

The draw for the second round took place at Dens Park following the conclusion of the Dundee derby on 30 July, and was shown live on BT Sport's Facebook page & BT Sport 1. The four UEFA-qualifying clubs and the four group winners with the best record were seeded for the draw.^[26]

Teams in Bold advanced to the quarter-finals.

Seeded	Unseeded
Aberdeen Ayr United* Celtic Dundee United† Falkirk† Motherwell Rangers St Johnstone	Dundee Dunfermline Athletic† Hamilton Academical Hibernian Kilmarnock Livingston† Partick Thistle Ross County

Notes

• † denotes teams playing in the Championship.
• * denotes team playing in League One.

Matches

All times are BST (UTC+1).

St Johnstone v Partick Thistle

8 August 2017	St Johnstone	0–3	Partick Thistle	Perth
19:45		Report	Lawless 50' (pen.) Edwards 62' Erskine 90'	Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 2,619 Referee: Euan Anderson

Hibernian v Ayr United

8 August 2017	Hibernian	5–0	Ayr United	Edinburgh
19:45	Stokes 20', 59' S Murray 31' Ambrose 69' Matulevičius 85'	Report		Stadium: Easter Road Attendance: 8,135 Referee: Kevin Clancy

Falkirk v Livingston

8 August 2017	Falkirk	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Livingston	Falkirk
19:45	Craigen 40'	Report	Robinson 32' De Vita 101'	Stadium: Falkirk Stadium Attendance: 2,677 Referee: Andrew Dallas

Celtic v Kilmarnock

8 August 2017	Celtic	5–0	Kilmarnock	Glasgow
19:45	Griffiths 14' (pen.), 29' Ralston 21' Tierney 65' Armstrong 71'	Report		Stadium: Celtic Park Attendance: 27,407 Referee: Alan Muir

Rangers v Dunfermline Athletic

9 August 2017	Rangers	6–0	Dunfermline Athletic	Glasgow
19:45	Miller 5' Alves 9' Morelos 23', 75' Tavernier 27' Candeias 57'	Report		Stadium: Ibrox Stadium Attendance: 35,262 Referee: Don Robertson

Ross County v Motherwell

9 August 2017	Ross County	2–3 (a.e.t.)	Motherwell	Dingwall
19:45	Schalk 65' Curran 104' (pen.)	Report	Bigirimana 50' Cadden 91' MacLean 112'	Stadium: Victoria Park Referee: Stephen Finnie

Hamilton Academical v Aberdeen

9 August 2017	Hamilton Academical	0–1	Aberdeen	Hamilton
19:45		Report	McLean 43'	Stadium: New Douglas Park Attendance: 2,768 Referee: Nick Walsh

Dundee v Dundee United

9 August 2017	Dundee	2–1	Dundee United	Dundee
19:45	El Bakhtaoui 30' McGowan 64'	Report	King 40'	Stadium: Dens Park Attendance: 10,472 Referee: Steven McLean

Quarter-finals

Draw

The quarter-final draw took place at Dens Park following the conclusion of the Dundee–Dundee United match on 9 August, and was shown live on BT Sport 1 & the BT Sport Facebook page. The draw was unseeded and ties were scheduled for the midweek of 19–21 September.^[27]

Teams in Bold advanced to the semi-finals.

Premiership	Championship
Celtic Hibernian Partick Thistle Aberdeen Motherwell Dundee Rangers	Livingston

Matches

Hibernian v Livingston

19 September 2017	Hibernian	3–2	Livingston	Edinburgh
19:45	Swanson 18' Boyle 32' Stokes 83' (pen.)	Report	Lithgow 10' De Vita 28'	Stadium: Easter Road Attendance: 8,535 Referee: Bobby Madden

Partick Thistle v Rangers

19 September 2017	Partick Thistle	1–3 (a.e.t.)	Rangers	Glasgow
19:45	Doolan 90'	Report	Peña 55' Candeias 94' Herrera 99'	Stadium: Firhill Stadium Attendance: 7,394 Referee: Steven McLean

Dundee v Celtic

20 September 2017	Dundee	0–4	Celtic	Dundee
19:45		Report	Sinclair 25' (pen.) Forrest 42', 90' McGregor 88'	Stadium: Dens Park Attendance: 6,917 Referee: John Beaton

Motherwell v Aberdeen

21 September 2017	Motherwell	3–0	Aberdeen	Motherwell
19:45	Moult 13', 85' Hartley 19'	Report		Stadium: Fir Park Attendance: 6,430 Referee: Kevin Clancy

Semi-finals

Draw

The semi-final draw took place at Fir Park following the conclusion of the Motherwell–Aberdeen match on 21 September, and was shown live on BT Sport 1. The draw was unseeded and ties were scheduled for the weekend of 21/22 October.^[28]

Teams in Bold progressed to the final.

Premiership
Celtic Hibernian Motherwell Rangers

Matches

Hibernian v Celtic

21 October 2017	Hibernian	2−4	Celtic	Glasgow
12:15	Stokes 59' Shaw 70'	Report	Lustig 15', 42' Dembélé 66', 88'	Stadium: Hampden Park Attendance: 39,813 Referee: Kevin Clancy

Rangers v Motherwell

22 October 2017	Rangers	0−2	Motherwell	Glasgow
14:30		Report	Moult 52', 74'	Stadium: Hampden Park Attendance: 44,506 Referee: Steven McLean

Final

Main article: 2017 Scottish League Cup Final

26 November 2017

15:00

Motherwell	0−2	Celtic
	Report	Forrest 49' Dembélé 60' (pen.)

Hampden Park, Glasgow

Attendance: 49,483

Referee: Craig Thomson

Top goalscorers

There were 324 goals scored in 95 matches in the competition, for an average of 3.41 goals per match.

As of matches played on 26 November 2017^[1]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Simon Murray	Hibernian	8
2	Alan Trouten	Albion Rovers	7
3	Louis Moult	Motherwell	6
4	Sofien Moussa	Dundee	5
5	Nicky Clark	Dunfermline Athletic	4
	Sean Winter	East Kilbride
	Kyle Lafferty	Heart of Midlothian
	Anthony Stokes	Hibernian
	Chris Cadden	Motherwell
	Stephen Dobbie	Queen of the South
	Lewis Vaughan	Raith Rovers
Craig Curran	Ross County

Media coverage

The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition were held exclusively by BT Sport. Prior to the re-format in the 2015–16 season, BBC Scotland had exclusive rights.^[5]

The following matches were broadcast live on UK television:

Round	Date	Match
Group Stage	14 July 2017	Ayr United v Kilmarnock[29]
	15 July 2017	Queen's Park v Motherwell[29]
	21 July 2017	Ross County v Hibernian[29]
	22 July 2017	Partick Thistle v St Mirren[29]
	29 July 2017	Heart of Midlothian v Dunfermline Athletic[29]
	30 July 2017	Dundee v Dundee United[29]
Second Round	9 August 2017	Dundee v Dundee United[30]
Quarter-finals	19 September 2017	Partick Thistle v Rangers[31]
	20 September 2017	Dundee v Celtic[31]
	21 September 2017	Motherwell v Aberdeen[31]
Semi-finals	21 October 2017	Hibernian v Celtic[32]
	22 October 2017	Rangers v Motherwell[32]
Final	26 November 2017	Celtic v Motherwell