2021–22 Scottish Challenge Cup

The 2021–22 Scottish Challenge Cup known as the SPFL Trust Trophy due to sponsorship reasons,^[1] was the 30th season of the competition. The total number of participating clubs was 50, down from 58, with only Scottish clubs competing due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland. The competition began on 10 August 2021 with the first round and ended on 3 April 2022 with the final at the Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire.

2021–22 Scottish Challenge Cup

Tournament details
Country	Scotland
Dates	10 August 2021 – 3 April 2022
Teams	50
Defending champions	Inverness Caledonian Thistle Raith Rovers (joint winners)
Final positions
Champions	Raith Rovers
Runners-up	Queen of the South
Tournament statistics
Matches played	44
Goals scored	120 (2.73 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Billy Mckay (5 goals)
← 2019–20[Note 1] 2022–23 → All statistics correct as of 3 April 2022.

Thirty teams from the Championship, League One and League Two competed, along with four teams from the Highland Football League and four from the Lowland Football League. In addition to this, Under-21 teams of the clubs competing in the Scottish Premiership were represented. This season no clubs from Northern Ireland, Wales, Republic of Ireland or England entered the competition to reduce unnecessary travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2]

Format

Round	Date	Fixtures	Clubs	New entries
First round	10–11 August 2021	18	50 → 32	6 teams from 2020–21 Scottish League One (5th–10th) Teams from 2020–21 Scottish League Two 4 teams from 2020–21 Lowland Football League (1st–4th) 4 teams from 2020–21 Highland Football League (1st–4th) 12 U21 teams from 2021–22 Scottish Premiership
Second round	4–5 September 2021	16	32 → 16	Teams from 2020–21 Scottish Championship 4 teams from 2020–21 Scottish League One (1st–4th)
Third round	9–10 October 2021	8	16 → 8
Quarter-finals	30 November–1 December 2021	4	8 → 4
Semi-finals	1–2 March 2022	2	4 → 2
Final	2 or 3 April 2022	1	2 → 1

First round

The first round featured 6 clubs from 2020–21 Scottish League One, all clubs from 2020–21 Scottish League Two, 4 clubs from the 2020–21 Scottish Highland Football League, 4 clubs from the 2020–21 Scottish Lowland Football League and the 12 Under 21 teams of the 2021–22 Scottish Premiership.

The draw was made on 6 July 2021 at 14:00 and was broadcast live on the SPFL YouTube Channel. The draw was regionalised and seeded. Matches were played on 10, 11 and 17 August 2021.

Livingston and Ross County were unable to field B teams for the first round and withdrew from the competition. Their scheduled opponents, Albion Rovers and Stirling Albion, were awarded byes into the second round.^[3]

North Section

Draw

Teams that entered the competition in the first round.

Seeded Teams	Unseeded Teams
East Fife Peterhead Forfar Athletic Elgin City Stirling Albion Stenhousemuir Cowdenbeath Brechin City Brora Rangers	Fraserburgh Buckie Thistle Formartine United Aberdeen B Dundee B Dundee United B Hibernian B Ross County B St Johnstone B

Matches

Fraserburgh v Cowdenbeath

10 August 2021	Fraserburgh	0–1	Cowdenbeath	Fraserburgh
19:30		[4]	Buchanan 90+2'	Stadium: Bellslea Park Attendance: 250 Referee: Chris Fordyce

Stenhousemuir v Dundee United B

10 August 2021	Stenhousemuir	3–0	Dundee United B	Stenhousemuir
19:30	Jamieson 31' Tierney 37' Graham 77'	[5]		Stadium: Ochilview Park Attendance: 164 Referee: Barry Cook

East Fife v St Johnstone B

10 August 2021	East Fife	1–0	St Johnstone B	Methil
19:45	Mercer 33'	[6]		Stadium: Bayview Stadium Attendance: 190 Referee: Mike Roncone

Hibernian B v Elgin City

10 August 2021	Hibernian B	1–2	Elgin City	Edinburgh
19:45	Aitken 89'	[7]	Hester 30', 51'	Stadium: Christie Gillies Park Attendance: 100 Referee: Calum Scott

Brora Rangers v Aberdeen B

10 August 2021	Brora Rangers	0–1	Aberdeen B	Brora
19:45		[8]	Ruth 70'	Stadium: Dudgeon Park Attendance: 150 Referee: Dan McFarlane

Forfar Athletic v Formartine United

10 August 2021	Forfar Athletic	1–0	Formartine United	Forfar
19:45	Aitken 12'	[9]		Stadium: Station Park Attendance: 255 Referee: Alan Newlands

Dundee B v Peterhead

11 August 2021	Dundee B	1–2	Peterhead	Forfar
19:45	Panter 35'	[10]	Payne 37', 70'	Stadium: Station Park Referee: Scott Lambie

Brechin City v Buckie Thistle

11 August 2021	Brechin City	1–3	Buckie Thistle	Brechin
20:00	Bollan 51'	[11]	Morrison 34' Urquhart 75' Murray 90'	Stadium: Glebe Park Attendance: 285 Referee: Graham Grainger

Ross County B v Stirling Albion

Ross County B

w/o[A]

Stirling Albion

South Section

Draw

Teams that entered the competition in the first round.

Seeded Teams	Unseeded Teams
Falkirk Clyde Dumbarton Queen's Park Edinburgh City Stranraer Albion Rovers Annan Athletic Kelty Hearts	East Kilbride Bonnyrigg Rose Broomhill Celtic B Heart of Midlothian B Livingston B Motherwell B Rangers B St Mirren B

Matches

Stranraer v Motherwell B

10 August 2021	Stranraer	3–0 (awarded)[B]	Motherwell B	Stranraer
19:30				Stadium: Stair Park

St Mirren B v Kelty Hearts

10 August 2021	St Mirren B	1–1 (3–0 p)	Kelty Hearts	Paisley
19:45	Jack 89'	[12]	Tidser 69'	Stadium: St Mirren Park Attendance: 372 Referee: Chris Graham
	Penalties
	Offord McDonald McMaster Jack		Barjonas Biabi Cardle

Queen's Park v Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic

10 August 2021	Queen's Park	1–1 (5–4 p)	Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic	Glasgow
20:15[C]	Gillespie 75' (pen.)	[13]	Hoskins 61'	Stadium: Firhill Stadium Attendance: 318 Referee: Lloyd Wilson
	Penalties
	Gillespie Longridge McHugh Robson Murray Doyle		Currie Evans Young Turner Hunter Gray

Falkirk v East Kilbride

11 August 2021	Falkirk	3–0	East Kilbride	Falkirk
19:30	Old 31' (o.g.) Ross 57' Keena 72'	[14]		Stadium: Falkirk Stadium Attendance: 1,120 Referee: Lorraine Watson

Dumbarton v Rangers B

11 August 2021	Dumbarton	2–3	Rangers B	Dumbarton
19:45	Buchanan 88' Stokes 89'	[15]	Hastie 20' Lowry 25' Weston 76'	Stadium: Dumbarton Football Stadium Attendance: 259 Referee: Steven Reid

Celtic B v Annan Athletic

11 August 2021	Celtic B	2–0	Annan Athletic	Airdrie
19:45	O'Connor 3' S.Robertson 75'	[16]		Stadium: Excelsior Stadium Referee: Matthew MacDermid

Broomhill v Clyde

11 August 2021	Broomhill	1–0	Clyde	Alloa
19:45	Alexander 21'	[17]		Stadium: Recreation Park Attendance: 144 Referee: Duncan Williams

Edinburgh City v Heart of Midlothian B

17 August 2021	Edinburgh City	0–1	Heart of Midlothian B	Edinburgh
19:45		[18]	Henderson 44' (pen.)	Stadium: Ainslie Park Attendance: 272 Referee: Lloyd Wilson

Livingston B v Albion Rovers

Livingston B

w/o[A]

Albion Rovers

Notes

1. ^
   A: Livingston and Ross County were unable to field B teams for the first round and withdrew from the competition.^[3]
2. ^
   B: Stranraer were awarded a 3–0 win over Motherwell B who were unable to fulfil the fixture as a number of players were self-isolating due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland.^[19]
3. ^
   C: Originally due to start at 19:45, kick-off in the Queen's Park vs Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic match was delayed by 30 minutes due to traffic congestion around Firhill Stadium.

Second round

The second round featured the 18 first round winners who were joined by all teams from the 2020–21 Scottish Championship and the top four teams from the 2020–21 Scottish League One.

The draw was made on 6 July 2021 at 14:00 and was broadcast live on the SPFL YouTube Channel. The draw was regionalised and seeded. Matches were played on 31 August, 3, 4, 5 and 14 September 2021.

North section

Draw

Teams that entered the competition in the second round.

Seeded Teams	Unseeded Teams
Raith Rovers Dunfermline Athletic Inverness Caledonian Thistle Arbroath Alloa Athletic Cove Rangers Montrose	9 first round winners

Matches

Montrose v Stirling Albion

4 September 2021	Montrose	1–0	Stirling Albion	Montrose
13:30	Webster 4' (pen.)	[20]		Stadium: Links Park Attendance: 491 Referee: Chris Fordyce

Aberdeen B v Arbroath

4 September 2021	Aberdeen B	1–1 (4–1 p)	Arbroath	Aberdeen
15:00	Ruth 74'	[21]	Henderson 90+4'	Stadium: Pittodrie Stadium Attendance: 650 Referee: Chris Graham
	Penalties
	Mykyta Ruth Duncan Hanratty		Henderson Hamilton Craigen

Cove Rangers v Stenhousemuir

4 September 2021	Cove Rangers	0–0 (4–2 p)	Stenhousemuir	Aberdeen
15:00		[22]		Stadium: Balmoral Stadium Attendance: 324 Referee: Barry Cook
	Penalties
	McAllister Yule Leitch Megginson		Forbes Coll O'Reilly Brown

Cowdenbeath v Alloa Athletic

4 September 2021	Cowdenbeath	0–2	Alloa Athletic	Cowdenbeath
15:00		[23]	Boyd 45+1' Scougall 79'	Stadium: Cowdenbeath Attendance: 292 Referee: Dan McFarlane

Raith Rovers v Forfar Athletic

4 September 2021	Raith Rovers	1–0	Forfar Athletic	Kirkcaldy
15:00	Riley-Snow 25'	[24]		Stadium: Stark's Park Attendance: 842 Referee: Matthew McDermid

Elgin City v Dunfermline Athletic

4 September 2021	Elgin City	3–0 (awarded)[D]	Dunfermline Athletic	Elgin
15:00				Stadium: Borough Briggs

Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Buckie Thistle

4 September 2021	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	4–0	Buckie Thistle	Inverness
15:00	Jamieson 24' Harper 67' McKay 81', 90'	[25]		Stadium: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 902 Referee: Calum Scott

Peterhead v East Fife

4 September 2021	Peterhead	0–1	East Fife	Peterhead
15:00		[26]	Denholm 10'	Stadium: Balmoor Stadium Attendance: 358 Referee: Stewart Luke

Notes

1. ^
   D: Elgin City were awarded a technical 3–0 win over Dunfermline Athletic who were unable to fulfil the fixture as a number of players were self-isolating due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland.^[27]

South section

Draw

Teams that entered the competition in the second round.

Seeded Teams	Unseeded Teams
Kilmarnock Hamilton Academical Queen of the South Ayr United Greenock Morton Partick Thistle Airdrieonians	9 first round winners

Matches

Hamilton Academical v Heart of Midlothian B

31 August 2021	Hamilton Academical	3–2	Heart of Midlothian B	Hamilton
19:45	Virtanen 5' Spence 71' Ryan 78'	[28]	Kirk 61' Denholm 63'	Stadium: New Douglas Park Attendance: 409 Referee: Chris Graham

Airdrieonians v Queen's Park

3 September 2021	Airdrieonians	1–1 (4–5 p)	Queen's Park	Airdrie
19:45	Smith 49'	[29]	Gillespie 86' (pen.)	Stadium: Excelsior Stadium Attendance: 460 Referee: Grant Irvine
	Penalties
	McCabe Agnew McGill Watson Easton Frizzell		Brown Longridge Robson Gillespie Murray Doyle

Stranraer v Partick Thistle

4 September 2021	Stranraer	0–2	Partick Thistle	Stranraer
13:00		[30]	Akinola 12' Holt 90+2'	Stadium: Stair Park Attendance: 598 Referee: Craig Napier

Albion Rovers v St Mirren B

4 September 2021	Albion Rovers	6–0	St Mirren B	Coatbridge
13:30	Clocherty 3' (o.g.) Doherty 23', 44' (pen.), 59', 64' Dolan 90'	[31]		Stadium: Cliftonhill Attendance: 317 Referee: Lloyd Wilson

Celtic B v Greenock Morton

4 September 2021	Celtic B	1–3	Greenock Morton	Airdrie
15:00	Dickson 29'	[32]	Garrity 16' Muirhead 26' Blues 66'	Stadium: Excelsior Stadium Referee: Mike Roncone

Kilmarnock v Falkirk

4 September 2021	Kilmarnock	3–1	Falkirk	Kilmarnock
15:00	Murray 4', 78' Naismith 55'	[33]	Nesbitt 8'	Stadium: Rugby Park Attendance: 2,447 Referee: Alan Newlands

Queen of the South v Broomhill

5 September 2021	Queen of the South	3–0	Broomhill	Dumfries
14:00	Paton 7' (pen.) Connelly 62' Gibson 78' (pen.)	[34]		Stadium: Palmerston Park Attendance: 717 Referee: Peter Stuart

Rangers B v Ayr United

14 September 2021	Rangers B	3–0 (awarded)[E]	Ayr United	Dumbarton
19:30		[35]	O'Connor 40' Chalmers 74' Fjørtoft 78'	Stadium: Dumbarton Football Stadium Referee: Steven Reid

Notes

1. ^
   E: Rangers B were awarded a technical 3–0 win over Ayr United who fielded two ineligible players.^[36] The match had originally finished 3–0 to Ayr United.

Final stages

On 7 July 2021, a bracket was published for the rest of the tournament, from the third round (last 16) onwards.^[37]

Bracket

Third round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

6 October 2021

Hamilton Academical

2

30 November 2021

Aberdeen B

0

Hamilton Academical

2

8 October 2021

Kilmarnock

3

Kilmarnock

3

2 March 2022

Queen's Park

1

Kilmarnock

1

9 October 2021

Raith Rovers

2

Elgin City

2

30 November 2021

Inverness CT

4

Inverness CT

0 (4)

9 October 2021

Raith Rovers

0 (5)

Raith Rovers

3

3 April 2022

East Fife

1

Raith Rovers

3

9 October 2021

Queen of the South

1

Cove Rangers

4

30 November 2021

Albion Rovers

1

Cove Rangers

5

27 October 2021

Rangers B

1

Alloa Athletic

2

1 March 2022

Rangers B

3

Cove Rangers

0

8 October 2021

Queen of the South

1

Queen of the South

2

1 December 2021

Partick Thistle

0

Queen of the South

2

9 October 2021

Greenock Morton

1

Montrose

0 (2)

Greenock Morton

0 (4)

Third round

The third round featured the 16 second round winners and matches were played on 6, 8, 9 and 27 October 2021.

Matches

Hamilton Academical v Aberdeen B

6 October 2021	Hamilton Academical	2–0	Aberdeen B	Hamilton
19:45	McGowan 37' Munro 66'	[38]		Stadium: New Douglas Park Attendance: 363 Referee: Steven Kirkland

Kilmarnock v Queen's Park

8 October 2021	Kilmarnock	3–1	Queen's Park	Kilmarnock
19:45	Shaw 14' E. Murray 53' Hendry 61'	[39]	Gillespie 50' (pen.)	Stadium: Rugby Park Attendance: 2,149 Referee: Alan Muir

Queen of the South v Partick Thistle

8 October 2021	Queen of the South	2–0	Partick Thistle	Dumfries
19:45	Connelly 69' Roy 90'	[40]		Stadium: Palmerston Park Attendance: 1,043 Referee: Alan Newlands

Raith Rovers v East Fife

9 October 2021	Raith Rovers	3–1	East Fife	Kirkcaldy
13:00	Tait 35' Connolly 39' Poplatnik 62'	[41]	Mercer 37'	Stadium: Stark's Park Attendance: 1,177 Referee: Mike Roncone

Montrose v Greenock Morton

9 October 2021	Montrose	0–0 (2–4 p)	Greenock Morton	Montrose
13:30		[42]		Stadium: Links Park Attendance: 476 Referee: Lloyd Wilson
	Penalties
	Webster Whatley Milne Steeves		Knowles Reilly Lithgow Blues Oliver

Cove Rangers v Albion Rovers

9 October 2021	Cove Rangers	4–1	Albion Rovers	Aberdeen
14:00	Megginson 79' McAllister 82', 89' Masson 86'	[43]	Wright 90+1'	Stadium: Balmoral Stadium Attendance: 327 Referee: Graham Grainger

Elgin City v Inverness Caledonian Thistle

9 October 2021	Elgin City	2–4	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Elgin
14:00	Grivosti 9' Cameron 22'	[44]	Mckay 38', 40', 68' Jamieson 72'	Stadium: Borough Briggs Attendance: 1,348 Referee: Barry Cook

Alloa Athletic v Rangers B

27 October 2021	Alloa Athletic	2–3	Rangers B	Alloa
19:45	Niang 8' Trouten 40'	[45]	Alegría 30', 34', 62'	Stadium: Recreation Park Attendance: 234 Referee: Calum Scott

Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals were played on 30 November and 1 December 2021.

Matches

Hamilton Academical v Kilmarnock

30 November 2021	Hamilton Academical	2–3	Kilmarnock	Hamilton
19:45	Moyo 68' Ryan 86' (pen.)	[46]	Armstrong 53' Sanders 89', 90+4'	Stadium: New Douglas Park Attendance: 829 Referee: Steven Kirkland

Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Raith Rovers

30 November 2021	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	0–0 (4–5 p)	Raith Rovers	Inverness
19:45		[47]		Stadium: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 670 Referee: Barry Cook
	Penalties
	Doran Harper Deas Jamieson Allardice Sutherland		Tait Berra Matthews Varian Connolly Dick

Cove Rangers v Rangers B

30 November 2021	Cove Rangers	5–1	Rangers B	Aberdeen
19:45	Fyvie 3', 35' Megginson 5' (pen.) Masson 14' McIntosh 67'	[48]	Fraser 10'	Stadium: Balmoral Stadium Attendance: 562 Referee: Mike Roncone

Queen of the South v Greenock Morton

1 December 2021	Queen of the South	2–1	Greenock Morton	Dumfries
19:30	Hamilton 27' (o.g.) Paton 88'	[49]	Lithgow 86'	Stadium: Palmerston Park Attendance: 525 Referee: Alan Newlands

Semi-finals

The semi-finals are to be played on 1 and 2 March 2022.

Matches

Cove Rangers v Queen of the South

1 March 2022	Cove Rangers	0–1	Queen of the South	Aberdeen
19:30		[50]	Fitzpatrick 2'	Stadium: Balmoral Stadium Attendance: 728 Referee: David Dickinson

Kilmarnock v Raith Rovers

2 March 2022	Kilmarnock	1–2	Raith Rovers	Kilmarnock
19:30	Shaw 43' (pen.)	[51]	Matthews 66' Waters 87' (o.g.)	Stadium: Rugby Park Attendance: 2,118 Referee: Grant Irvine

Final

Main article: 2022 Scottish Challenge Cup Final

The final took place on 3 April 2022.

3 April 2022

16:15

Raith Rovers	3–1	Queen of the South
Poplatnik 16', 70' Ross 78'	[52]	Roy 45'

Excelsior Stadium, Airdrie

Attendance: 4,452

Referee: Grant Irvine

Notes

Notes

1. ^
   Note 1: The 2020–21 tournament was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic in Scotland.