2022–23 Scottish Challenge Cup

The 2022–23 Scottish Challenge Cup known as the SPFL Trust Trophy due to sponsorship reasons,^[1] was the 31st season of the competition. The total number of participating clubs was 53, up from 50, with the return of clubs from Wales and Northern Ireland. The competition began on 9 August 2022 with the first round and ended on 26 March 2023 with the final at Falkirk Stadium.

2022–23 Scottish Challenge Cup

Tournament details
Country	Scotland Northern Ireland Wales
Dates	9 August 2022 – 26 March 2023
Teams	53
Defending champions	Raith Rovers
Final positions
Champions	Hamilton Academical
Runner-up	Raith Rovers
Tournament statistics
Matches played	52
Goals scored	157 (3.02 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Alex Lowry Steven Warnock (4 goals)
← 2021–22 2023–24 → All statistics correct as of 26 March 2023.

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 from 11 of the 12 clubs competing in the Scottish Premiership were represented. This season also saw the return of guest clubs, with two sides each coming from Northern Ireland's NIFL Premiership and Wales' Cymru Premier.^[2]

Format

Round	Date	Fixtures	Clubs	New entries
First Round[3]	9–10 August 2022	11	53 → 42	3 teams from 2021–22 Scottish League Two (8th-10th) 4 teams from 2021–22 Lowland Football League (1st–4th) 4 teams from 2021–22 Highland Football League (1st–4th) 11 U21 teams from 2022–23 Scottish Premiership
Second Round[3]	23–24 August 2022	10	42 → 32	2 teams from 2021–22 Scottish League One (9th-10th) 7 teams from 2021–22 Scottish League Two (1st–7th)
Third Round[3]	24–25 September 2022	16	32 → 16	Teams from 2021–22 Scottish Championship 8 teams from 2021–22 Scottish League One (1st–8th) 2 teams from 2021–22 NIFL Premiership (1st and 2nd) 2 teams from 2021–22 Cymru Premier (1st and 4th)
Fourth Round[3]	8–10 December 2022	8	16 → 8
Quarter-finals[3]	10–24 January 2023	4	8 → 4
Semi-finals[3]	7–8 February 2023	2	4 → 2
Final[3]	25–26 March 2023	1	2 → 1

First round

The first round featured 3 clubs from 2021–22 Scottish League Two, 4 clubs from the 2021–22 Scottish Highland Football League, 4 clubs from the 2021–22 Scottish Lowland Football League and 11 of the 12 under-21 teams of the 2022–23 Scottish Premiership, with Ross County not entering an under-21 team.^[4]

The draw was made on 4 July 2022 at 13:00 and broadcast live on the SPFL YouTube Channel. The draw was regionalised and all non-Under 21 teams were seeded. The matches were played on 9 and 10 August 2022.^[2]

North Section

Draw

Teams that entered the competition in the first round.

Teams in bold advanced to the second round.

Seeded Teams	Unseeded Teams
Elgin City Fraserburgh Buckie Thistle Brechin City Brora Rangers	Aberdeen B Dundee United B Heart of Midlothian B Hibernian B St Johnstone B

Matches

Brora Rangers v Aberdeen B

9 August 2022	Brora Rangers	2–0	Aberdeen B	Brora
19:30	J. MacRae 73' A. MacRae 79'	[5]		Stadium: Dudgeon Park Attendance: 149 Referee: Ross Hardie

Fraserburgh v St Johnstone B

9 August 2022	Fraserburgh	0–3 (awarded)[A]	St Johnstone B	Fraserburgh
19:45		[6]	Pert 34' Steven 70'	Stadium: Bellslea Park Attendance: 261 Referee: Alex Shepherd

Elgin City v Dundee United B

9 August 2022	Elgin City	1–0	Dundee United B	Elgin
19:45	Hester 61'	[7]		Stadium: Borough Briggs Attendance: 486 Referee: Steven Kirkland

Hibernian B v Brechin City

10 August 2022	Hibernian B	1–1 (1–4 p)	Brechin City	Newtongrange
19:45	Laidlaw 84'	[8]	Northcott 71'	Stadium: New Victoria Park Attendance: 266 Referee: Jordan Curran
	Penalties
	O'Connor Hamilton Laidlaw		Bain Loudon Davidson Inglis

Heart of Midlothian B v Buckie Thistle

10 August 2022	Heart of Midlothian B	2–3	Buckie Thistle	Rosewell
20:00	C.Smith 35' McGill 70'	[9]	Murray 50' Ramsay 73' Pugh 75'	Stadium: Ferguson Park Attendance: 313 Referee: George Calder

South Section

Draw

Teams that entered the competition in the first round.

Teams in bold advanced to the second round.

Seeded Teams	Unseeded Teams
Albion Rovers Cowdenbeath Bonnyrigg Rose East Kilbride The Spartans East Stirlingshire	Celtic B Kilmarnock B Livingston B Motherwell B Rangers B St Mirren B

Matches

Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic v Livingston B

9 August 2022	Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic	0–0 (1–3 p)	Livingston B	Bonnyrigg
19:45		[10]		Stadium: New Dundas Park Attendance: 613 Referee: Greg Soutar
	Penalties
	Martyniuk Currie Turner Doan		Binnie Bitsindou McFarlane-Letham Aitken

Motherwell B v East Kilbride

9 August 2022	Motherwell B	1–2	East Kilbride	East Kilbride
19:45	Hunter 83' (pen.)	[11]	Victoria 1' Hughes 90'	Stadium: K-Park Training Academy Attendance: 240 Referee: Colin Whyte

Albion Rovers v Celtic B

9 August 2022	Albion Rovers	2–3	Celtic B	Coatbridge
19:45	Fagan 2' Corr 28' (o.g.)	[12]	Vata 32' Lawal 39' Moffat 50'	Stadium: Cliftonhill Attendance: 542 Referee: Lloyd Wilson

Kilmarnock B v Cowdenbeath

9 August 2022	Kilmarnock B	3–0	Cowdenbeath	Kilmarnock
19:45	Wales 19' Warnock 20' Sotona 54'	[13]		Stadium: Rugby Park Attendance: 192 Referee: Stewart Luke

St Mirren B v East Stirlingshire

9 August 2022	St Mirren B	0–0 (2–4 p)	East Stirlingshire	Paisley
19:45		[14]		Stadium: St Mirren Park Attendance: 257 Referee: Chris Fordyce
	Penalties
	Taylor Gallagher Henderson Olusanya		Barr Greene Hodge Wilson

Spartans v Rangers B

10 August 2022	Spartans	0–1	Rangers B	Edinburgh
19:45		[15]	Lowry 77'	Stadium: Ainslie Park Attendance: 331 Referee: Barry Cook

Note

1. ^
   A: St Johnstone B were awarded a technical 3−0 win over Fraserburgh, who fielded 3 ineligible players. The match had originally finished 2–0 to St Johnstone B.^[16]

Second round

The second round featured the 11 winners from the previous round, along with 2 clubs from 2021–22 Scottish League One and 7 clubs from 2021–22 Scottish League Two.

The draw for the second round was also made on 4 July 2022 at 13:00 on the live broadcast from the SPFL YouTube Channel. The draw was regionalised, but not seeded. The matches were played on 23 and 24 August 2022.^[2]

North Section

Draw

Teams that entered the competition in the second round.

East Fife Forfar Athletic Kelty Hearts Stenhousemuir Stirling Albion

Matches

Elgin City v Stenhousemuir

23 August 2022	Elgin City	3–1	Stenhousemuir	Elgin
19:45	Hester 29' Dolzanski 33' Dingwall 58'	[17]	Orr 72'	Stadium: Borough Briggs Attendance: 411 Referee: Alex Shepherd

Forfar Athletic v Kelty Hearts

23 August 2022	Forfar Athletic	1–2	Kelty Hearts	Forfar
19:45	Moore 54'	[18]	Munro 10' (o.g.) Hunter 86'	Stadium: Station Park Attendance: 317 Referee: George Calder

East Fife v St Johnstone B

23 August 2022	East Fife	4–0	St Johnstone B	Methil
19:45	Trouten 15' (pen.) Mercer 58' Cunningham 80' Martin 85'	[19]		Stadium: Bayview Stadium Attendance: 202 Referee: Ross Hardie

Brechin City v Stirling Albion

24 August 2022	Brechin City	1–1 (5–4 p)	Stirling Albion	Brechin
19:45	Scott 11'	[20]	Carrick 59'	Stadium: Glebe Park Attendance: 256 Referee: Daniel Graves
	Penalties
	Bain Loudon Scott Ross McGrath Patrick		H. Clark Davidson C. Clark Banner Denholm Leitch

Buckie Thistle v Brora Rangers

24 August 2022	Buckie Thistle	1–1 (4–2 p)	Brora Rangers	Buckie
20:00	Peters 49'	[21]	A. MacRae 71'	Stadium: Victoria Park Attendance: 238 Referee: Colin Whyte
	Penalties
	Urquhart Peters MacAskill Pugh		Gillespie MacLean MacDonald J. MacRae

South Section

Draw

Teams that entered the competition in the second round.

Annan Athletic Dumbarton Edinburgh Stranraer

Matches

Rangers B v Dumbarton

23 August 2022	Rangers B	7–0	Dumbarton	Dumbarton
19:45	Lowry 8', 16' (pen.), 49' McCann 34' Lovelace 42' Lyall 70' Kelly 82'	[22]		Stadium: Dumbarton Football Stadium Attendance: 645 Referee: Iain Snedden

East Kilbride v Annan Athletic

23 August 2022	East Kilbride	1–1 (4–5 p)	Annan Athletic	East Kilbride
19:45	Mortimer 11'	[23]	Goss 69'	Stadium: K-Park Training Academy Attendance: 172 Referee: Greg Soutar
	Penalties
	McLaughlin Elliott Mortimer Bronsky Miller		Goss Docherty Williamson McCartney Fleming

Kilmarnock B v East Stirlingshire

23 August 2022	Kilmarnock B	5–2	East Stirlingshire	Kilmarnock
19:45	Warnock 16' Wales 21' Stokes 38' Lesley 77' McKnight 88'	[24]	Watson 8' Honeyman 34'	Stadium: Rugby Park Attendance: 305 Referee: Alastair Grieve

Celtic B v Livingston B

24 August 2022	Celtic B	3–0	Livingston B	Airdrie
19:45	Brooks 20' Lawal 50' Quinn 90'	[25]		Stadium: Excelsior Stadium Attendance: N/A Referee: Lloyd Wilson

Edinburgh v Stranraer

24 August 2022	Edinburgh	3–2	Stranraer	Edinburgh
19:45	Handling 22', 41', 50'	[26]	Walker 27' Watt 90'	Stadium: Meadowbank Stadium Attendance: 248 Referee: Jordan Curran

Third round

The third round featured the 10 winners from the previous round, along with all 10 clubs from 2022–23 Scottish Championship, 8 clubs from 2021–22 Scottish League One, 2 clubs from 2021–22 NIFL Premiership and 2 clubs from 2021–22 Cymru Premier.

The draw was made on 29 August 2022 at 13:00 and broadcast live on the SPFL YouTube Channel. This draw was not regionalised or seeded, but cross-border clubs were kept apart for this round. The matches were played between 22 September and 15 November 2022.^[2]

Draw

Teams that enter the competition in the third round.

Championship	League One	Teams from other countries
Arbroath Ayr United Cove Rangers Dundee Greenock Morton Hamilton Academical Inverness Caledonian Thistle Partick Thistle Queen's Park Raith Rovers	Dunfermline Athletic Queen of the South Airdrieonians Montrose Alloa Athletic Falkirk Peterhead Clyde	NIFL Premiership Linfield Cliftonville Cymru Premier The New Saints Caernarfon Town

Matches

Greenock Morton v Ayr United

22 September 2022	Greenock Morton	1–1 (5–4 p)	Ayr United	Greenock
19:45	McGregor 12'	[27]	Mullin 39'	Stadium: Cappielow Attendance: 988 Referee: Craig Napier
	Penalties
	Gillespie Blues Muirhead Kabia Grimshaw		McGinty Murdoch Akinyemi Dempsey Houston

Queen of the South v Edinburgh

22 September 2022	Queen of the South	4–0	Edinburgh	Dumfries
19:45	Murray 23' McKay 54' Ruth 71' Connelly 84'	[28]		Stadium: Palmerston Park Attendance: 688 Referee: Chris Graham

Alloa Athletic v Airdrieonians

23 September 2022	Alloa Athletic	1–0	Airdrieonians	Alloa
19:45	Sammon 81'	[29]		Stadium: Recreation Park Attendance: 641 Referee: Greg Aitken

Annan Athletic v Kelty Hearts

23 September 2022	Annan Athletic	1–2	Kelty Hearts	Annan
19:45	Goss 63' (pen.)	[30]	Low 58' (pen.) Barjonas 90'	Stadium: Galabank Attendance: 331 Referee: Calum Scott

Falkirk v Partick Thistle

23 September 2022	Falkirk	2–0	Partick Thistle	Falkirk
19:45	Burrell 9' Oliver 65'	[31]		Stadium: Falkirk Stadium Attendance: 2,720 Referee: Lloyd Wilson

The New Saints v Dundee

23 September 2022	The New Saints	0–3	Dundee	Oswestry, England
20:00		[32]	Sheridan 48' Cameron 51' Anderson 90'	Stadium: Park Hall Attendance: 508 Referee: Tom Owen

Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Brechin City

24 September 2022	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	3–3 (4–3 p)	Brechin City	Inverness
14:00	Oakley 6', 47' (pen.) Shaw 38'	[33]	McHattie 28' McGrath 72' Spark 78'	Stadium: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 832 Referee: Barry Cook
	Penalties
	McKay Oakley Boyd Allardice Deas		Bain McGrath Loudon Inglis McInnes

Montrose v Kilmarnock B

24 September 2022	Montrose	4–2	Kilmarnock B	Montrose
14:00	Gardyne 17' Brown 74', 81' Johnston 89'	[34]	Warnock 51', 66' (pen.)	Stadium: Links Park Attendance: 423 Referee: Ross Hardie

Buckie Thistle v Linfield

24 September 2022	Buckie Thistle	1–2	Linfield	Buckie
15:00	Goodall 53'	[35]	Cooper 74' Quinn 75'	Stadium: Victoria Park Attendance: 561 Referee: Chris Fordyce

Clyde v Caernarfon Town

24 September 2022	Clyde	1–0	Caernarfon Town	Hamilton
15:00	Grant 90'	[36]		Stadium: New Douglas Park Attendance: 552 Referee: Scott Lambie

Peterhead v Elgin City

24 September 2022	Peterhead	0–4	Elgin City	Peterhead
15:00		[37]	Dingwall 9' Hester 35' Lawrence 68' Mailer 85'	Stadium: Balmoor Stadium Attendance: 565 Referee: Graham Beaton

Cove Rangers v Raith Rovers

24 September 2022	Cove Rangers	0–1	Raith Rovers	Aberdeen
15:00		[38]	McBride 11'	Stadium: Balmoral Stadium Attendance: 405 Referee: Gavin Duncan

Arbroath v East Fife

24 September 2022	Arbroath	2–1	East Fife	Arbroath
15:00	McKenna 10' (pen.) Hilson 12'	[39]	Healy 90'	Stadium: Gayfield Park Attendance: 1,123 Referee: Graham Grainger

Cliftonville v Queen's Park

25 September 2022	Cliftonville	2–3	Queen's Park	Belfast, Northern Ireland
13:45	Coates 14' Addis 51'	[40]	Savoury 3' Williamson 27' Thomas 71'	Stadium: Solitude Attendance: 1,116 Referee: Lee Tavinder

Rangers B v Hamilton Academical

8 November 2022	Rangers B	0–3	Hamilton Academical	Dumbarton
19:45		[41]	Zanatta 32', 73' Mimnaugh 51' (pen.)	Stadium: Dumbarton Football Stadium Attendance: 404 Referee: Dan McFarlane

Dunfermline Athletic v Celtic B

15 November 2022	Dunfermline Athletic	2–1	Celtic B	Dunfermline
19:45	Sutherland 3' Todorov 25'	[42]	Kenny 36'	Stadium: East End Park Attendance: 1,287 Referee: Calum Scott

Fourth round

No new teams entered in this round.

The draw was made on 4 October 2022 at 13:00 and was broadcast live on the SPFL YouTube Channel. The matches were played on 8, 9 and 10 December 2022.^[43]

Teams in Bold advanced to the quarter-finals.

Championship	League One	League Two	Other
Arbroath Dundee Greenock Morton Hamilton Academical Inverness Caledonian Thistle Queen's Park Raith Rovers	Alloa Athletic Clyde Dunfermline Athletic Kelty Hearts Falkirk Montrose Queen of the South	Elgin City	NIFL Premiership Linfield

Matches

Falkirk v Dundee

8 December 2022	Falkirk	0–3	Dundee	Falkirk
19:45		[44]	Rudden 5' (pen.), 14' Robertson 77'	Stadium: Falkirk Stadium Attendance: 1,700 Referee: Calum Scott

Alloa Athletic v Queen of the South

9 December 2022	Alloa Athletic	2–4	Queen of the South	Alloa
19:45	King 15' Cawley 39'	[45]	Connelly 3', 78' (pen.) McKenna 49' Todd 82'	Stadium: Recreation Park Attendance: 274 Referee: Graham Grainger

Arbroath v Dunfermline Athletic

9 December 2022	Arbroath	1–5	Dunfermline Athletic	Arbroath
19:45	O'Brien 74'	[46]	MacDonald 6' Todd 19', 36' Benedictus 22' Wighton 68'	Stadium: Gayfield Park Attendance: 874 Referee: Chris Graham

Elgin City v Clyde

10 December 2022	Elgin City	0–0 (2–4 p)	Clyde	Elgin
14:00		[47]		Stadium: Borough Briggs Attendance: 456 Referee: Peter Stuart
	Penalties
	McHardy Cameron Dingwall Allen		McLean Allan R. Grant P. Grant

Raith Rovers v Greenock Morton

10 December 2022	Raith Rovers	1–1 (4–2 p)	Greenock Morton	Kirkcaldy
15:00	Vaughan 61'	[48]	King 49'	Stadium: Starks Park Attendance: 833 Referee: Mike Roncone
	Penalties
	Gullan Connell Connolly Millen		Kabia King McGrattan Grimshaw

Kelty Hearts v Linfield

10 December 2022	Kelty Hearts	1–1 (5–4 p)	Linfield	Kelty
15:00	Higginbotham 83'	[49]	McKee 44' (pen.)	Stadium: New Central Park Attendance: 1,340 Referee: Craig Napier
	Penalties
	Low Higginbotham Barjonas McNab Cardle Austin		Callacher Devine McClean Palmer Quinn Pepper

Queen's Park v Montrose

10 December 2022	Queen's Park	2–0	Montrose	Glasgow
15:00	Thomas 27' McPake 90+2'	[50]		Stadium: Hampden Park Attendance: 1,013 Referee: Scott Lambie

Hamilton Academical v Inverness Caledonian Thistle

10 December 2022	Hamilton Academical	2–0	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Hamilton
15:00	S. Nixon 4' (o.g.) Mimnaugh 33'	[51]		Stadium: New Douglas Park Attendance: 488 Referee: Duncan Williams

Quarter-finals

The draw was made on 13 December 2022 at 13:00 along with the semi-final draw live on the SPFL YouTube channel. The matches were played on 10, 11 and 24 January 2023.^[52]

Teams in Bold advanced to the semi-finals.

Championship	League One
Dundee Hamilton Academical Queen's Park Raith Rovers	Clyde Dunfermline Athletic Kelty Hearts Queen of the South

Matches

Hamilton Academical v Clyde

10 January 2023	Hamilton Academical	3–2	Clyde	Hamilton
19:45	Owens 31' Tiéhi 54' O'Reilly 82'	[53]	Cunningham 9' J. Smith 36' (o.g.)	Stadium: New Douglas Park Attendance: 630 Referee: Greg Aitken

Queen of the South v Kelty Hearts

10 January 2023	Queen of the South	0–0 (4–2 p)	Kelty Hearts	Dumfries
19:45		[54]		Stadium: Palmerston Park Attendance: 602 Referee: Matthew MacDermid
	Penalties
	Reilly Paton Connelly Todd McGrory		Tidser Bajonas Doherty McNab

Queen's Park v Raith Rovers

11 January 2023	Queen's Park	0–1	Raith Rovers	Stenhousemuir
19:45		[55]	Frederiksen 80'	Stadium: Ochilview Park Attendance: 636 Referee: Chris Graham

Dundee v Dunfermline Athletic

24 January 2023	Dundee	4–2	Dunfermline Athletic	Dundee
19:45	McMullan 29' Robertson 59' McCowan 83' Anderson 90+1'	[56]	McCann 38' Wighton 90+3'	Stadium: Dens Park Attendance: 2,089 Referee: Craig Napier

Semi-finals

Matches

Hamilton Academical v Queen of the South

7 February 2023	Hamilton Academical	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Queen of the South	Hamilton
19:45	Zanatta 21' One 96'	[57]	Irving 72'	Stadium: New Douglas Park Attendance: 1,049 Referee: Craig Napier

Dundee v Raith Rovers

8 February 2023	Dundee	2–2 (a.e.t.) (3–4 p)	Raith Rovers	Dundee
19:45	Cameron 5', 28'	[58]	Akio 77' Stanton 82'	Stadium: Dens Park Attendance: 2,948 Referee: Colin Steven
	Penalties
	McGhee Williamson Tolaj Anderson Robinson		Spencer Akio Connolly Millen Easton

Final

Main article: 2023 Scottish Challenge Cup final

Raith Rovers	0–1	Hamilton Academical
	[59]	Tumilty 30'

26 March 2023

16:15

Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk

Attendance: 5,566

Referee: Colin Steven