2023 Scottish Challenge Cup final

The 2023 Scottish Challenge Cup final, also known as the SPFL Trust Trophy final for sponsorship reasons,^[1] was a football match that took place on 26 March 2023 between Raith Rovers and Hamilton Academical.^[2] It was the 30th final of the Scottish Challenge Cup since it was first organised in 1990 to celebrate the centenary of the now defunct Scottish Football League, and the eighth since the SPFL was formed. It also marked the return of non-Scottish teams to the competition for the first time since the 2019–20 edition.^[3]

2023 Scottish Challenge Cup final

Event	2022–23 Scottish Challenge Cup
Raith Rovers Hamilton Academical 0 1
Date	26 March 2023
Venue	Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk
Referee	Colin Steven
Attendance	5,566
← 2022 2024 →

Route to the final

See also: 2022–23 Scottish Challenge Cup

The final took place at the Falkirk Stadium (pictured in 2018)

The competition is a knock-out tournament and was contested by 49 teams from Scotland in 2022–23, as well as 2 teams each from Wales and Northern Ireland respectively.^[3]

Raith Rovers

As a 2021–22 Scottish Championship club, Raith Rovers were given a bye to the third round. The 2023 final was Raith's fourth Challenge Cup final and third consecutive final, having split the 2020 edition with Inverness Caledonian Thistle after the final was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic,^[4] and were reigning champions after winning the 2022 edition against Queen of the South.^[5] They also won the 2014 final against Rangers, making them undefeated in all four finals they had been involved in prior.^[6]

Round	Opposition	Score
Third round	Cove Rangers (a)	1–0
Fourth round	Greenock Morton (h)	1–1 (a.e.t.) 4–2 (p)
Quarter-final	Queen's Park (a)	1–0
Semi-final	Dundee (a)	2–2 (a.e.t.) 4–3 (p)

Hamilton Academical

As a 2021–22 Scottish Championship club, Hamilton Academical were given a bye to the third round. This was Hamilton's first Challenge Cup final since the 2012 edition.^[7] The 2023 final was Hamilton's fifth Challenge Cup final, having won the cup in 1991 and 1992, and finishing as runners-up in 2005 and 2012.^[8][9]

Round	Opposition	Score
Third round	Rangers B (a)	3–0
Fourth round	Inverness Caledonian Thistle (h)	2–0
Quarter-final	Clyde (h)	3–2
Semi-final	Queen of the South (h)	2–1 (a.e.t.)

Match details

Raith Rovers	0–1	Hamilton Academical
	Report	Tumilty 30' O'Reilly  55'

26 March 2023

16:15 GMT

Final

Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk

Attendance: 5,566

Referee: Colin Steven

Raith Rovers

Hamilton Academical

GK 1 Jamie MacDonald RB 4 Ross Millen CB 5 Ryan Nolan  84' CB 12 Tom Lang LB 3 Liam Dick RM 16 Sam Stanton CM 6 Brad Spencer  76' CM 20 Scott Brown LM 23 Dylan Easton CAM 10 Lewis Vaughan FW 77 Esmaël Gonçalves  55' Substitutes: GK 13 Andrew McNeil GK 17 Robbie Thomson DF 15 Kieran Ngwenya DF 30 Adam Masson MF 7 Aidan Connolly  55' MF 22 Ethan Ross  76' FW 11 Connor McBride  84' Manager: Ian Murray

GK 1 Ryan Fulton CB 4 Daniel O'Reilly  55' CB 15 Dylan McGowan CB 3 Matthew Shiels  45' RWB 22 Reghan Tumilty CM 14 Marley Redfern  21' CM 18 Reegan Mimnaugh CM 8 Scott Martin LWB 11 Lewis Smith  57' CAM 23 Lucas De Bolle FW 9 Benny Ashley-Seal  10' Substitutes: GK 31 Jamie Smith DF 5 Brian Easton  57' DF 12 Tom Sparrow  21' DF 25 Fergus Owens DF 37 Chris McGinn FW 10 Dario Zanatta  45' FW 16 Dylan Stephenson FW 17 Jean-Pierre Tiéhi  10' FW 19 Andy Winter Manager: John Rankin

Man of the match: Ryan Fulton (Hamilton Accies)

Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.