# 2023–24 Scottish Cup

The 2023–24 Scottish Cup (known as the Scottish Gas Men's Scottish Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 139th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The 2023–24 edition marked the 150th anniversary of the tournament which was established in 1873–74. The winners would qualify for the 2024–25 Europa League play-off round.
Celtic were the defending champions after defeating Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the 2023 final and successfully defended their title after beating Rangers 1–0 in the final.

## Calendar

Following an increase in the number of entries, an additional preliminary round was added to the competition format. Replays were also removed entirely from the tournament, having been restricted to just the Preliminary Round in the previous season.
| Round | Original date | Number of fixtures | Clubs | New Entries | Leagues entering at this round |
| Preliminary round one | 12 August 2023 | 3 | 131 → 128 | 7 | 7 qualifiers |
| Preliminary round two | 2 September 2023 | 26 | 128 → 102 | 48 | 48 licensed clubs |
| First round | 23 September 2023 | 30 | 102 → 72 | 34 | 18 Highland League teams 16 Lowland League teams |
| Second round | 28 October 2023 | 20 | 72 → 52 | 10 | 10 League Two teams |
| Third round | 25 November 2023 | 20 | 52 → 32 | 20 | 10 Championship teams 10 League One teams |
| Fourth round | 20 January 2024 | 16 | 32 → 16 | 12 | 12 Premiership teams |
| Fifth round | 10 February 2024 | 8 | 16 → 8 | None | |
| Quarter-finals | 9 March 2024 | 4 | 8 → 4 | None | |
| Semi-finals | 20 & 21 April 2024 | 2 | 4 → 2 | None | |
| Final | 25 May 2024 | 1 | 2 → 1 | None | |

## Preliminary round one

The draw for preliminary round one was made on 26 July 2023. The seven teams without a SFA club licence were required to be included in the first preliminary round draw – namely Abbey Vale (South of Scotland League champions), Beith Juniors (West of Scotland League champions), Carnoustie Panmure (Midlands League champions), Culter (North Region Juniors champions), Cupar Hearts (Amateur Cup winners), Loch Ness (North Caledonian League champions), and Luncarty (Cup Winners' Shield winners). They were drawn into three ties with Culter drawn to receive a bye to the second preliminary round.
Abbey Vale, Cupar Hearts, Loch Ness, and Luncarty all took part in the competition for the first time.

### Matches
## Preliminary round two

The draw for preliminary round two was made on 26 July 2023. Carluke Rovers are taking part in the competition for the first time having gained their SFA club licence, along with Glenafton Athletic who previously competed as a qualifier.
Teams in bold advanced to the first round.
| East of Scotland League | West of Scotland League | Others |
| Premier Division Broxburn Athletic Dunbar United Dundonald Bluebell Haddington Athletic Hill of Beath Hawthorn Hutchison Vale Jeanfield Swifts Luncarty Musselburgh Athletic Penicuik Athletic Sauchie Juniors Tynecastle First Division Blackburn United Camelon Juniors Dunipace Newtongrange Star Preston Athletic St Andrews United Vale of Leithen Whitehill Welfare Second Division Burntisland Shipyard Coldstream Dalkeith Thistle Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare Third Division Hawick Royal Albert | Premier Division Auchinleck Talbot Beith Juniors Benburb Clydebank Cumnock Juniors Darvel Glenafton Athletic Irvine Meadow Pollok First Division Kilwinning Rangers Rutherglen Glencairn Second Division Bonnyton Thistle Glasgow University Third Division Girvan Threave Rovers Fourth Division Carluke Rovers | Midlands League Lochee United Tayport North Caledonian League Fort William Golspie Sutherland North Region Junior Football League Culter South of Scotland League Creetown Dalbeattie Star Newton Stewart St Cuthbert Wanderers Wigtown & Bladnoch Kingdom of Fife AFA Cupar Hearts |

### Matches
## First round

The draw for the first round was made on 3 September 2023.
Teams in bold advanced to the second round.
| Highland League | Lowland League | East of Scotland League | West of Scotland League | Others |
| Banks O' Dee Brechin City Brora Rangers Buckie Thistle Clachnacuddin Deveronvale Formartine United Forres Mechanics Fraserburgh Huntly Inverurie Loco Works Keith Lossiemouth Nairn County Rothes Strathspey Thistle Turriff United Wick Academy | Albion Rovers Berwick Rangers Bo'ness United Broomhill Caledonian Braves Civil Service Strollers Cowdenbeath Cumbernauld Colts East Kilbride East Stirlingshire Edinburgh University Gala Fairydean Rovers Gretna 2008 Linlithgow Rose Tranent University of Stirling | Premier Division Broxburn Athletic Dunbar United Dundonald Bluebell Hutchison Vale Jeanfield Swifts Luncarty Musselburgh Athletic Penicuik Athletic Sauchie Juniors First Division Camelon Juniors Dunipace St Andrews United Whitehill Welfare Second Division Dalkeith Thistle | Premier Division Auchinleck Talbot Beith Juniors Clydebank Cumnock Juniors Darvel Pollok First Division Kilwinning Rangers Third Division Threave Rovers | Midlands League Tayport North Caledonian League Golspie Sutherland North Region Junior Football League Culter South of Scotland League Dalbeattie Star |

### Matches
## Second round

The draw for the second round was made on 24 September 2023 at 5pm live on the Scottish Cup YouTube channel. Teams in italics were unknown at the time of the draw. Teams in bold advanced to the third round.
| League Two | Highland League | Lowland League | East of Scotland League | West of Scotland League |
| Bonnyrigg Rose Clyde Dumbarton East Fife Elgin City Forfar Athletic Peterhead Stenhousemuir Stranraer The Spartans | Banks O' Dee Brechin City Brora Rangers Buckie Thistle Clachnacuddin Deveronvale Formartine United Forres Mechanics Fraserburgh Huntly Turriff United | Albion Rovers Bo'ness United Broomhill Civil Service Strollers Cowdenbeath East Kilbride Gala Fairydean Rovers Tranent | Premier Division Broxburn Athletic Dunbar United Jeanfield Swifts Luncarty Musselburgh Athletic First Division St Andrews United | Premier Division Beith Juniors Clydebank Cumnock Juniors Pollok First Division Kilwinning Rangers |

### Matches
## Third round

The draw for the third round was made on 29 October 2023 at 7:30pm live on the Scottish Cup YouTube channel.
Teams in italics were unknown at the time of the draw.
Teams in bold advanced to the fourth round.
| Championship | League One | League Two | Tier 5 | Tier 6 |
| Airdrieonians Arbroath Ayr United Dundee United Dunfermline Athletic Greenock Morton Inverness Caledonian Thistle Partick Thistle Queen's Park Raith Rovers | Alloa Athletic Annan Athletic Cove Rangers Edinburgh City Falkirk Hamilton Academical Kelty Hearts Montrose Queen of the South Stirling Albion | Bonnyrigg Rose Clyde Dumbarton Forfar Athletic Peterhead The Spartans Stranraer | Highland League Brora Rangers Buckie Thistle Formartine United Lowland League Albion Rovers Bo'ness United Broomhill Cowdenbeath Tranent | East of Scotland League Premier Division Broxburn Athletic Dunbar United Jeanfield Swifts West of Scotland League Premier Division Cumnock Juniors Pollok |

### Matches
## Fourth round

The draw for the fourth round was made on 26 November 2023 during Sportscene on the BBC Scotland channel.
Teams in bold advanced to the fifth round.
| Premiership | Championship | League One | League Two | Tier 5 |
| Aberdeen Celtic Dundee Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Kilmarnock Livingston Motherwell Rangers Ross County St Johnstone St Mirren | Airdrieonians Ayr United Greenock Morton Inverness Caledonian Thistle Partick Thistle Raith Rovers | Alloa Athletic Cove Rangers Falkirk Kelty Hearts Montrose Queen of the South | Bonnyrigg Rose Clyde Dumbarton Forfar Athletic The Spartans | Highland League Brora Rangers Buckie Thistle Lowland League Broomhill |

### Matches
## Fifth round

The draw for the fifth round was made on 21 January 2024 during Sportscene on the BBC Scotland channel.
Teams in italics were unknown at the time of the draw.
Teams in bold advanced to the quarter-finals.
| Premiership | Championship | League One | League Two |
| Aberdeen Celtic Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Kilmarnock Livingston Motherwell Rangers St Mirren | Airdrieonians Ayr United Greenock Morton Inverness Caledonian Thistle Partick Thistle | Cove Rangers | Bonnyrigg Rose |

### Matches
## Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals was made on 11 February 2024 at 4:40pm live on BBC One Scotland.
Teams in italics were unknown at the time of the draw.
Teams in bold advanced to the semi-finals.
| Premiership | Championship |
| Aberdeen Celtic Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Kilmarnock Livingston Rangers | Greenock Morton |

### Matches
## Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals was made on 11 March 2024 live on BBC Scotland following the Greenock Morton v Heart of Midlothian match.
Teams in bold advanced to the final.
* Premiership
* Aberdeen
* Celtic
* Heart of Midlothian
* Rangers

### Matches
## Broadcasting

The Scottish Cup is broadcast by Viaplay Sports and BBC Scotland. Viaplay Sports has the first two picks of the fourth and fifth rounds, the quarter-finals as well as first pick of one semi-final and airs the final non-exclusively. BBC Scotland broadcast one match per round from the first round onwards and two matches per round from the fourth round to the quarter-finals, as well as one semi-final and the final.
The following matches were selected for live coverage on UK television:
| Round | BBC Scotland | Viaplay Sports |
| First round | University of Stirling v Albion Rovers | Does not appear |
| Second round | Musselburgh Athletic v Clyde | Does not appear |
| Third round | Dunfermline Athletic v Raith Rovers | Does not appear |
| Fourth round | Clyde v Aberdeen The Spartans v Heart of Midlothian | Dumbarton v Rangers Celtic v Buckie Thistle |
| Fifth round | Greenock Morton v Motherwell Airdrieonians v Heart of Midlothian | Rangers v Ayr United St Mirren v Celtic |
| Quarter-finals | Aberdeen v Kilmarnock Greenock Morton v Heart of Midlothian | Celtic v Livingston Hibernian v Rangers |
| Semi-finals | Aberdeen v Celtic | Aberdeen v Celtic Rangers v Heart of Midlothian |
| Final | Celtic v Rangers | Celtic v Rangers |