# 2019–20 Scottish Challenge Cup

The 2019–20 Scottish Challenge Cup known as the Tunnock's Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup due to sponsorship reasons, was the 29th season of the competition. The total number of participating clubs is 58. The competition began on 6 August 2019 with the First Round and was due to end on 28 March 2020 with the final at McDiarmid Park in Perth. However, the final had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was never subsequently played.
Thirty teams from the Championship, League One and League Two compete, 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 Premiership are represented. This season there will be again two clubs from Northern Ireland's NIFL Premiership, two clubs from the Welsh Premier League, two clubs from the Republic of Ireland's League of Ireland and for the second time two entrants from the English National League (fifth tier) entered into the competition.
Ross County were the cup holders after they beat Connah's Quay 3–1 in the 2019 final, but they were ineligible to defend their title following their promotion to the Premiership for the 2019–20 season.

## Format

| Round | Date | Fixtures | Clubs | New entries |
| First Round | 6–7 August 2019 | 12 | 58 → 46 | 4 teams from 2018–19 Scottish League Two (7th–10th) 4 teams from 2018–19 Lowland Football League (1st–4th) 4 teams from 2018–19 Highland Football League (1st–4th) 12 U21 teams from 2019–20 Scottish Premiership |
| Second Round | 13–14 August 2019 | 14 | 46 → 32 | Teams from 2018–19 Scottish League One 6 teams from 2018–19 Scottish League Two (1st–6th) |
| Third Round | 7–8 September 2019 | 16 | 32 → 16 | Teams from 2019–20 Scottish Championship 2 teams from 2018–19 NIFL Premiership (2nd and 3rd) 2 teams from 2018–19 Welsh Premier League (1st and 2nd) 2 teams from 2018 League of Ireland Premier Division (4th and 6th) 2 teams from 2018–19 National League (2nd and 4th) |
| Fourth round | 12–13 October 2019 | 8 | 16 → 8 | |
| Quarter-finals | 16–17 November 2019 | 4 | 8 → 4 | |
| Semi-finals | 15–16 February 2020 | 2 | 4 → 2 | |
| Final | 28 or 29 March 2020 | 1 | 2 → 1 | |

## First round

The first round featured 4 clubs from the 2018-19 Scottish Highland Football League (Cove Rangers, Brora Rangers, Fraserburgh, Formartine United), 4 clubs from the 2018-19 Scottish Lowland Football League (East Kilbride, BSC Glasgow, Kelty Hearts, Spartans), 4 clubs from 2018–19 Ladbrokes League Two (Queen's Park, Elgin City, Albion Rovers, Berwick Rangers) and the 12 Under 21 teams of the 2019-20 Scottish Premiership.
The draw was made on 26 June 2019 at 12:30 in the Tunnock's factory in Uddingston and was broadcast live on the SPFL YouTube Channel. The draw was regionalised and all non-Under 21 teams were seeded. The matches were played on 6 and 7 August 2019.

### North Section
#### Draw

Teams in bold advanced to the second round.
| Seeded Teams | Unseeded Teams |
| Elgin City Albion Rovers Cove Rangers Brora Rangers Fraserburgh Formartine United | Aberdeen U21s Heart of Midlothian U21s Hibernian U21s Livingston U21s Ross County U21s St Johnstone U21s |

#### Matches
### South Section
#### Draw

Teams in bold advanced to the second round.
| Seeded Teams | Unseeded Teams |
| Queen's Park Berwick Rangers East Kilbride BSC Glasgow Kelty Hearts Spartans | Celtic U21s Hamilton Academical U21s Kilmarnock U21s Motherwell U21s Rangers U21s St Mirren U21s |

#### Matches
## Second round

The draw was also made on 26 June 2019 at 12:30 in the Tunnock's factory in Uddingston and was broadcast live on the SPFL YouTube Channel. The draw was again regionalised but not seeded. Matches were played on 13 August 2019.

### South Section
#### Matches
## Third round

The 14 winners of the Second Round are joined by the 10 clubs from the Scottish Championship and two teams from the National League, the NIFL Premiership, the Welsh Premier League and the League of Ireland Premier Division.
A pre-draw determined which country was allocated to Pot A, Pot B, Pot C and Pot D to avoid 2 cross-border teams from the same country playing each other. Pot E had the remaining 24 Scottish teams. Games will be played Saturday 7 September or Sunday 8 September 2019.
The draw was made on 14 August 2019 at 12:30 and was broadcast live on the SPFL YouTube Channel.
Teams in bold advanced to the fourth round.
| SPFL | SPFL | SPFL | Other Scottish | Teams from other countries |
| Championship | League One | League Two | Other Scottish | Teams from other countries |
| Alloa Athletic Arbroath Ayr United Dundee Dundee United Dunfermline Athletic Greenock Morton Inverness Caledonian Thistle Partick Thistle Queen of the South | Airdrieonians Clyde Falkirk Montrose Raith Rovers | Cove Rangers Elgin City Stenhousemuir Stirling Albion | Highland League Formartine United Lowland League Kelty Hearts Premiership U21s Heart of Midlothian U21s Rangers U21s St Mirren U21s | National League Solihull Moors Wrexham NIFL Premiership Ballymena United Glenavon Welsh Premier League The New Saints Connah's Quay Nomads League of Ireland Premier Division Bohemians Waterford |

### Matches
## Fourth round

The draw was made on 10 September 2019 at 12:30, live on the SPFL YouTube Channel.
Teams in Italics were not known at the time of the draw. Teams in Bold advanced to the quarter-finals.
| SPFL | Teams from other countries |
| Championship Alloa Athletic Arbroath Inverness Caledonian Thistle Partick Thistle League One Airdrieonians Clyde Raith Rovers League Two Elgin City Stenhousemuir Premiership U21s Rangers U21s St Mirren U21s | National League Solihull Moors Wrexham NIFL Premiership Glenavon Welsh Premier League Connah's Quay Nomads League of Ireland Premier Division Waterford |

### Matches
## Quarter-finals

The draw was made on 16 October 2019 at 13:00, live on the SPFL YouTube Channel.
Teams in Italics were not known at the time of the draw. Teams in Bold advanced to the semi-finals.
| SPFL | National League |
| Championship Inverness Caledonian Thistle Partick Thistle League One Clyde Raith Rovers League Two Elgin City Stenhousemuir Premiership U21s Rangers U21s | Wrexham |

### Matches
## Semi-finals

The draw was made on 20 November 2019 at 12:00 and was broadcast live on the SPFL YouTube Channel.
The fixtures were played from 14 to 16 February 2020.
* SPFL
* Championship
* Inverness Caledonian Thistle
* Partick Thistle
* League One
* Raith Rovers
* Premiership U21s
* Rangers U21s

### Matches

* Note: The final was cancelled as a result of the coronavirus situation, both teams were declared joint winners.

## Broadcasting rights

The following matches are to be broadcast live on UK television:
| Round | BBC Alba | S4C |
| Third Round | | Connah's Quay Nomads v Cove Rangers |
| Fourth Round | Stenhousemuir v Waterford | Partick Thistle v Connah's Quay Nomads |
| Quarter-Finals | Raith Rovers v Elgin City | |
| Semi-Finals | Partick Thistle v Raith Rovers Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Rangers U21s | |