# 2017–18 Scottish Challenge Cup

The 2017–18 Scottish Challenge Cup, known as the IRN-BRU Cup due to sponsorship reasons, is the 27th season of the competition. The tournament took on a similar format from the previous season, however, two teams from the Republic of Ireland's Airtricity League (Sligo Rovers and Bray Wanderers) entered the competition for the first time taking the total number of participating clubs to 56. This was the second season with two clubs from both Northern Ireland and Wales competing alongside the 30 members of the 2017–18 Scottish Championship, 2017–18 Scottish League One and 2017–18 Scottish League Two, four teams from the 2017–18 Highland Football League and four from the 2017–18 Lowland Football League as well as the Under-20 teams of the teams competing in the 2017–18 Scottish Premiership. The Welsh teams were The New Saints and Connah's Quay Nomads while the Northern Irish teams were Crusaders and Linfield.
Dundee United were the defending champions after they beat St Mirren 2–1 in the 2017 final, but were eliminated in the Quarter-finals by Crusaders.
Irn Bru replaced Petrofac as the main sponsor of the competition in June 2016.

## Format

| Round | Date | Fixtures | Clubs | New entries |
| First round | 15–16 August 2017 | 24 | 56 → 32 | Teams placed 3rd–10th from 2016–17 Scottish Championship 10 teams from 2016–17 Scottish League One 10 teams from 2016–17 Scottish League Two 4 teams from 2016–17 Highland Football League 4 teams from 2016–17 Lowland Football League 12 U20s teams from 2017–18 Scottish Premiership |
| Second round | 2–3 September 2017 | 16 | 32 → 16 | 12th placed team from 2016–17 Scottish Premiership 2nd placed team from 2016–17 Scottish Championship 2 teams from 2016–17 NIFL Premiership 2 teams from 2016–17 Welsh Premier League 2 teams from 2017 League of Ireland Premier Division |
| Third round | 7–8 October 2017 | 8 | 16 → 8 | |
| Quarter-finals | 11–12 November 2017 | 4 | 8 → 4 | |
| Semi-finals | 17–18 February 2018 | 2 | 4 → 2 | |
| Final | 24 or 25 March 2018 | 1 | 2 → 1 | |

## First round

The draw for the first round was made at 1 pm on 27 June 2017 at the Summerlee Industrial Museum in Coatbridge and was streamed live on the SPFL's Facebook page. The draw was regionalised into northern and southern sections with each section containing 14 SPFL clubs, four Highland Football League or Lowland Football League clubs and six U20s teams with any team able to face any other within their section.

### North Section
#### Draw

Teams in Bold advanced to the second round.
North section :
01. Alloa Athletic
02. Arbroath
03. Brechin City
04. Cowdenbeath
05. Dundee United
06. Dunfermline Athletic
07. East Fife
08. Elgin City
09. Forfar Athletic
10. Montrose
11. Peterhead
12. Raith Rovers
13. Stenhousemuir
14. Stirling Albion
15. Aberdeen U20s
16. Dundee U20s
17. Heart of Midlothian U20s
18. Hibernian U20s
19. Ross County U20s
20. St Johnstone U20s
21. Brora Rangers
22. Buckie Thistle
23. Cove Rangers
24. Formartine United :

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

Teams in Bold advanced to the second round.
South section :
25. Airdrieonians
26. Albion Rovers
27. Annan Athletic
28. Berwick Rangers
29. Ayr United
30. Clyde
31. Dumbarton
32. Edinburgh City
33. Livingston
34. Greenock Morton
35. Queen of the South
36. Queen's Park
37. St Mirren
38. Stranraer
39. Celtic U20s
40. Hamilton Academical U20s
41. Kilmarnock U20s
42. Motherwell U20s
43. Partick Thistle U20s
44. Rangers U20s
45. East Kilbride
46. East Stirlingshire
47. Spartans
48. Stirling University :

#### Matches
##### Notes

* ^ A-Spartans were awarded a 3–0 win against Albion Rovers at a disciplinary hearing on 24 August 2017. Albion Rovers pleaded guilty to fielding Liam McGuigan as a second half substitute when he was ineligible to play in the match. The match had ended 0–0 with Albion Rovers winning 5–4 on penalties. Albion Rovers were also fined £2,000 for the breach of IRN-BRU Cup regulations. Both teams were included in the draw for the second round on 17 August 2017.

## Second round
### Draw

The draw for the second round was made at 1 pm on 17 August 2017 at the Falkirk Wheel and streamed live on the SPFL's Facebook page. The draw was unseeded but the six non-Scottish teams were kept apart with one team from each country drawn at home and one away. Linfield were allocated an away tie due to the unavailability of Windsor Park so Crusaders played at home.
Teams in Italics were not known at the time of the draw. Teams in Bold advanced to the third round.
| Premier Division | NIFL Premiership | Welsh Premier League | SPFL | Other Scottish |
| 01. Sligo Rovers 02. Bray Wanderers | 03. Linfield 04. Crusaders | 05. The New Saints 06. Connah's Quay Nomads | 07. Inverness Caledonian Thistle 08. Falkirk 09. Dundee United 10. Dunfermline Athletic 11. Queen of the South 12. St Mirren 13. Dumbarton 14. Raith Rovers 15. Ayr United 16. Livingston 17. Alloa Athletic 18. Stranraer 19. Spartans 20. Peterhead 21. Annan Athletic 22. Montrose 23. Elgin City 24. Berwick Rangers | Premiership U20s 25. Ross County U20s 26. Hamilton Academical U20s 27. Motherwell U20s 28. Partick Thistle U20s 29. Aberdeen U20s 30. Heart of Midlothian U20s Highland Football League 31. Buckie Thistle 32. Cove Rangers |

### Matches

The SPFL launched an investigation after two different methods of penalty shootout were used in the second round matches that required the tiebreaker. Montrose's 6–5 win over Ayr United used the traditional ABAB method where one team follows the other whereas The New Saints' 6–5 win over Livingston used the trial ABBA method where one team goes first before the other takes two consecutively and then the first team takes their second. SPFL rules state that the ABAB method should be used. The mix up is suspected to have come after confusion between the Irish referee and Welsh linesmen in The New Saints-Livingston match over which method was to be used. The result of the investigation is not expected to impact the result of The New Saints-Livingston tie.

## Third round
### Draw

The draw for the third round was made at 1 pm on 5 September 2017 at the Riverside Museum and was streamed live on the SPFL's Facebook page. The draw was unseeded and there were no longer any requirements for non-SPFL sides to be kept apart.
Teams in Bold advanced to the third round.
| NIFL Premiership | Welsh Premier League | SPFL | Highland Football League |
| 01. Linfield 02. Crusaders | 03. The New Saints | 04. Inverness Caledonian Thistle 05. Falkirk 06. Dundee United 07. Dunfermline Athletic 08. Queen of the South 09. St Mirren 10. Dumbarton 11. Raith Rovers 12. Stranraer 13. Peterhead 14. Montrose 15. Elgin City | 16. Cove Rangers |

### Matches
## Quarter-finals
### Draw

The draw for the quarter-finals was made at 1 pm on 10 October 2017 at the Forth Road Bridge Visitor Centre and was streamed live on the SPFL's Facebook page. The draw was unseeded.
Teams in Bold advanced to the semi-finals.
| NIFL Premiership | Welsh Premier League | SPFL |
| 01. Crusaders | 02. The New Saints | 03. Inverness Caledonian Thistle 04. Falkirk 05. Dundee United 06. Queen of the South 07. Dumbarton 08. Raith Rovers |

### Matches
## Semi-finals
### Draw

The draw for the semi-finals was made at 1pm on 14 November 2017 at the SEC Armadillo and was streamed live on the SPFL's Facebook page. The draw was unseeded.
Teams in Bold advanced to the final.
| NIFL Premiership | Welsh Premier League | SPFL |
| 01. Crusaders | 02. The New Saints | 03. Inverness Caledonian Thistle 04. Dumbarton |

### Matches
## Statistics
### Top goalscorers

    As of matches played on 24 March 2018
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Stephen Dobbie | Queen of the South | 4 |
| 1 | Lewis Vaughan | Raith Rovers | 4 |
| 3 | Aidan Smith | Annan Athletic | 3 |
| 3 | Mitchel Megginson | Cove Rangers | 3 |
| 3 | Patrick N'Koyi | Dundee United | 3 |
| 3 | Andy Ryan | Dunfermline Athletic | 3 |
| 3 | Neil McLaughlin | Partick Thistle U20s | 3 |
| 3 | Gavin Reilly | St Mirren | 3 |
| 9 | 20 players | 20 players | 2 |

## Player of the Round

The Golden Ball Award is a 'Player of the Round' award given to the player who is adjudged to have had the best performance of that round out of all the players in teams left competing in that round of the competition. The winner is voted for by supporters from a chosen short-list of players, which is posted on the Irn-Bru Football Twitter page.
| Round | Player | Club | Match |
| First Round | Kevin Fraser | Buckie Thistle | 2–1 v Brechin City (H) |
| Second Round | Gavin Reilly | St Mirren | 3–1 v Heart of Midlothian U20s (H) |
| Third Round | Myles Hippolyte | Falkirk | 2–0 v Dunfermline Athletic (H) |
| Quarter-finals | Gavin Whyte | Crusaders | 2–1 v Dundee United (A) |
| Semi-finals | Dimitris Froxylias | Dumbarton | 2–1 v The New Saints (A) |

## Broadcasting rights

The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition are held jointly by BBC Alba, S4C (for matches involving Welsh teams) and subscription channel Premier Sports. Prior to the re-format in the 2016–17 season, BBC Alba had exclusive rights.
The following matches are to be broadcast live on UK television:
| Round | BBC Alba | S4C |
| Second Round | | The New Saints v Livingston |
| Third Round | Dundee United v Linfield | The New Saints v Elgin City |
| Quarter-Finals | Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Falkirk | The New Saints v Queen of the South |
| Semi-Finals | Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Crusaders | The New Saints v Dumbarton |
| Final | Dumbarton v Inverness Caledonian Thistle | |