# 2018–19 Scottish Challenge Cup

The 2018–19 Scottish Challenge Cup, known as the IRN-BRU Cup due to sponsorship reasons, was the 28th season of the competition. The tournament took on a similar format from the previous season with the addition of two teams from England's National League entering the competition for the first time. This took the total number of participating clubs to 58.
Thirty teams from the Scottish Championship, Scottish League One and Scottish League Two competed, along with four teams from the Highland Football League (one eliminated in preliminary round) and four from the Lowland Football League (one eliminated in preliminary round). In addition to this, Under-21 teams of the clubs competing in the Scottish Premiership were represented. This was the third edition with two clubs from both Northern Ireland's NIFL Premiership and the Welsh Premier League and was the second time that two teams from the League of Ireland entered. A new change was the addition of two entrants from the English National League (fifth tier).
Inverness Caledonian Thistle were the defending champions after they beat Dumbarton 1–0 in the 2018 final, but they were eliminated in the first round by Dunfermline Athletic.
Ross County won the competition for the third time, defeating Connah's Quay Nomads 3–1 in the final.

## Format

| Round | Date | Fixtures | Clubs | New entries |
| Preliminary round | 31 July–1 August 2018 | 2 | 58 → 56 | Teams placed 3rd and 4th in 2017–18 Lowland Football League & teams placed 3rd and 4th in 2017–18 Highland Football League |
| First round | 14–15 August 2018 | 24 | 56 → 32 | Teams from 2018–19 Scottish Championship Teams from 2018–19 Scottish League One Teams from 2018–19 Scottish League Two 3 teams from 2018–19 Highland Football League (1st, 2nd and preliminary round winner) 3 teams from 2018–19 Lowland Football League (1st, 2nd and preliminary round winner) 12 U21 teams from 2018–19 Scottish Premiership |
| Second round | 8–9 September 2018 | 16 | 32 → 16 | 2 teams from 2017–18 NIFL Premiership (1st and 2nd) 2 teams from 2017–18 Welsh Premier League (1st and 3rd) 2 teams from 2018 League of Ireland Premier Division (6th and 7th) 2 teams from 2017–18 National League (3rd and 4th) |
| Third round | 13–14 October 2018 | 8 | 16 → 8 | |
| Quarter-finals | 17–18 November 2018 | 4 | 8 → 4 | |
| Semi-finals | 16–17 February 2019 | 2 | 4 → 2 | |
| Final | 24 March 2019 | 1 | 2 → 1 | |

## First round

The draw for the first round was made on 26 June 2018 at 1pm live on the SPFL Facebook page.

### 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. Inverness CT
11. Montrose
12. Peterhead
13. Raith Rovers
14. Ross County
15. Stirling Albion
16. Aberdeen U21s
17. Dundee U21s
18. Heart of Midlothian U21s
19. Hibernian U21s
20. Livingston U21s
21. St Johnstone U21s
22. Cove Rangers
23. Formartine United
24. Inverurie Loco Works :

#### Matches
##### Notes

* ^ A-The Livingston U21s-Forfar Athletic match was abandoned with Livingston U21s leading 1–0 after 71 minutes due poor lighting caused by a power outage. The match was replayed on 21 August 2018.

#### Replay
### South Section
#### Draw

Teams in Bold advanced to the second round.
South section :
25. Airdrieonians
26. Albion Rovers
27. Annan Athletic
28. Ayr United
29. Berwick Rangers
30. Clyde
31. Dumbarton
32. Edinburgh City
33. Falkirk
34. Greenock Morton
35. Partick Thistle
36. Queen of the South
37. Queen's Park
38. Stenhousemuir
39. Stranraer
40. Celtic U21s
41. Hamilton Academical U21s
42. Kilmarnock U21s
43. Motherwell U21s
44. Rangers U21s
45. St Mirren U21s
46. Spartans
47. East Kilbride
48. East Stirlingshire :

#### Matches
## Second round

Teams from Wales (The New Saints and Connah's Quay Nomads), Northern Ireland (Crusaders and Coleraine), England (Sutton United and Boreham Wood) and the Republic of Ireland (Bohemians and Sligo Rovers) entered in the second round. Originally, Bray Wanderers were to be the second side to represent the League of Ireland however, they were subsequently thrown out by the FAI on 16 July 2018 for failing to pay their players and replaced by Limerick. A similar statement was released by the FAI hours later about Limerick who were also in financial difficulties. St Patrick's Athletic were then invited to compete as the next ranked team in line but declined. Sligo Rovers accepted the position in their place so they would represent the League of Ireland instead.

### Draw

The draw for the second round was made on 16 August 2018 at 1pm live on the SPFL Facebook page.
Teams in Bold advanced to the third round.
Teams in Italics were not known at the time of the draw.
| SPFL | Other Scottish | Teams from other countries |
| Championship Alloa Athletic Dundee United Dunfermline Athletic Falkirk Partick Thistle Queen of the South Ross County League One Airdrieonians Arbroath Dumbarton East Fife Montrose Raith Rovers League Two Annan Athletic Edinburgh City Peterhead Queen's Park | Highland League Formartine United Lowland League East Kilbride Premiership U21s Dundee U21 Hamilton Academical U21 Livingston U21 Motherwell U21 St Mirren U21 | National League Boreham Wood Sutton United NIFL Premiership Coleraine Crusaders Welsh Premier League Connah's Quay Nomads The New Saints Premier Division Bohemians Sligo Rovers |

### Matches
## Third round
### Draw

The draw for the third round was made on 11 September 2018 at 1pm live on the SPFL Facebook page.
Teams in Bold advanced to the quarter-finals.
| SPFL | Teams from other countries |
| Championship Alloa Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Queen of the South Ross County League One Arbroath East Fife Montrose League Two Edinburgh City Queen's Park Premiership U21s Motherwell U21 St Mirren U21 | National League Sutton United NIFL Premiership Coleraine Welsh Premier League Connah's Quay Nomads Premier Division Bohemians Sligo Rovers |

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

The draw for the quarter-finals was made on 16 October 2018 at 1pm at The Hub in Edinburgh live on the SPFL Facebook page.
Teams in Bold advanced to the semi-finals.
| | Teams from other countries |
| Championship Alloa Athletic Ross County League One East Fife League Two Edinburgh City Queen's Park Premiership U21s Motherwell U21 | Welsh Premier League Connah's Quay Nomads Premier Division Bohemians |

### Matches
#### Notes

* ^ B-The Bohemians-East Fife match was originally due to take place on 17 November 2018 but was rearranged as the Irish football season had finished. It was rearranged to be played on 2 February 2019 but was called off due to a frozen pitch at 14:53, seven minutes before kick-off. Following discussions with the SPFL in an attempt to rearrange the fixture again, Bohemians withdrew from the competition and East Fife advanced to the semi-finals.

## Semi-finals
### Draw

The draw for the semi-finals was made on 21 November 2018 at 1pm at Hampden Park live on the SPFL Facebook page.

## 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 | Aidan Fitzpatrick | Partick Thistle | 5–0 v Stranraer (A) |
| Second Round | Mikey Drennan | Sligo Rovers | 4–1 v Livingston U21s (H) |
| Third Round | Christian Mbulu | Motherwell U21s | 2–0 v Sligo Rovers (H) |
| Quarter-finals | Scott Shepherd | Edinburgh City | 2–2 v Alloa Athletic (H) |
| Semi-finals | Ross Stewart | Ross County | 2–1 v East Fife (H) |

## 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.
One of the semi-final matches was also confirmed as being broadcast live on BT Sport despite no apparent previous announcement of rights.
The following matches were broadcast live on UK television:
| Round | BBC Alba | S4C | BT Sport |
| Second Round | | The New Saints v Queen's Park | |
| Third Round | Arbroath v Edinburgh City | Connah's Quay Nomads v Coleraine | |
| Quarter-Finals | Queen's Park v Connah's Quay Nomads | | |
| Semi-Finals | Ross County v East Fife | Connah's Quay Nomads v Edinburgh City | Ross County v East Fife |
| Final | Ross County v Connah's Quay Nomads | Ross County v Connah's Quay Nomads | Ross County v Connah's Quay Nomads |