The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Rules of the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup. , Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 2 September 2014. commonly known as the Scottish CupScottish Cup. , Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 2 September 2014., is an annual association football knock-out cup competition for men's football clubs in Scotland. The competition was first held in 1873–74. Entry is open to all 134 clubs with full membership of the Scottish Football Association (SFA), along with up to eight other clubs who are associate members.Archives – The Cup. , Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 2 September 2014. The competition is called Scottish Gas Men's Scottish Cup for sponsorship reasons.
Although it is the second-oldest competition in association football history, after the English FA Cup, the Scottish Cup trophy is the oldest in association football and is also the oldest national trophy in the world. It was first presented to Queen's Park, who won the final match of the inaugural tournament in March 1874. The current holders are Celtic, who won the tournament by defeating Dunfermline Athletic in the 2026 final.
Format The tournament starts at the beginning of the Scottish football season, in August. The Scottish Cup Final is usually the last game of the season, taking place at the end of May. Participating teams enter the tournament at different stages depending on their league ranking.William Hill Scottish Cup Format & Composition 2014-15 , scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 5 June 2015. The lowest ranked clubs enter the tournament at the preliminary round whilst the highest ranked, those that compete in the Scottish Premiership, enter at the fourth round stage in January.
The competition is a knock-out tournament. In each round of games, the teams are paired at random, with the first team drawn listed as the home team. Every game lasts 90 minutes plus any additional stoppage time. The winner of each game advances to the next round, whilst the loser is eliminated from the tournament. In prior seasons, if a game ended in a draw before the fourth round, the fixture was replayed at the home ground of the other team at a later date, before the fourth round. If the replay also ended in a draw, a penalty shoot-out took place to decide the winner. From the fourth round onwards, if the game ended in a draw there was no replay; 30 minutes of extra time would be played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if there is still no winner. Following a vote by the Scottish FA's member clubs in August 2022, it was decided that, for the 2022—23 competition, there would be no replays following the preliminary round, extra time and penalties will be used to decide the winner of drawn games from Round One onwards.
The competition has a staggered entry system. The preliminary rounds are contested by qualifiers and clubs who are compete in a league below tier 5 in the Scottish pyramid. Eighteen Highland League and thirty-two Lowland League clubs begin in the first round. Ten Scottish League Two clubs enter the second round. Scottish League One and Scottish Championship clubs start in the third round, then finally twelve Scottish Premiership clubs enter in the fourth round.
Eligible clubs and players Any club that is a full or associate member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) is entitled to compete in the tournament. Full members qualify automatically, which includes every team that plays in the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), Highland League, and Lowland League. Between 1895 and 2007, clubs that were SFA members but not competitors in the country's professional football leagues could only qualify for the tournament through the Scottish Qualifying Cup.
Clubs which are not full members of the SFA may still qualify for the tournament by winning one of the six leagues at tier 6 in the Scottish football league system (East, Midlands, North Caledonian, North Region, South, West) or the East, South and West of Scotland Cup-Winners Shield. Clubs that are members of the Scottish Junior Football Association (SJFA) have been able to qualify since 2007 by winning the Scottish Junior Cup. And, since 2015, the winners of the Scottish Amateur Cup are also eligible to qualify.
Players that are registered with a competing club are eligible to play, however, cannot represent more than one club during the same tournament. Each club names eleven players and up to seven substitutes before every match. In order to play in the final match, a player must have also been registered to compete in the semi-final round for the same club. If a club fields a player that is not registered, the club may be expelled from the tournament.Buckie reinstated in Scottish Cup after East Stirlingshire expulsion , sport.stv.tv. STV Sport. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
Venues Before the semi-final and final rounds, the venue of each match is determined when the fixtures are drawn; the first club drawn in a fixture is named the home team and chooses the venue for the match, usually its own home ground. In the event of a game ending in a draw, the venue for the replay is the home ground of the second club drawn. The semi-final ties are played at a neutral venue; usually Hampden Park in Glasgow.Celtic Park and Ibrox announced as Scottish Cup venues , www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. 30 October 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2014. On occasions when Hampden has been unavailable, such as when it was being renovated in the late 1990s and when it was being transformed into an athletics stadium for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the semi-finals have been hosted at Celtic Park and Ibrox Stadium, also in Glasgow.SFA defends early decision on Scottish Cup venues , www.scotsman.com. The Scotsman. 31 October 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
Hampden Park also usually hosts the final match of the tournament. The venue – across three sites in close proximity bearing the name – has hosted the majority of finals including the first in 1874. Other venues that have hosted the final in the tournament's early years are Hamilton Crescent, Kinning Park and the first Cathkin Park; all in Glasgow (although just outside the city boundaries at the time). The last game of the 1896 tournament is the only final that has been hosted outside Glasgow when rivals Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian played at New Logie Green in Edinburgh.Logie Green: the final Edinburgh didn't want , scotsman.com, The Scotsman. 31 March 2006. Retrieved 2 May 2015. Hampden Park has held world and European records for the highest attendance, some of which were recorded at Scottish Cup games. The 1937 final played between Aberdeen and Celtic attracted a crowd of 147,365 spectators"On this day – 17th April 1937" , scottishfootballmuseum.org.uk. Scottish Football Museum. 17 April 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015. which was a world record for a national cup final and remains a European record.
European qualification As Scotland is a member of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the winner of the Scottish Cup qualifies to compete in European-wide competitions organised by UEFA. Between 1960 and 1998, the Scottish Cup winners qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup along with winners of other domestic cup competitions across Europe before it was abolished.UEFA Cup Winners' Cup - Competition format , uefa.com. UEFA. 13 July 2005. Retrieved 2 May 2015. The Scottish Cup winners now qualify to compete in the following season's UEFA Europa League (formerly known as the UEFA Cup).Regulations for the UEFA Europa League 2015-18 Cycle , uefa.com. UEFA. 20 September 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2015. It is possible for the Scottish Cup winners to have already qualified for a UEFA competition through their league ranking in the Scottish Premiership. In this scenario, the qualification spot passes to the highest ranked team in that competition not yet qualified, rather than to the Scottish Cup runners-up.Strategic talks in Dubrovnik , uefa.org. UEFA. Retrieved 2 May 2015. Until 2014, the Scottish Cup runners-up qualified for European competition if the cup winners had also qualified for the Champions League.
History
The Scottish Football Association was founded in 1873 and the Scottish Cup was created as an annual competition for its members.Brief History of the Scottish FA, scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. Archived from the original on 1 July 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2015. The first Scottish Cup match took place on 18 October 1873 when Renton defeated Kilmarnock 2–0 in the first round.The Scottish Cup - Then and Now, scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. Archived from the original on 27 June 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2015. In its early years, the competition was dominated by Queen's Park who won the final 10 times in the first twenty years.Tennent's Scottish Cup Previous Winners, scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. Archived from the original on 27 June 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2015. Vale of Leven, Dumbarton and Renton were also successful during this period. In 1885, the record margin of victory in the tournament was recorded when Arbroath defeated Bon Accord 36–0 in a first round match. It was also the highest scoring professional football game recorded in history.
Trophy
The Scottish Cup trophy is the oldest surviving national trophy and also the oldest surviving association football trophy in the world.Oldest Association football trophy , guinnessworldrecords.com. Guinness World Records. Retrieved 2 September 2014. (The original FA Cup trophy predated it, but was stolen in 1895 and never recovered.)After 137 years, it's official: Scottish Cup is world football's oldest trophy , scotsman.com. The Scotsman. 4 July 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2015. It was made by silversmith Martin Hall & Co in London in 1873 and has been presented to the winners of the tournament since 1874. The solid silver trophy is in height and weighs . The original trophy is displayed at the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden Park. It is removed once each year to be cleaned and presented to the tournament winners.Scottish Cup named oldest national football trophy , eveningtimes.co.uk. Evening Times. 5 July 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2015. After the presentation ceremony, the trophy is returned to the museum.The Scottish Cup Preparation for the final , scottishfootballmuseum.org.uk. Scottish Football Museum. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2015. A replica of the original trophy is given to the tournament winners after the ceremony and is also used for promotional purposes.
Performances
By club
A total of 34 clubs have appeared in the final, of whom 25 have won the competition. The most successful club in terms of wins and appearances in the final is Celtic, with 43 wins from 62.Scottish FA Cup Honours , statto.com. Retrieved 5 September 2014. Rangers and Celtic have finished runners-up on more occasions than any other club with 19 defeats in the final. The most recent winner is Celtic, who defeated Dunfermline Athletic in the 2026 final.