John Grant Robertson is a Scottish professional football coach and former player, who is currently the sporting director of Inverness Caledonian Thistle. His playing career included spells at Newcastle United, Dundee and Livingston, but he is best known for his two spells at Heart of Midlothian totalling about 18 years, where he is the club's all-time leading goalscorer. He has since managed Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Heart of Midlothian, Ross County, Livingston, Derry City and East Fife.
The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Scottish League Challenge Cup or Scottish Challenge Cup, and currently known as the SPFL Trust Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an association football knock-out cup competition run by the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). It is recognised as the third most prestigious knockout trophy in Scottish football, after the Scottish Cup and the Scottish League Cup.
Association football is one of the national sports of Scotland and the most popular sport in the country. There is a long tradition of "football" games in Orkney, Lewis and southern Scotland, especially the Scottish Borders, although many of these include carrying the ball and passing by hand, and despite bearing the name "football" bear little resemblance to association football.
John "Yogi" Hughes is a Scottish professional football coach and former player.
Jonathan Hayes is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a winger for the Scottish Premiership team Aberdeen and Republic of Ireland.
Adam Christopher David Rooney is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a striker for National League North club Brackley Town. He previously played for Stoke City, spent spells on loan at Yeovil Town, Chesterfield and Bury, was a regular first-team member for Inverness Caledonian Thistle, and played for Birmingham City and had a loan spell at Swindon Town. He played for Oldham Athletic and spent four-and-a-half seasons with Aberdeen before returning to England to sign for Salford City, with whom he gained promotion to the Football League. He returned to non-league football with Solihull Moors in 2020, and moved on to Stratford Town and then Brackley Town in 2022.
John James Ross is a Scottish professional football coach and former player, who was most recently the manager of Dundee United in the Scottish Premiership.
Leigh Griffiths is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Australian club Mandurah City.
Steven May is a Scottish professional footballer who plays for Scottish Premiership club St Johnstone as a striker. May has previously played in the Scottish leagues for St Johnstone, Alloa Athletic, Hamilton Academical and Aberdeen and in the English leagues for Sheffield Wednesday and Preston North End. He has been capped once internationally by Scotland.
The 2016–17 Scottish Challenge Cup, known as the IRN-BRU Cup due to sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season of the competition. The tournament took on a different format from previous seasons with a total of 54 teams participating. It was the first season with two clubs from both Northern Ireland and Wales competing alongside the 30 members of the 2016–17 Scottish Championship, 2016–17 Scottish League One and 2016–17 Scottish League Two, four teams from the 2016–17 Highland Football League and four from the 2016–17 Lowland Football League as well as the Under-20 teams of the teams competing in the 2016–17 Scottish Premiership.
Gavin Whyte is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Cardiff City and the Northern Ireland national team.
The 2017 Scottish Challenge Cup final, also known as the Irn-Bru Cup final for sponsorship reasons, is a football match that took place on 25 March 2017 at Fir Park, between Dundee United and St Mirren. It was the 26th final of the Scottish Challenge Cup since it was first organised in 1990 to celebrate the centenary of the now defunct Scottish Football League and the fourth since the Scottish Professional Football League was formed. Both teams progressed through four elimination rounds to reach the final. The match was won by Dundee United 2–1, marking their first win in the tournament since its inception and their first silverware since the 2009–10 Scottish 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 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.
The 2018–19 Scottish Premiership was the sixth season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football. The fixtures were published on 15 June 2018 and the season began on 4 August 2018.
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.
Scottish football clubs have participated in European association football competitions since 1955, when Hibernian entered the inaugural European Cup.
The 2019 Scottish Challenge Cup final, also known as the IRN-BRU Cup final for sponsorship reasons, was a football match that took place on 23 March 2019, between Ross County and Connah's Quay Nomads. It was the 28th final of the Scottish Challenge Cup since it was first organised in 1990 to celebrate the centenary of the now defunct Scottish Football League, and the sixth since the SPFL was formed. Connah's Quay became the first club from outside Scotland to reach the final since the competition was first expanded to include guest teams from other countries in 2016–17.
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 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.
The 2020 Scottish Challenge Cup final, also known as the Tunnocks Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup final for sponsorship reasons, was a football match that was scheduled to take place between Raith Rovers and Inverness Caledonian Thistle, but was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of contesting the final at a later date, the two clubs shared the cup.
The 2022 Scottish Challenge Cup final, also known as the SPFL Trust Trophy final for sponsorship reasons, was a football match that took place on 3 April 2022 between Raith Rovers and Queen of the South. It was the 29th final of the Scottish Challenge Cup since it was first organised in 1990 to celebrate the centenary of the now defunct Scottish Football League, and the seventh since the SPFL was formed. It was the first final played since 2019, as the 2020 final and the 2020–21 competition were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Connah's Quay Nomads (h) 
Crusaders (h) 
