List of Scottish League Cup winning managers

Last updated June 02, 2025

This is a list of Scottish League Cup winning football managers. The Scottish League Cup is a knockout cup competition in Scottish football, organised by the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). It is considered to be the second most important domestic cup competition in Scottish football, after the Scottish Cup. The competition is open to all 42 members of the SPFL, as well as invited sides from the Highland League and Lowland League.

The competition was established in 1947, under a format used by the Southern League Cup which operated as a regional tournament (national for its last season) during World War II. The Scottish League Cup was formed, operated by and named after the Scottish Football League (SFL), who continued to operate it after the top division clubs formed the Scottish Premier League (SPL) in 1998. The competition is now organised by the SPFL, the body formed by the merger of the SPL and SFL in 2013.

Bill Struth, with Rangers in 1946–47, was the first team manager to win the competition. This list gives details of the winning club and their manager in each season since then. Scot Symon, Jock Stein and Walter Smith are the most successful managers in the history of the competition, having each won 6 Scottish League Cups during their careers.

Winning managers

Final	Manager	Nationality	Club	Ref
1946–47	Bill Struth	Scotland	Rangers
1947–48	Scot Symon	Scotland	East Fife
1948–49	Bill Struth (2)	Scotland	Rangers
1949–50	Scot Symon (2)	Scotland	East Fife
1950–51	George Stevenson	Scotland	Motherwell
1951–52	George Anderson	England	Dundee
1952–53	George Anderson (2)	England	Dundee
1953–54	Jerry Dawson	Scotland	East Fife
1954–55	Tommy Walker	Scotland	Heart of Midlothian
1955–56	Davie Shaw	Scotland	Aberdeen
1956–57	Jimmy McGrory	Scotland	Celtic
1957–58	Jimmy McGrory (2)	Scotland	Celtic
1958–59	Tommy Walker (2)	Scotland	Heart of Midlothian
1959–60	Tommy Walker (3)	Scotland	Heart of Midlothian
1960–61	Scot Symon (3)	Scotland	Rangers
1961–62	Scot Symon (4)	Scotland	Rangers
1962–63	Tommy Walker (4)	Scotland	Heart of Midlothian
1963–64	Scot Symon (5)	Scotland	Rangers
1964–65	Scot Symon (6)	Scotland	Rangers
1965–66	Jock Stein	Scotland	Celtic
1966–67	Jock Stein (2)	Scotland	Celtic
1967–68	Jock Stein (3)	Scotland	Celtic
1968–69	Jock Stein (4)	Scotland	Celtic
1969–70	Jock Stein (5)	Scotland	Celtic
1970–71	Willie Waddell	Scotland	Rangers
1971–72	Davie McParland	Scotland	Partick Thistle
1972–73	Eddie Turnbull	Scotland	Hibernian
1973–74	David White	Scotland	Dundee
1974–75	Jock Stein (6)	Scotland	Celtic
1975–76	Jock Wallace	Scotland	Rangers
1976–77	Ally MacLeod	Scotland	Aberdeen
1977–78	Jock Wallace (2)	Scotland	Rangers
1978–79	John Greig	Scotland	Rangers
1979–80	Jim McLean	Scotland	Dundee United
1980–81	Jim McLean (2)	Scotland	Dundee United
1981–82	John Greig (2)	Scotland	Rangers
1982–83	Billy McNeill	Scotland	Celtic
1983–84	Jock Wallace (3)	Scotland	Rangers
1984–85	Jock Wallace (4)	Scotland	Rangers
1985–86	Alex Ferguson	Scotland	Aberdeen
1986–87	Graeme Souness	Scotland	Rangers
1987–88	Graeme Souness (2)	Scotland	Rangers
1988–89	Graeme Souness (3)	Scotland	Rangers
1989–90	Alex Smith and Jocky Scott	Scotland	Aberdeen	^{[note 1]}
1990–91	Graeme Souness (4)	Scotland	Rangers
1991–92	Alex Miller	Scotland	Hibernian
1992–93	Walter Smith	Scotland	Rangers
1993–94	Walter Smith (2)	Scotland	Rangers
1994–95	Jimmy Nicholl	Northern Ireland	Raith Rovers	^[1]
1995–96	Roy Aitken	Scotland	Aberdeen
1996–97	Walter Smith (3)	Scotland	Rangers
1997–98	Wim Jansen	Netherlands	Celtic
1998–99	Dick Advocaat	Netherlands	Rangers
1999–2000	Kenny Dalglish	Scotland	Celtic
2000–01	Martin O'Neill	Northern Ireland	Celtic
2001–02	Alex McLeish	Scotland	Rangers
2002–03	Alex McLeish (2)	Scotland	Rangers
2003–04	David Hay	Scotland	Livingston
2004–05	Alex McLeish (3)	Scotland	Rangers
2005–06	Gordon Strachan	Scotland	Celtic
2006–07	John Collins	Scotland	Hibernian
2007–08	Walter Smith (4)	Scotland	Rangers
2008–09	Gordon Strachan (2)	Scotland	Celtic
2009–10	Walter Smith (5)	Scotland	Rangers
2010–11	Walter Smith (6)	Scotland	Rangers
2011–12	Kenny Shiels	Northern Ireland	Kilmarnock	^[2]
2012–13	Danny Lennon	Northern Ireland	St Mirren	^[3]
2013–14	Derek McInnes	Scotland	Aberdeen
2014–15	Ronny Deila	Norway	Celtic
2015–16	Jim McIntyre	Scotland	Ross County	^[4]
2016–17	Brendan Rodgers	Northern Ireland	Celtic
2017–18	Brendan Rodgers (2)	Northern Ireland	Celtic
2018–19	Brendan Rodgers (3)	Northern Ireland	Celtic
2019–20	Neil Lennon	Northern Ireland	Celtic
2020–21	Callum Davidson	Scotland	St Johnstone
2021–22	Ange Postecoglou	Australia	Celtic
2022–23	Ange Postecoglou (2)	Australia	Celtic
2023–24	Philippe Clement	Belgium	Rangers
2024–25	Brendan Rodgers (4)	Northern Ireland	Celtic

By individual

Rank	Name	Wins	Club(s)	Winning Seasons
1	Walter Smith	6	Rangers	1992–93, 1993–94, 1996–97, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11
=	Jock Stein	6	Celtic	1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1974–75
=	Scot Symon	6	East Fife, Rangers	1947–48, 1949–50, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1963–64, 1964–65
4	Brendan Rodgers	4	Celtic	2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2024–25
=	Graeme Souness	4	Rangers	1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1990–91
=	Tommy Walker	4	Heart of Midlothian	1954–55, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1962–63
=	Jock Wallace	4	Rangers	1975–76, 1977–78, 1983–84, 1984–85
8	Alex McLeish	3	Rangers	2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05
9	George Anderson	2	Dundee	1951–52, 1952–53
=	John Greig	2	Rangers	1978–79, 1981–82
=	Jimmy McGrory	2	Celtic	1956–57, 1957–58
=	Jim McLean	2	Dundee United	1979–80, 1980–81
=	Ange Postecoglou	2	Celtic	2021–22, 2022–23
=	Gordon Strachan	2	Celtic	2005–06, 2008–09
=	Bill Struth	2	Rangers	1946–47, 1948–49

By nationality

Country	Managers	Total
Scotland	31	62
Northern Ireland	6	9
Netherlands	2	2
Belgium	1	1
England	1	2
Norway	1	1
Australia	1	2

Notes

↑ Alex Smith and Jocky Scott were "co-managers" of Aberdeen.

References

↑ Wilson, Richard (27 November 2014). "Year the streets of Raith truly danced after League Cup win". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
↑ "Kilmarnock part company with manager Kenny Shiels". BBC Sport. BBC. 11 June 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
↑ "Clyde: Danny Lennon becomes manager after impressive analysis of Stirling game". BBC Sport. BBC. 13 November 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
↑ "Ross County sack manager Jim McIntyre and assistant Billy Dodds". BBC Sport. BBC. 25 September 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017.

External links

Scotland - List of League Cup Finals

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[1] Alex Smith and Jocky Scott were "co-managers" of Aberdeen.

[2] Wilson, Richard (27 November 2014). "Year the streets of Raith truly danced after League Cup win". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 26 December 2017.

[3] "Kilmarnock part company with manager Kenny Shiels". BBC Sport. BBC. 11 June 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2017.

[4] "Clyde: Danny Lennon becomes manager after impressive analysis of Stirling game". BBC Sport. BBC. 13 November 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017.

[5] "Ross County sack manager Jim McIntyre and assistant Billy Dodds". BBC Sport. BBC. 25 September 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017.

[note 1]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Scottish League Cup
Seasons	1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Finals	1947 (April) 1947 (October) 1949 (March) 1949 (October) 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1969 (April) 1969 (October) 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1978 1979 (March) 1979 (December) 1980 1981 1982 1984 (March) 1984 (October) 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 (March) 2016 (November) 2017 2018 2019 2021 (February) 2021 (December) 2023 (February) 2023 (December) 2024
Finals Winning managers