The draw for the newly sponsored Premier Sports Cup (Scottish League Cup) group stage of the 2021/22 season is now complete.
Rangers are the record holders of the cup, winning 27 times. St Johnstone are the current holders, after beating Livingston 1–0 at Hampden Park on 28 February 2021.
The draw for the first round group stage of the 2021/22 Premier Sports Cup was made on Friday the 28th of May with it streamed on YouTube at 1.00pm.
It was also shown live by Premier Sports via their FreeSports channel. FreeSports was available on Freeview HD channel 64, Sky HD channel 422, Virgin HD 553, TalkTalk 64, BT Vision channel 64 and was also available on the FreeSports Player — www.freesportsplayer.tv
With five SPFL clubs taking part in UEFA competitions next season, the Premier Sports Cup group stage draw will involve the other 37 SPFL clubs from 2020/21 plus Highland League champions Brora Rangers and Lowland League champions Kelty Hearts.
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The new, additional slot in the group stage will be taken this year by East Kilbride, who finished as runners-up in the Lowland League this season. This follows the drawing of lots between East Kilbride and Fraserburgh, the Highland League runners-up.
Those 40 teams were drawn into eight groups of five on a seeded and regionalised basis. Details of the seeding pots will be confirmed ahead of the draw.
The eight group winners and three best runners-up will join European qualifiers Rangers, Celtic, Hibernian, Aberdeen and cup holders St Johnstone in the last 16 of the competition.
Premier Sports Cup 2021/22 dates
Group stage
MD1: Weekend of July 10th/11th
MD2: Midweek of July 13th/14th
MD3: Weekend of July 17th/18th
MD4: Midweek of July 20th/21th
MD5: Weekend of July 24th/25th
Second round
Weekend of August 14th/15th
Quarter-finals
Midweek of September 21-23th
Semi-finals
Weekend of November 20th/21th
Final
Sunday December 19th
North section first seeds
1 Livingston
2 Dundee United
3 Ross County
4 Heart of Midlothian
North section second seeds
5 Dundee
6 Raith Rovers
7 Inverness Caledonian Thistle
8 Arbroath
North section unseeded clubs
9 Alloa Athletic
10 Cove Rangers
11 Montrose
12 East Fife
13 Peterhead
14 Forfar Athletic
15 Elgin City
16 Stirling Albion
17 Cowdenbeath
18 Brechin City
19 Brora Rangers
20 Kelty Hearts
South section first seeds
21 St Mirren
22 Motherwell
23 Kilmarnock
24 Hamilton Academical
South section second seeds
25 Dunfermline Athletic
26 Queen of the South
27 Ayr United
28 Morton
South section unseeded clubs
29 Partick Thistle
30 Airdrieonians
31 Falkirk
32 Clyde
33 Dumbarton
34 Queen’s Park
35 Edinburgh City
36 Stranraer
37 Stenhousemuir
38 Albion Rovers
39 Annan Athletic
40 East Kilbride
Right enough chit chat, with the draw complete for Premier Sports Cup group stage, this is how it played out (keep refreshing for updates)…
THE FULL DRAW:
GROUP A (NORTH) – Heart of Midlothian, Inverness, Peterhead, Cove Rangers, Stirling Albion
GROUP B (NORTH) – Dundee United, Arbroath, East Fife, Elgin City, Kelty Hearts
GROUP C (NORTH) – Ross County, Dundee, Forfar Athletic, Montrose, Brora Rangers
GROUP D (NORTH) – Livingston, Raith Rovers, Alloa Athletic, Cowdenbeath, Brechin City
GROUP E (SOUTH) – Hamilton Academical, Ayr United, Falkirk, Albion Rovers, Edinburgh City
GROUP F (SOUTH) – Motherwell, Queen of the South, Airdrieonians, Annan Athletic, Queen’s Park
GROUP G (SOUTH) – Kilmarnock, Greenock Morton, Clyde, Stranraer, East Kilbride
GROUP H (SOUTH) – St Mirren, Dunfermline Athletic, Stenhousemuir, Partick Thistle, Dumbarton
PERFORMANCE BY CLUB:
Rangers – 27 time winner, 8 time runner up
Celtic – 19 time winner, 15 time runner up
Aberdeen – 6 time winner, 9 time runner up
Hearts – 4 time winner, 3 time runner up
Hibernian – 3 time winner, 7 time runner up
Dundee – 3 time winner, 3 time runner up
East Fife – 3 time winner
Dundee United – 2 time winner, 5 time runner up
Kilmarnock – 1 time winner, 5 time runner up
Motherwell – 1 time winner, 3 time runner up
Partick Thistle – 1 time winner, 3 time runner up
St Johnstone – 1 time winner, 2 time runner up
St Mirren – 1 time winner, 2 time runner up
Livingston – 1 time winner, 1 time runner up
Raith Rovers – 1 time winner, 1 time runner up
Ross County – 1 time winner
Dunfermline Athletic – 3 time runner up
Falkirk – 1 time runner up
Third Lanark – 1 time runner up
Greenock Morton – 1 time runner up
Ayr United – 1 time runner up
Inverness Caledonian Thistle – 1 time runner up
PREVIOUS SPONSORS OF THE CUP:
1946–78 – No sponsor – Scottish League Cup
1979–81 – Bell’s whisky – Bell’s League Cup
1981–84 – No sponsor – Scottish League Cup
1984–92 – Skol Lager – Skol Cup
1992–94 – No sponsor – Scottish League Cup
1994–98 – Coca-Cola – Coca-Cola Cup
1998–99 – No sponsor – Scottish League Cup
1999–2008 – CIS Insurance – CIS Insurance Cup
2008–11 – The Co-operative Insurance – Co-operative Insurance Cup
2011–13 – Scottish Government – Scottish Communities League Cup
2013–15 – No sponsor – Scottish League Cup
2015 – QTS Group – The Scottish League Cup presented by QTS (semi-finals and final only)
2015–16 – Utilita Energy – The Scottish League Cup presented by Utilita
2016–21 – Betfred – Betfred Cup
2021–present – Premier Sports – Premier Sports Cup
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