| 1880–81 Scottish Cup | |
| Country: | Scotland |
| Num Teams: | 135 |
| Defending Champions: | Queen's Park |
| Winners: | Queen's Park (fifth title) |
| Second: | Dumbarton |
| Matches: | 121 |
| Goals: | 554 |
| Prev Season: | 1879–80 |
| Next Season: | 1881–82 |
The 1880–81 Scottish Cup – officially the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup – was the eighth season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. Defending champions Queen's Park retained the cup and won the competition for the fifth time after they beat Dumbarton 3–1 in a replayed final which saw Dr John Smith score the first Scottish Cup final hat-trick on 9 April 1881.[1] [2] [3]
As with the previous competitions, the eighth edition of the Scottish Cup took on the format of a traditional knockout tournament.[3] For the earlier rounds, the names of competing teams were placed into lots according to their districts and drawn into pairs. The home team for each tie was determined by the toss of a coin unless it was mutually agreed or only one of the two clubs drawn against one another had a private ground. In the event of a draw, the team who lost the toss would have the choice of ground for the replay. A similar procedure was used for subsequent rounds however, any club which had received a bye in the previous round would first be drawn against one of the winners of the previous round. The names of winning teams were placed into one lot for later rounds. The choice of venue for the final matches was reserved to the Scottish Football Association.[4]
| Round | First match date | Fixtures | Clubs | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=55 | Original | width=55 | Byes | width=55 | Replays | |
| First Round | 4 September 1880 | 65 | 6 | 3 | 136 → 71 | |
| Second Round | 2 October 1880 | 33 | 5 | 5 | 71 → 38 | |
| Third Round | 23 October 1880 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 38 → 21 | |
| Fourth Round | 13 November 1880 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 21 → 11 | |
| Fifth Round | 4 December 1880 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 11 → 6 | |
| Quarter-finals | 25 December 1880 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 → 3 | |
| Semi-finals | 5 February 1881 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 → 2 | |
| Final | 26 March 1881 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 → 1 | |
All 136 teams entered the competition in the first round.
| Ayrshire | Glasgow and Suburbs | Lanarkshire | Renfrewshire | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | ||||||
| Dunbartonshire | Edinburghshire and Fifeshire | Perthshire and Forfarshire | Stirlingshire | Wigtownshire and Dumfriesshire | ||||||
| valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | ||||||
Possil Bluebell received a bye to the second round. Glasgow University received a bye to the third round.
Glengowan received a bye to the second round.
Vale of Leven received a bye to the second round.
Hibernian received a bye to the second round. Edinburgh University received a bye to the third round.
Sources:[5]
Cartside received a bye to the third round.
Lenzie received a bye to the third round.
Heart of Midlothian received a bye to the third round.
Sources:[5]
Glasgow University and South Western received a bye to the fourth round.
Clarkston received a bye to the fourth round.
Edinburgh University received a bye to the fourth round.
Sources:[5]
Thistle received a bye to the fifth round.
Sources:[5]
Central received a bye to the quarter-finals.
Sources:[5]
Sources:[5]
Queen's Park received a bye to the final.
Sources:[5]
See main article: 1881 Scottish Cup final.