| Scottish League Cup | |
| Year: | 2024–25 |
| Country: | Scotland |
| Dates: | 13 July – 15 December 2024 |
| Num Teams: | 45 |
| Defending Champions: | Rangers |
| Matches: | 88 |
| Goals: | 288 |
| Attendance: | 187,162 |
| Scoring Leader: | Ben Wilson (6 goals) |
| Prev Season: | 2023–24 |
| Next Season: | 2025–26 |
| Updated: | 18 August 2024 |
The 2024–25 Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the 79th season of Scotland's second-most prestigious football knockout competition. Rangers are the defending champions.
| Round | First match date | Fixtures | width=100 | Clubs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | Group stage | align=left | 13 July 2024[1] | 80 | 45 → 16 | |
| align=left | Second round | align=left | 17 August 2024 | 8 | 16 → 8 | |
| align=left | Quarter-finals | align=left | 21 September 2024 | 4 | 8 → 4 | |
| align=left | Semi-finals | align=left | 2 November 2024 | 2 | 4 → 2 | |
| align=left | Final | align=left | 15 December 2024 | 1 | 2 → 1 |
The competition began with eight groups of five teams.[2] The five clubs initially competing in the UEFA Champions League (Celtic and Rangers), Europa League (Heart of Midlothian and Kilmarnock) and Conference League (St Mirren) received a bye to the second round. The group stage consists of 40 teams: all remaining teams that competed across the SPFL in 2023–24, the 2023–24 Highland Football League champions (Buckie Thistle) and runners-up (Brechin City), and the 2023–24 Lowland Football League champions (East Kilbride).[2]
The winners of each of the eight groups, as well as the three best runners-up, progressed to the second round (last 16). At this stage, the competition reverts to the traditional knock-out format. The three group winners with the highest points total and the European entrants were seeded.
The traditional point system of awarding three points for a win and one point for a draw was used. In addition, for each group stage match that finishes in a draw, a penalty shoot-out took place, with the winner being awarded a bonus point.[3]
See main article: 2024–25 Scottish League Cup group stage. The teams were seeded according to their final league positions in 2023–24 and drawn into eight groups, with each group comprising one team from each pot. The draw for the group stage took place on 29 May 2024 and was broadcast live on the Premier Sports and SPFL YouTube channels.[4]
Celtic, Rangers, Heart of Midlothian, Kilmarnock and St Mirren entered the competition at this stage, due to their participation in UEFA club competitions.[2]
Teams in bold advanced to the quarter-finals.
The draw for the quarter-finals took place on 18 August 2024 following the Celtic v Hibernian match live on Premier Sports 1.[5]
The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition are held exclusively by Premier Sports, who will broadcast between 12 and 16 live matches per season, as well as highlights.[6] Premier Sports further announced they would stream up to 25 additional games from the group stage on their website. The Irish broadcaster will also broadcast all games live from the second round onwards, either streamed or televised, subject to blackout rules.[7]
The following matches will be broadcast live:
| Round | Date | Match |
|---|---|---|
| Group stage | 13 July 2024(Matchday 1) |
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| 16 July 2024 (Matchday 2) |
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| 20 July 2024(Matchday 3) |
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| 23 July 2024(Matchday 4) |
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| 27 July 2024(Matchday 5) |
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| 28 July 2024(Matchday 5) | Motherwell v Partick Thistle | |
| Second Round | 17 August 2024 |
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| 18 August 2024 |
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| Quarter-Finals | 20 September 2024 |
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| 21 September 2024 |
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| 22 September 2024 |
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