Scottish Junior Cup

The Scottish Junior Cup is an annual football competition organised by the Scottish Junior Football Association. The competition has been held every year since the inception of the SJFA on the 2nd October 1886 and, as of the 2023–24 edition, 112 teams compete in the tournament. The cup has an unseeded knockout format with no replays, semi-finals played over two legs, and the final usually played at a neutral venue of an SPFL club.

Since the 2006–07 season, the winner of the Junior Cup Final has qualified for the following season's senior Scottish Cup. The competition is named the Clydebuilt Home Improvements Scottish Junior Cup for sponsorship reasons.

Darvel are the current holders, having defeated Arthurlie 2–1 in the final on 2 June 2024 at Broadwood Stadium to win the trophy for the first time.

Format

The competition is open to all member clubs of Scottish Junior Football Association, and all clubs in tier 6 and below in the Scottish pyramid system on payment of entry fee, subject to the approval of the committee.

Matches which are tied after 90 minutes proceed directly to penalty kicks, and semi-finals take place over two legs. Prior to the 2020–21 season, drawn matches were replayed.

History

The Cup has been competed for since the 1886–87 season, when Fairfield Govan became the first winners. The SJFA purchased an exact replica in 2007, to replace the original which was showing its age.

Auchinleck Talbot are the most successful club, winning the trophy 14 times to date, including three times in a row from 1986 to 1988 and 2018 to 2022 (no team won in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

The record attendance for a Junior Cup Final is 77,650 for the 1951 final between Petershill and Irvine Meadow XI.

In 2010, Linlithgow Rose lifted the Scottish Junior Cup for the fourth time in their history and third in a decade. They now join a small group of teams that have managed to lift the cup more than three times.

Sponsorship

The cup's long-term sponsor, the OVD Rum company, which, as of 2006, had an eighteen-year-long association with the competition, withdrew their backing before the start of the 2006–07 competition. Unlike most other sponsored contests whose names change often, OVD had become so ingrained into the Scottish Junior Cup that it was often simply referred to as the "OVD Junior Cup". The Scottish Junior Football Association announced in 2006 that they would provide the sponsorship and prize money themselves, meaning the cup would be known simply as the Scottish Junior Cup. A new sponsor was found during the 2006–07 competition for the semi-finals and final - Scottish Citylink, a long-distance coach operator. The competition was sponsored by Emirates between 2009 and 2013. The tournament was without a sponsor in 2013–14, with Barr Construction sponsoring the final only, then the SJFA entered a partnership with Dementia Scotland for the latter stages of the 2014–15 competition.

The cup had been without a sponsor since ETHX Energy sponsored the 2015-16 competition, however in 2018 sportswear company Macron sponsored the tournament for three seasons.

Finals

• (R) = Won after a replay/2nd replay.
• (aet) = Result after extra time.
• (P) = Won on penalties.

Club Performance

As of after 2023–24

Clubs which are currently members of the SJFA are indicated in bold.

League Performance

As of after 2023–24

References

• McGlone, David; McLure, Bill (1987). The Juniors - 100 Years. A Centenary History of Scottish Junior Football. Mainstream. ISBN 1-85158-060-3.
• Purdie, Tom (2011). The Scottish Junior Cup 1946-1975. Amberley. ISBN 9781445611167.

External links

• Results of all ties from 1886-1950 at SCOTTISH FOOTBALL HISTORICAL ARCHIVE
• Finals 1887–1956
• Finals 1957–2009
• Scottish Junior Football Association
• Scottish Junior Football Association East Region