2020–21 Scottish League Cup


The 2020–21 Scottish League Cup will be the 75th season of Scotland's second-most prestigious football knockout competition.
The format for the 2020–21 competition will be the same as the previous four seasons.
It is expected to begin with eight groups of five teams including all 2019–20 Scottish Professional Football League clubs, excluding those competing in Champions League and Europa League qualifiers, as well as the winners of the 2019–20 Highland Football League and the 2019–20 Lowland Football League which is still to be confirmed.
The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition is held exclusively by Premier Sports.

Schedule

Format

The competition is expected to begin with eight groups of five teams. The four clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League and Europa League qualifying rounds are given a bye through to the second round. The 40 teams competing in the group stage consists of the other eight teams that competed in the 2019–20 Scottish Premiership, and all of the teams that competed in the 2019–20 Scottish Championship, 2019–20 Scottish League One and 2019–20 Scottish League Two. The 2019–20 Highland Football League and the 2019–20 Lowland Football League champions are also expected to compete.
The winners of each of the eight groups, as well as the four best runners-up will progress to the second round, which includes the four UEFA qualifying clubs. At this stage, the competition reverts to the traditional knock-out format. The four group winners with the highest points total and the clubs entering at this stage are seeded, with the four group winners with the lowest points unseeded along with the four best runners-up.

Bonus point system

In December 2015, the SPFL announced that alongside the new group stage format, a bonus point system would be introduced to provide greater excitement and increase the number of meaningful games at this stage. The traditional point system of awarding three points for a win and one point for a draw is used, however, for each group stage match that finishes in a draw, a penalty shoot-out takes place, with the winner being awarded a bonus point.

Media coverage

The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition are held exclusively by Premier Sports who will broadcast between 12 and 16 Betfred Cup live matches per season as well as highlights.