2015–16 Scottish League Cup

The 2015–16 Scottish League Cup was the 70th season of Scotland's second-most prestigious football knockout competition. It is also known as The Scottish League Cup presented by Utilita for sponsorship reasons.^[2]

2015–16 Scottish League Cup

Country	Scotland
Dates	30 July 2015 – 13 March 2016
Teams	42
Champions	Ross County
Runners-up	Hibernian
Matches played	41
Goals scored	141 (3.44 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Liam Boyce Faissal El Bakhtaoui Jason Cummings (4 goals each)^[1]
← 2014–15 2016–17 →

Ross County defeated Hibernian 2–1 in the final on 13 March.^[3]

Format

The competition is a single elimination knock-out competition. In each round, fixtures are determined by random draw, with the first to third rounds seeded according to last season's league positions (higher 50% of finishers drawn v lower 50% of finishers, alternating which is at home with each tie drawn).

Fixtures are played to a finish, with extra time and then penalties used in the event of draws. The competition is open to all clubs in the Scottish Professional Football League. Clubs involved in European competitions are given a bye to the third round to avoid congestion of fixtures.

Qualified teams

The following teams qualified and competed in the 2015–16 Scottish League Cup.

Scottish Premiership teams

There are 12 teams from the 2014–15 Scottish Premiership.

• Aberdeen
• Celtic
• Dundee
• Dundee United
• Hamilton Academical
• Inverness CT
• Kilmarnock
• Motherwell
• Partick Thistle
• Ross County
• St Johnstone
• St Mirren

Scottish Championship teams

There are 10 teams from the 2014–15 Scottish Championship.

• Alloa Athletic
• Cowdenbeath
• Dumbarton
• Falkirk
• Heart of Midlothian
• Hibernian
• Livingston
• Queen of the South
• Raith Rovers
• Rangers

Scottish League One teams

There are 10 teams from the 2014–15 Scottish League One.

• Airdrieonians
• Ayr United
• Brechin City
• Dunfermline Athletic
• Forfar Athletic
• Greenock Morton
• Peterhead
• Stenhousemuir
• Stirling Albion
• Stranraer

Scottish League Two teams

There are 10 teams from the 2014–15 Scottish League Two.

• Albion Rovers
• Annan Athletic
• Arbroath
• Berwick Rangers
• Clyde
• East Fife
• East Stirlingshire
• Elgin City
• Montrose
• Queen's Park

First round

The first round draw took place on Monday 6 July 2015 at 2:30pm BST at the Hampden Park Stadium. The 30 clubs that participated in the Championship, League One and League Two in the 2014–15 season entered the competition at this stage. The 12 clubs that participated in the 2014–15 Scottish Premiership received a bye.^[4]

Draw and Seeding

Pot 1	Pot 2
Scottish Championship: 01. Heart of Midlothian 02. Hibernian 03. Rangers 04. Queen of the South 05. Falkirk 06. Raith Rovers 07. Dumbarton 08. Livingston 09. Alloa Athletic 10. Cowdenbeath Scottish League One: 11. Greenock Morton 12. Stranraer 13. Forfar Athletic 14. Brechin City 15. Airdrieonians	Scottish League One: 16. Peterhead 17. Dunfermline Athletic 18. Ayr United 19. Stenhousemuir 20. Stirling Albion Scottish League Two: 21. Albion Rovers 22. Queen's Park 23. Arbroath 24. East Fife 25. Annan Athletic 26. Clyde 27. Elgin City 28. Berwick Rangers 29. East Stirlingshire 30. Montrose

Matches

Heart of Midlothian v Arbroath

30 July 2015	Heart of Midlothian	4–2	Arbroath	Edinburgh
19:45	McGhee   57' Sow   60', 61' (pen.) Wilson   90' (o.g.)	BBC Sport Report	Gold   40' Grehan   85'	Stadium: Tynecastle Stadium Attendance: 6,240 Referee: Alan Muir

Falkirk v East Stirlingshire

31 July 2015	Falkirk	5–0	East Stirlingshire	Cumbernauld
19:45	Muirhead   17' Baird   57' Vidler   68' (o.g.) McHugh   70' Alston   78'	BBC Sport Report		Stadium: Broadwood Stadium Attendance: 881 Referee: Salmond

Berwick Rangers v Alloa Athletic

1 August 2015	Berwick Rangers	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Alloa Athletic	Berwick-upon-Tweed
15:00	Lavery   56' Morris   77' Banjo   97'	BBC Sport Report	Flannigan   6', 21'	Stadium: Shielfield Park Attendance: 405 Referee: Charleston

Stirling Albion v Airdrieonians

1 August 2015	Stirling Albion	0–1	Airdrieonians	Stirling
15:00		BBC Sport Report	Morton   41'	Stadium: Forthbank Stadium Attendance: 799 Referee: Roncone

Raith Rovers v Albion Rovers

1 August 2015	Raith Rovers	3–0	Albion Rovers	Kirkcaldy
15:00	Vaughan   16' (pen.) Benedictus   38' McKeown   54'	BBC Sport Report		Stadium: Stark's Park Attendance: 1,163 Referee: Walsh

Annan Athletic v Queen of the South

1 August 2015	Annan Athletic	3–4 (a.e.t.)	Queen of the South	Annan
15:00	Osadolor   59' Weatherson   63', 72' Black   93'   Omar   118'	BBC Sport Report	Conroy   42' Lyle   65', 100' Hilson   90'	Stadium: Galabank Attendance: 1,359 Referee: Graham

Livingston v Clyde

1 August 2015	Livingston	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Clyde	Livingston
15:00	White   110'	BBC Sport Report		Stadium: Almondvale Stadium Attendance: 664 Referee: John McKendrick

Dunfermline Athletic v Cowdenbeath

1 August 2015	Dunfermline Athletic	5–1	Cowdenbeath	Dunfermline
15:00	El Bakhtaoui   49', 90' Byrne   56', 78' Wallace   74' (pen.)	BBC Sport Report	Hughes   58' Andrews   72'	Stadium: East End Park Attendance: 2,756 Referee: Salmond

Hibernian v Montrose

1 August 2015	Hibernian	3–0	Montrose	Edinburgh
15:00	Martin   33' Allan   71' Cummings   82'	BBC Sport Report		Stadium: Easter Road Attendance: 5,933 Referee: Beaton

East Fife v Dumbarton

1 August 2015	East Fife	1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p)	Dumbarton	Methil
15:00	Austin   48'	BBC Sport Report	Cawley   65'	Stadium: Bayview Stadium Attendance: 461 Referee: Kirkland
	Penalties
	Mullen   Naysmith   Walker  Sutherland  Slattery  O'Kane		Taggart   Gallagher   Graham  Craig  Gibson  Cawley

Greenock Morton v Elgin City

1 August 2015	Greenock Morton	5–0	Elgin City	Greenock
15:00	McCluskey   48' Johnstone   68' Scullion   70', 83' Forbes   74' (pen.)	BBC Sport Report		Stadium: Cappielow Attendance: 1,052 Referee: Cook

Queen's Park v Forfar Athletic

1 August 2015	Queen's Park	0–2	Forfar Athletic	Glasgow
15:00		BBC Sport Report	Young   16' Denholm   29'	Stadium: Hampden Park Attendance: 441 Referee: Duncan

Stranraer v Stenhousemuir

1 August 2015	Stranraer	2–0	Stenhousemuir	Stranraer
15:00	Malcolm   15', 90'	BBC Sport Report		Stadium: Stair Park Attendance: 345 Referee: Robertson

Ayr United v Brechin City

1 August 2015	Ayr United	2–0	Brechin City	Ayr
15:00	McLauchlan   12' Boyle   64'	BBC Sport Report		Stadium: Somerset Park Attendance: 976 Referee: Anderson

Rangers v Peterhead

2 August 2015	Rangers	3–0	Peterhead	Glasgow
15:00	Templeton   41' Miller   76' Tavernier   82'	BBC Sport Report		Stadium: Ibrox Stadium Attendance: 25,608 Referee: Aitken

Second round

The second round draw took place on Monday 3 August 2015 at 2:30pm BST at the Hampden Park Stadium. The clubs that finished in the bottom 7 places of last season's Premiership entered at this stage joining the 15 first round winners.^[5]

Draw and Seeding

Pot 1	Pot 2
Scottish Premiership: 01. Dundee 02. Hamilton Academical 03. Partick Thistle 04. Ross County 05. Kilmarnock 06. Motherwell 07. St Mirren Scottish Championship: 08. Heart of Midlothian 09. Hibernian 10. Rangers 11. Queen of the South	Scottish Championship: 12. Falkirk 13. Raith Rovers 14. Livingston Scottish League One: 15. Greenock Morton 16. Stranraer 17. Forfar Athletic 18. Airdrieonians 19. Dunfermline Athletic 20. Ayr United Scottish League Two: 21. East Fife 22. Berwick Rangers

Matches

Ross County v Ayr United

25 August 2015	Ross County	2–0	Ayr United	Dingwall
19:45	Boyce   3' Gardyne   50'	BBC Sport Report		Stadium: Global Energy Stadium Attendance: 1,743 Referee: Charleston

Forfar Athletic v Heart of Midlothian

25 August 2015	Forfar Athletic	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Heart of Midlothian	Forfar
19:45	Dunlop   84' Denholm   90+1'   Nichol   120+1'	BBC Sport Report	McHattie   74' Paterson   107'	Stadium: Station Park Attendance: 1,844 Referee: Aitken

Kilmarnock v Berwick Rangers

25 August 2015	Kilmarnock	4–1	Berwick Rangers	Kilmarnock
19:45	Boyd   16' (pen.) McKenzie   70' Slater   77' Higginbotham   90'	BBC Sport Report	Lavery   55'	Stadium: Rugby Park Attendance: McKendrick Referee: 1,484

Raith Rovers v Hamilton Academical

25 August 2015	Raith Rovers	2–1	Hamilton Academical	Kirkcaldy
19:45	Davidson   3' Benedictus   81'	BBC Sport Report	Nadé   66'	Stadium: Stark's Park Attendance: Roberston Referee: 1,470

Queen of the South v Greenock Morton

25 August 2015	Queen of the South	0–1	Greenock Morton	Dumfries
19:45		BBC Sport Report	Forbes   69'	Stadium: Palmerston Park Attendance: 1,034 Referee: Dallas

Dunfermline Athletic v Dundee

25 August 2015	Dunfermline Athletic	3–1	Dundee	Dunfermline
19:45	El Bakhtaoui   11', 90+4' Cardle   86'	BBC Sport Rerport	Hemmings   48'	Stadium: East End Park Attendance: 3,806 Referee: Finnie

Partick Thistle v Falkirk

25 August 2015	Partick Thistle	0–1	Falkirk	Glasgow
19:45		BBC Sport Report	Grant   32'	Stadium: Firhill Stadium Attendance: 2,221 Referee: Thomson

East Fife v Motherwell

25 August 2015	East Fife	1–3 (a.e.t.)	Motherwell	Methil
19:45	Austin   60'	BBC Sport Report	Moult   80' McDonald   103' Ainsworth   107'	Stadium: Bayview Stadium Attendance: 1,158 Referee: Cook

St Mirren v Livingston

25 August 2015	St Mirren	2–3	Livingston	Paisley
19:45	Gallagher   16' Mallan   45'	BBC Sport Report	Buchanan   41' Mullen   45'   90+1'   Gallagher   84'	Stadium: St Mirren Park Attendance: 1,568 Referee: Colvin

Hibernian v Stranraer

26 August 2015	Hibernian	1–0	Stranraer	Edinburgh
19:45	Rumsby   54' (o.g.)	BBC Sport Report		Stadium: Easter Road Attendance: 5,224 Referee: Clancy

Airdrieonians v Rangers

26 August 2015	Airdrieonians	0–5	Rangers	Airdrie
19:45		BBC Sport Report	Clark   5' Halliday   14' Waghorn   15' Shiels   84' Tavernier   88'	Stadium: Excelsior Stadium Attendance: 7,006 Referee: Anderson

Third round

The third round draw took place on Thursday 27 August 2015 at 2:30pm BST at the Hampden Park Stadium. The 4 clubs that participated in the 2014–15 Scottish Premiership season and qualified for European competition entered the competition at this stage along with Dundee United, the highest placed non-Europe qualifying side.^[6]

Draw and Seeding

Pot 1	Pot 2
Scottish Premiership: 01. Celtic 02. Aberdeen 03. Inverness Caledonian Thistle 04. St Johnstone 05. Dundee United 06. Ross County 07. Kilmarnock 08. Motherwell	Scottish Championship: 09. Heart of Midlothian 10. Hibernian 11. Rangers 12. Falkirk 13. Raith Rovers 14. Livingston Scottish League One: 15. Greenock Morton 16. Dunfermline Athletic

Matches

Dundee United v Dunfermline Athletic

22 September 2015	Dundee United	3–1 (a.e.t.)	Dunfermline Athletic	Dundee
19:45	Morris   35' Fraser   96' Spittal   99'	BBC Sport Report	Paton   10'	Stadium: Tannadice Park Attendance: 5,174 Referee: Beaton

Livingston v Inverness Caledonian Thistle

22 September 2015	Livingston	0–2	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Livingston
19:45		BBC Sport Report	Storey   12' Devine   43'	Stadium: Tony Macaroni Arena Attendance: 644 Referee: Muir

Greenock Morton v Motherwell

22 September 2015	Greenock Morton	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Motherwell	Greenock
19:45	Samuel   11', 100' Tidser   112'	BBC Sport Report	McDonald   90+1' Moult   116'	Stadium: Cappielow Attendance: 2,539 Referee: Aitken

Rangers v St Johnstone

22 September 2015	Rangers	1–3	St Johnstone	Glasgow
19:15	Tavernier   62'	BBC Sport Report	Davidson   19' Lappin   29' O'Halloran   46'	Stadium: Ibrox Stadium Attendance: 27,094 Referee: Clancy

Ross County v Falkirk

22 September 2015	Ross County	7–0	Falkirk	Dingwall
19:45	Boyce   30', 35', 40' De Vita   46' Franks   54' Graham   58' Holden   81'	BBC Sport Report		Stadium: Global Energy Stadium Attendance: 1,341 Referee: Finnie

Celtic v Raith Rovers

23 September 2015	Celtic	2–0	Raith Rovers	Glasgow
19:45	Commons   32' Johansen   87'	BBC Sport Report		Stadium: Celtic Park Attendance: 13,591 Referee: McKendrick

Hibernian v Aberdeen

23 September 2015	Hibernian	2–0	Aberdeen	Edinburgh
19:45	Cummings   82' Malonga   88'	BBC Sport Report		Stadium: Easter Road Attendance: 11,092 Referee: McLean

Kilmarnock v Heart of Midlothian

23 September 2015	Kilmarnock	2–3	Heart of Midlothian	Kilmarnock
19:45	Magennis   13', 80'	BBC Sport Report	Ozturk   74' Juanma Delgado   90' Nicholson   90'	Stadium: Rugby Park Attendance: 3,249 Referee: Thomson

Quarter-Finals

Draw and Seeding

The quarter-final draw took place on Monday 28 September 2015 at 2:30pm at Hampden Park, all teams were placed in the same pot.^[7]

Pot 1
Scottish Premiership: 01. Celtic 02. Inverness Caledonian Thistle 03. St Johnstone 04. Dundee United 05. Ross County 06. Heart of Midlothian Scottish Championship: 07. Hibernian Scottish League One: 08. Greenock Morton

Matches

Inverness Caledonian Thistle (1) v Ross County (1)

27 October 2015	Inverness Caledonian Thistle (1)	1–2	Ross County (1)	Inverness
19:05	Tansey   78'	BBC Sport Report	Irvine   41' Gardyne   48'	Stadium: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 3,004 Referee: McLean

Greenock Morton (3) v St Johnstone (1)

27 October 2015	Greenock Morton (3)	1–3	St Johnstone (1)	Greenock
19:45	Johnstone   52'	BBC Sport Report	MacLean   61' (pen.) O'Halloran   63' Kane   83'	Stadium: Cappielow Attendance: 2,433 Referee: Thomson

Heart of Midlothian (1) v Celtic (1)

28 October 2015	Heart of Midlothian (1)	1–2	Celtic (1)	Edinburgh
19:45	Djoum   90'	BBC Sport Report	Griffiths   71' Rogić   82'	Stadium: Tynecastle Stadium Attendance: 11,598 Referee: John Beaton

Hibernian (2) v Dundee United (1)

4 November 2015	Hibernian (2)	3–0	Dundee United (1)	Edinburgh
19:45	Gray   20' Cummings   61' (pen.) Stevenson   90'	BBC Sport Report		Stadium: Easter Road Attendance: 11,891 Referee: Willie Collum

Semi-Finals

Draw and seeding

The semi-final draw took place on Monday 9 November 2015 at 2:00pm at Hampden Park, all teams were placed in the same pot.^[8]

Pot 1
Scottish Premiership: 01. Celtic 02. St Johnstone 03. Ross County Scottish Championship: 04. Hibernian

Matches

Hibernian (2) v St Johnstone (1)

30 January 2016	Hibernian (2)	2–1	St Johnstone (1)	Edinburgh
15:00	Cummings   29' (pen.) McGinn   74'	BBC Sport Report	Shaughnessy   33'	Stadium: Tynecastle Stadium Attendance: 16,971 Referee: McLean

Ross County (1) v Celtic (1)

31 January 2016	Ross County (1)	3–1	Celtic (1)	Glasgow
15:00	M. Woods   15' (pen.) Quinn   48' Schalk   63'	BBC Sport Report	Mackay-Steven   1' Ambrose   13'	Stadium: Hampden Park Attendance: 22,130 Referee: Thomson

Final

Main article: 2016 Scottish League Cup Final (March)

13 March 2016

15:00

Hibernian	1–2	Ross County
Fontaine   45'	BBC Sport Report	Gardyne   25' Schalk   90'

Hampden Park, Glasgow

Attendance: 38,296

Referee: Kevin Clancy

Statistics

Top goalscorers

As of matches played on 13 March 2016^[1]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Liam Boyce	Ross County	4
	Jason Cummings	Hibernian
	Faissal El Bakhtaoui	Dunfermline Athletic
4	Michael Gardyne	Ross County	3
	James Tavernier	Rangers
5	18 players		2

References

1. "2015–16 Scottish League Cup scorers". ESPN. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
2. "Scottish League Cup: Energy firm Utilita agree sponsorship deal". BBC Sport. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
3. "Alex Schalk hands Ross County fairytale finish over Hibernian". The Guardian. 13 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
4. . spfl.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015.
5. . Archived from the original on 23 October 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
6. "League Cup third-round draw details". Scottish Professional Football League. 24 August 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
7. . Scottish Professional Football League. 28 September 2015. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
8. . Scottish Professional Football League. 9 November 2015. Archived from the original on 10 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.

External links

• Scottish Professional Football League – League Cup official website