Scottish Women's Premier League Cup

The Scottish Women's Premier League Cup, currently known as the Sky Sports Cup due to sponsorship and commonly shortened to the SWPL Cup, is a league cup competition in women's football in Scotland. The cup is open only to the teams in the Scottish Women's Premier League. There are four rounds, including the final.

Scottish Women's Premier League Cup

Organising body	Scottish Women's Premier League
Founded	2002
Region	Scotland
Number of teams	17
Current champions	Rangers (1st title)
Most successful club(s)	Hibernian (7 titles)
Television broadcasters	Sky Sports
2023–24 Scottish Women's Premier League Cup

The competition was launched in 2002–03 along with the Scottish Women's Premier League, and the first winners were Kilmarnock.^[1]

The SWPL Cup changed to run on a summer schedule played in a single calendar year (from around March to November) from the 2009 edition^[2][3] until the COVID-19 pandemic ended the 2020 season prematurely (leaving that year's edition unfinished) and caused the SWPL to revert to a winter format in all competitions for the following season, which was retained after pandemic restrictions ended.

The trophy has been won most often by Hibernian, seven times.

Format

Up to 2015, eight of the twelve Premier League teams were drawn to play in the first round. The four winners and the other four teams then played in the quarter-finals. All matches were played over one leg.^[4]

Since the addition of the division SWPL 2 in 2016, all teams from the Premier League's two divisions have taken part in the cup. The last edition with the straight-knockout format was the 2019 Scottish Women's Premier League Cup

In a large change to the format for the 2020 edition of the Cup, a 16-team group stage was inaugurated, planned to qualify teams for the eight-team knockout phase, with the League's top two clubs given a bye to the quarter-finals; but the SWPL was abandoned early in the 2020 season, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and the League reverted to the winter format as a result. The league cup was not played in the 2020–21 season. The group phase was played with all clubs in the 2021–22 SWPL Cup,^[5] which was completed and won by Celtic.^[6]

Past winners

Previous finals are:

Year Winner Result Runner Up Ref 2002–03 Kilmarnock 2–0 Glasgow City ^[1] 2003–04 Kilmarnock 3–1 Glasgow City 2004–05 Hibernian 6–1 Raith Rovers 2005–06 Kilmarnock 3–2 Glasgow City ^[7] 2006–07 Edinburgh 4–1 Hibernian ^[8] 2007–08 Hibernian 4–0 Queen's Park Ladies ^[9]^[10]^[11] 2008–09 Glasgow City 3–0 Spartans ^[12]^[13] 2009 Glasgow City 3–1 Hibernian ^[2] 2010 Celtic 4–1 Spartans ^[14]^[15]^[16] 2011 Hibernian 5–2 Spartans ^[17] 2012 Glasgow City 5–1 Spartans ^[18]^[19] 2013 Glasgow City 5–0 Spartans ^[20] 2014 Glasgow City 3–0 Hibernian ^[21]^[22] 2015 Glasgow City 2–1 (a.e.t.) Hibernian ^[23] 2016 Hibernian 2–1 Glasgow City ^[24] 2017 Hibernian 4–1 Celtic ^[25] 2018 Hibernian 9–0 Celtic ^[26] 2019 Hibernian 0–0 (a.e.t.) 4–2 (pen.) Glasgow City ^[27] 2020 Unfinished due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland. 2020–21 Not played. 2021–22 Celtic 1–0 Glasgow City ^[6] 2022–23 Rangers 2–0 Hibernian ^[28]

Titles Team 7 Hibernian 6 Glasgow City 3 Kilmarnock 2 Celtic 1 Rangers 1 Spartans (as Edinburgh)

See also

• Scottish Women's Cup
• Scottish Women's Football League First Division Cup
• Scottish Women's Football League Second Division Cup

References

1. "Kilmarnock women on course for double treble dominance". Herald Scotland. 5 May 2003. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
2. "2009 Premier League Cup Final". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
3. Leighton, Tony (19 December 2010). "England coach Hope Powell calls for women's game to switch to summer". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
4. "Scottish Premier League Cup draw". shekicks.net. 2 February 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
5. "SWPL CUP 2021". Soccerway.
6. "SWPL Cup: Celtic beat Glasgow City to win first silverware since 2010". BBC Sport. 5 December 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
7. "Killie show City team who's boss". KillieFC.com. 14 May 2006. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
8. Match Reports :- Edinburgh Ladies FC v Hibernian Ladies FC - S.W.P.L. Cup Final, Spartans W.F.C. web archive, 30 November 2006
9. "2007-08 Premier League Cup Final". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
10. "Hibernian v Queens' Park - Premier League Cup Final". Match report archives. Spartans W.F.C. 11 November 2007. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
11. Gavin Madeley (10 November 2007). . The Pink. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
12. "2008-09 Premier League Cup Final". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
13. Match Reports :- Glasgow City v Spartans - SWPL Cup Final, Spartans W.F.C. web archive, 8 November 2008
14. "2010 Premier League Cup Final". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
15. "Celtic secure women's League Cup". BBC Sport. 13 May 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
16. "Celtic break trophy duck in style". WSS. 13 May 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
17. "2011 Premier League Cup Final". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
18. "2012 Premier League Cup Final". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
19. "Glasgow City defeat Spartans to win the Scottish Premier League Cup". Spartans W.F.C. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
20. "2013 Premier League Cup Final". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
21. "Glasgow City win third successive League Cup final". www.scotzine.com. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
22. "glasgow city win third successive league cup final". bbc.co.uk. bbc. May 28, 2014. Retrieved October 27, 2022. Glasgow City won the Scottish Women's League Cup
23. "Glasgow City retain League Cup with extra-time win over Hibernian". BBC Sport. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
24. "2016 SWPL Cup Final - Hibernian 2-1 Glasgow City: Lizzie Arnot's late goal shocks the holders". Vavel. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
25. Southwick, Andrew (21 May 2017). "SWPL Cup: Hibernian cruise to victory over Celtic to retain trophy". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
26. Southwick, Andrew (20 May 2018). "SWPL: Hibernian thrash Celtic 9-0 to win third Women's Premier League Cup in a row". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
27. "Hibernian 0-0 Glasgow City: Hibs retain Women's Scottish Cup 4-2 on penalties". BBC Sport. 10 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
28. "sky sports cup final - rangers 2-0 hibernian: lizzie arnot scores screamer and kirsty howat adds second to seal victory". skysports.com. sky sports. December 11, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022. Rangers win the first domestic trophy of the Scottish women's season with a 2-0 victory against seven-time champions Hibernian

External links

• Cup at Scottish FA
• Scotland (Women) - List of Cup Winners at RSSSF