SPFL Sets 2026/27 Premier Sports Cup Draw in Scottish League Cup Seeding
The SPFL has set the scottish league cup seeding for the 2026/27 Premier Sports Cup group stage draw, with the pots now in place for Wednesday May 27 at 1.00pm. The draw will decide the first-phase path for 40 clubs before the five UEFA entrants join at the knockout stage.
Pot one to pot five
Forty clubs have been split into five seeding pots based on final league placings in season 2025/26, with one club from each pot drawn into Groups A-H. There is no regionalised aspect to the draw, so the groups will come straight from the pot order rather than geography.
Pot 1 contains Falkirk, Dundee United, Dundee, Aberdeen, Kilmarnock, St Mirren, Livingston and St Johnstone. Pot 2 is made up of Partick Thistle, Arbroath, Dunfermline Athletic, Raith Rovers, Queen’s Park, Ayr United, Greenock Morton and Airdrieonians.
Guest clubs join the field
The remaining pots complete the line-up. Pot 3 includes Ross County, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Stenhousemuir, Queen of the South, Alloa Athletic, Peterhead, Montrose and Cove Rangers, while Pot 4 holds East Fife, Hamilton Academical, Kelty Hearts, East Kilbride, The Spartans, Clyde, Forfar Athletic and Stranraer. Pot 5 is Elgin City, Annan Athletic, Stirling Albion, Dumbarton, Edinburgh City, Linlithgow Rose, Brora Rangers and Brechin City.
Those three guest clubs — Linlithgow Rose, Brora Rangers and Brechin City — bring the field to 40, while five SPFL clubs competing in UEFA competitions wait for the last 16. Celtic, Heart of Midlothian, Rangers, Motherwell and Hibernian join the competition at that point on the weekend of August 15/16.
Premier Sports Cup schedule
The draw will be shown live online by Premier Sports and broadcast live on the SPFL YouTube channel. The competition then kicks off on the weekend of July 11/12, with further group-stage matchdays set for July 14/15, July 18/19, July 21/22 and July 25/26.
Prize money stays fixed as the tournament moves toward Hampden Park. All participating clubs are guaranteed at least £30,000, reaching the last 16 is worth £60,000, the runners-up receive £200,000 and the winners take £400,000. The quarter-finals are set for the weekend of September 12/13, the semi-finals for October 31 and November 1, and the final is scheduled at Hampden Park on Sunday December 13.
