St Mirren, Falkirk and St Johnstone Learn Premier Sports Cup Draw
St Mirren, Falkirk and St Johnstone learned their premier sports cup draw group-stage opponents for next season, with the holders placed into a section that includes Dunfermline Athletic, Cove Rangers, East Kilbride and Dumbarton. The draw also fixed the first round of fixtures for clubs across the Scottish game, and the opening group matches run from 11/12 July to 25/26 July.
St Mirren Face Dunfermline
St Mirren will defend the trophy after beating Celtic at Hampden in December for a second title, and their route back into the competition starts against Dunfermline Athletic, Cove Rangers, East Kilbride and Dumbarton. That is a demanding group for the holders, with four opponents from different levels of the game packed into the same section.
Falkirk will meet Ayr United, Alloa Athletic, Stranraer and Edinburgh City. St Johnstone, the Championship winners, were paired with Greenock Morton, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, East Fife and Linlithgow Rose, giving them a section that stretches across several divisions and the non-league pyramid.
Dundee United And Dundee
The draw also set out Group B, where Dundee United will play Arbroath, Montrose, The Spartans and Stirling Albion. Dundee were drawn with Airdrieonians, Ross County, Clyde and Annan Athletic, while Kilmarnock were paired with Raith Rovers, Peterhead, Hamilton Academical and Elgin City.
Aberdeen landed in a group with Brora Rangers, Queen's Park, Queen of the South and Kelty Hearts. Brechin City will face Livingston, Partick Thistle, Stenhousemuir and Forfar Athletic. Those sections shape the path for clubs from the Premiership, Championship, League One, League Two, the Lowland League and the Highland League before the knockout rounds begin.
Road To The Final
The group winners and three best runners-up will move on to the last 16 alongside Celtic, Heart of Midlothian, Rangers, Motherwell and Hibernian. That round will be played on the weekend of 15/16 August, with the quarter-finals set for 12/13 September, the semi-finals on 31 October and 1 November, and the final on 13 December.
For the clubs drawn today, the first job is straightforward: turn the July group stage into a place in the last 16. St Mirren enter as holders, but the draw has already set out the teams they must clear before any return to Hampden in December becomes possible.
