2018-19 Scottish League Cup

The 2018–19 Scottish League Cup (also known as the Betfred Cup for sponsorship reasons) will be the 73rd season of Scotland's second-most prestigious football knockout competition.

The format for the 2018–19 competition will remain the same as the previous two seasons.

It will begin with eight groups of five teams which include all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs, excluding those competing in Champions League and Europa League qualifiers, as well as the top teams from the 2017–18 Highland Football League (Cove Rangers) and the 2017–18 Lowland Football League (Spartans).

Format
The competition will begin with eight groups of five teams. The four clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League (Celtic) and Europa League (Aberdeen, Hibernian and Rangers) qualifying rounds will be given a bye through to the second round. The 40 teams competing in the group stage will consist of the other eight teams that competed in the 2017–18 Scottish Premiership, and all of the teams that competed in the 2017–18 Scottish Championship, 2017–18 Scottish League One and 2017–18 Scottish League Two, as well as the 2017–18 Highland Football League and the 2017–18 Lowland Football League champions.

The winners of each of the eight groups, as well as the four best runners-up will progress to the second round (last 16), which will include the four UEFA qualifying clubs. At this stage, the competition will revert to the traditional knock-out format. The four group winners with the highest points total and the clubs entering at this stage will be 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.

Group stage
The group stage will be made up of eight teams from the 2017–18 Scottish Premiership, and all ten teams from each of the 2017–18 Scottish Championship, 2017–18 Scottish League One and 2017–18 Scottish League Two, as well as the winners of the 2017–18 Highland Football League and 2017–18 Lowland Football League. The 40 teams will be divided into two sections – North and South – with each section containing four top seeds, four second seeds and 12 unseeded teams. Each section will be drawn into four groups with each group comprising one top seed, one second seed and three unseeded teams. Seedings for the draw will be confirmed in due course.

The draw for the group stages will take place on 25 May 2018 and will be broadcast live on BT Sport 2.

Draw and seeding
Aberdeen, Celtic, Hibernian and Rangers will enter the competition at this stage, after receiving a bye for the group stage due to their participation in UEFA club competitions.

The four UEFA-qualifying clubs and the four group winners with the best record will be seeded for the draw.

Draw
The quarter-final draw will be unseeded.

Draw
The semi-final draw will be unseeded.

Media coverage
The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition are held exclusively by BT Sport.