2020–21 Scottish Cup

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Scottish Cup 2020–21
Region	Scotland
Number of teams	100 (106 initially entered)
Defending champions	Celtic
Champions	St Johnstone
Runner-up	Hibernian
Total matches played	98
Total goals scored	364
← 2019–20	2021–22 →

The 2020–21 Scottish Cup was the 136th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The tournament does not currently have a sponsor, after William Hill's nine-year partnership with the Scottish FA came to an end following the 2019–20 tournament.

This is the second season in which a match from every round of the tournament proper is broadcast live via TV partners Premier Sports and BBC Scotland, with one match in the first and second rounds being shown live on the BBC Scotland channel for the second time.

The defending champions were Celtic, who won the 2020 Scottish Cup Final on 20 December 2020. Celtic lost to their Old Firm rivals Rangers in the fourth round, which was their first defeat in the competition since 2015–16.

Calendar

The calendar for the 2020–21 Scottish Cup, as announced by Scottish Football Association on 27 October 2020. On 11 January 2021, the competition was suspended by the Scottish FA due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland. On 3 March 2021, new dates for the competition were announced.

The format features several changes from the previous season because of the increased number of eligible clubs and the tournament's compressed schedule. Due to the potential for fixture congestion during the COVID-19 pandemic, replays will not be played during the 2020–21 competition.

Round	Original date	Number of fixtures	Clubs	New Entries	Leagues entering at this round
Preliminary round one	28 November 2020	2	100 → 98	26
Preliminary round two	12 December 2020	26	98 → 72	28	14 Highland League teams 14 Lowland League teams
First round	26 December 2020	20	72 → 52	14	2 Highland League teams 2 Lowland League teams 10 League Two teams
Second round	9 January 2021	20	52 → 32	20	10 Championship 10 League One teams
Third round	30 January 3 April 2021	16	32 → 16	12	12 Premiership teams
Fourth round	20 February 17 April 2021	8	16 → 8	None
Quarter-finals	13 March 24 April 2021	4	8 → 4	None
Semi-finals	10 April 8 May 2021	2	4 → 2	None
Final	8 May 22 May 2021	1	2 → 1	None

Preliminary rounds

Preliminary round one

The first preliminary round took place on the weekend of 28 November 2020. There were 26 entries at this stage - 20 from the East of Scotland Football League, 4 from the South of Scotland Football League, 1 from the West of Scotland Football League and 1 from the SJFA North Region. 22 clubs with a valid club licence received a bye to the next round.

Dunipace, Haddington Athletic, Newtongrange Star, and Tranent Juniors are taking part in the Scottish Cup for the first time having each gained their Club Licence, along with Musselburgh Athletic who made their debut as 2019–20 South & East Cup-Winners Shield winners.

Auchinleck Talbot, Burntisland Shipyard, Girvan, and Golspie Sutherland withdrew from the competition after the initial format was announced.

Clubs marked ‡ were ineligible for a bye to the second preliminary round.

Draw

East of Scotland League	South of Scotland League	West of Scotland League	Others
Blackburn United Broxburn Athletic Camelon Juniors Coldstream Dundonald Bluebell Dunipace Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare Haddington Athletic Hawick Royal Albert United Hill of Beath Hawthorn Jeanfield Swifts Linlithgow Rose Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale Musselburgh Athletic ‡ Newtongrange Star Penicuik Athletic Preston Athletic Tranent Juniors Tynecastle Whitehill Welfare	Newton Stewart St Cuthbert Wanderers Threave Rovers Wigtown & Bladnoch	Glasgow University	SJFA North Region Banks O' Dee

Banks O' Dee, Blackburn United, Broxburn Athletic, Camelon Juniors, Coldstream, Dundonald Bluebell, Dunipace, Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare, Glasgow University, Haddington Athletic, Hawick Royal Albert United, Hill of Beath Hawthorn, Jeanfield Swifts, Linlithgow Rose, Newton Stewart, Newtongrange Star, Preston Athletic, Threave Rovers, Tranent Juniors, Tynecastle, Whitehill Welfare and Wigtown & Bladnoch received a bye to the second preliminary round.

Matches

28 November 2020	Penicuik Athletic	2–3	Musselburgh Athletic	Penicuik
14:30	Somerville  7', 84'		Moffat  5' King  49' Downie  108'	Stadium: Penicuik Park Referee: Chris Gentles

28 November 2020	Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale	2–1	St Cuthbert Wanderers	Edinburgh
15:00	Mbewe  90' Ross  97'		Deland  59' (o.g.)	Stadium: Saughton Enclosure Referee: Connor Ashwood

Preliminary round two

The second preliminary round took place on the weekend of 12 December 2020. Along with the two winners from the first preliminary round and 22 teams with byes, there were 28 new entries at this stage - 14 from the Highland Football League and 14 from the Lowland Football League.

Forres Mechanics and Gretna 2008 withdrew from the competition after the initial format was announced.

Draw

Teams in Italics were unknown at the time of the draw. Teams in Bold advanced to the first round.

Highland League	Lowland League	East of Scotland League	Other
Buckie Thistle Clachnacuddin Deveronvale Formartine United Fort William Huntly Inverurie Loco Works Keith Lossiemouth Nairn County Rothes Strathspey Thistle Turriff United Wick Academy	Berwick Rangers Bo'ness United BSC Glasgow Caledonian Braves Civil Service Strollers Cumbernauld Colts Dalbeattie Star East Kilbride East Stirlingshire Edinburgh University Gala Fairydean Rovers The Spartans University of Stirling Vale of Leithen	Blackburn United Broxburn Athletic Camelon Juniors Coldstream Dundonald Bluebell Dunipace Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare Haddington Athletic Hawick Royal Albert United Hill of Beath Hawthorn Jeanfield Swifts Linlithgow Rose Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale Musselburgh Athletic Newtongrange Star Preston Athletic Tranent Juniors Tynecastle Whitehill Welfare	South of Scotland League Newton Stewart Threave Rovers Wigtown & Bladnoch West of Scotland League Glasgow University SJFA North Region Banks O' Dee

Semi-finals

The semi-finals are scheduled to take place at Hampden Park on the weekend of 8 May 2021.

Draw

The draw for the semi-finals took place on Monday 26 April 2021 live on BBC Scotland following the Kilmarnock v St Mirren tie.

Dundee United Hibernian St Johnstone St Mirren

Matches

8 May 2021	Dundee United	0–2	Hibernian	Glasgow
16:00			Nisbet  27' Doidge  58'	Stadium: Hampden Park Referee: Bobby Madden

9 May 2021	St Mirren	1–2	St Johnstone	Glasgow
14:15	McCarthy  86'		Kane  72' Middleton  74'	Stadium: Hampden Park Referee: Willie Collum

Final

Main article: 2021 Scottish Cup Final

The final was played on 22 May 2021 at Hampden Park in Glasgow. Originally it was scheduled for 8 May 2021 but was pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic.

22 May 2021 (2021-05-22) 14:00	St Johnstone	1–0	Hibernian	Hampden Park Referee: Nick Walsh
	Rooney  32'

Broadcasting

The Scottish Cup is broadcast by Premier Sports and BBC Scotland. Premier Sports has the first 2 picks of Round 3 and Round 4, the quarter-finals as well as first pick of one semi-final and will air the final non-exclusively. BBC Scotland will broadcast one match per round from the first round and two matches per round from the second round to the quarter-finals, as well as one semi-final and the final.

The following matches are to be broadcast live on UK television:

Round	BBC Scotland	Premier Sports
First round	Dundonald Bluebell vs Queen's Park
Second round	Queen's Park vs Queen of the South Dundee vs Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic
Third round	Ross County vs Inverness Caledonian Thistle Dumbarton vs Aberdeen Queen of the South vs Hibernian	Celtic vs Falkirk Rangers vs Cove Rangers
Fourth round	Forfar Athletic vs Dundee United Stranraer vs Hibernian	Rangers vs Celtic Aberdeen vs Livingston
Quarter-finals	Aberdeen vs Dundee United Kilmarnock vs St Mirren	Hibernian vs Motherwell Rangers vs St Johnstone
Semi-finals	St Mirren vs St Johnstone	Dundee United vs Hibernian St Mirren vs St Johnstone
Final	Dundee United or Hibernian vs St Mirren or St Johnstone