1999 Scottish Challenge Cup Final

The match programme cover

Event

1999–2000 Scottish Challenge Cup

Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Alloa Athletic

4	4

After extra time
Alloa Athletic won 5–4 on penalties

Date

21 November 1999

Venue

Excelsior Stadium, Airdrie

Referee

Jim McCluskey (Stewarton)

Attendance

4,043

← 1997

2000 →

The 1999 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, also known as the Bell's Challenge Cup Final for sponsorship reasons, was a football match between Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Alloa Athletic on 21 November 1999 at Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie. It was the ninth final of the Scottish Challenge Cup since it was first organised in 1990 to celebrate the centenary of the Scottish Football League.

Both teams progressed through four elimination rounds to reach the final. The match was Alloa Athletic's first national cup final in its 121-year history whilst it was Inverness Caledonian Thistle's first since the club was founded five years beforehand in 1994. The tournament was contested by clubs below the Scottish Premier League; Inverness Caledonian Thistle from the First Division and Alloa Athletic from the Second Division.

Alloa led the match 2–1 at half-time but only two minutes after the interval both teams scored to make it 3–2 by the 47th minute. Paul Sheerin scored a second penalty for Inverness in the 56th minute to make the score 3–3 which is how the scoreline remained after 90 minutes, which forced an additional 30 minutes of extra time to be played. Martin Cameron scored his second goal for Alloa in the 104th minute to take a 4–3 lead but was cancelled out when Sheerin completed a hat-trick of goals for Inverness to make it 4–4 and take the game to penalties. Alloa Athletic emerged victorious after winning the shoot-out 5–4.

The competition is a knock-out tournament and in 1999 was contested by the 30 teams that played in the First, Second and Third Divisions of the Scottish Football League. 28 of the teams entered the first round and two received random byes into the second round to even the number of fixtures. Teams were paired at random and the winner of each match progressed to the next round and the loser was eliminated. The tournament returned for the first time since 1997 after it was suspended for one season due to the absence of a sponsor.

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