Country |
Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland |
---|---|
Teams | 56 |
Defending champions | Dundee United |
Matches played | 54 |
Goals scored | 168 (3.11 per match) |
Top goal scorer(s) | Stephen Dobbie & Lewis Vaughan (4 goals) |
← 2016–17
2018–19 →
All statistics correct as of 18 February 2018.
|
The 2017–18 Scottish Challenge Cup, known as the IRN-BRU Cup due to sponsorship reasons, is the 27th season of the competition. The tournament takes on a similar format from the previous season, however, two teams from the Republic of Ireland's Airtricity League (Sligo Rovers and Bray Wanderers) entered the competition for the first time taking the total number of participating clubs to 56. This is the second season with two clubs from both Northern Ireland and Wales competing alongside the 30 members of the 2017–18 Scottish Championship, 2017–18 Scottish League One and 2017–18 Scottish League Two, four teams from the 2017–18 Highland Football League and four from the 2017–18 Lowland Football League as well as the Under-20 teams of the teams competing in the 2017–18 Scottish Premiership. The Welsh teams are The New Saints and Connah's Quay Nomads while the Northern Irish teams are Crusaders and Linfield.
Dundee United were the defending champions after they beat St Mirren 2–1 in the 2017 final, but were eliminated in the Quarter-finals by Crusaders.