2021–22 Scottish League Cup
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The 2021–22 Scottish League Cup (also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 76th season of Scotland's second-most prestigious football knockout competition.
Tournament details | |
---|---|
Country | Scotland |
Dates | 9 July – 19 December 2021 |
Teams | 45 |
Defending champions | St Johnstone |
Final positions | |
Champions | Celtic (20th title) |
Runner-up | Hibernian |
Tournament statistics | |
Matches played | 89 |
Goals scored | 245 (2.75 per match) |
Top goal scorer(s) | Ally Roy (6 goals) |
The format for the 2021–22 competition was similar to the previous five seasons. It began with eight groups of five teams including all 2020–21 Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs, excluding those competing in Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League qualifiers, as well as the winners of the 2020–21 Highland Football League (Brora Rangers) and the 2020–21 Lowland Football League (Kelty Hearts).[1]
A difference from recent seasons was that five clubs were given a bye to the last 16 instead of four, due to increased representation in European competition. This meant that another non-league club (East Kilbride) were invited to round out the group stage.[1]
The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition are held exclusively by Premier Sports, who became the tournament's title sponsor in April 2021.[2]
St Johnstone were the defending champions after beating Livingston 1–0 in the last season's final.[3] They were eliminated in the semi-finals by eventual winners Celtic, who won their 20th title after beating Hibernian 2–1 in the final.[4]