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2022/23 Challenge Cup


grazza

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1 hour ago, ScottMc77 said:

I was wondering what interest the Welsh and Irish have in this competition.

Can't really see why they want involved.

It's a bit like Celtic and Rangers being invited to the English League 1&2 cup comp.

 

Honest answer?

I think they see it as practice & acclimatisation for Europe. Though clearly it comes at the wrong time of year for that. The Welsh & Ulster teams have been pumped out of Europe by the time they play their 1st Challenge Cup games.

The Wales & NI sides in the Challenge Cup are their European representatives. European wins equal big money. The European draws are usually regionalised. Scottish sides play relatively fast and physical football. Broadly similar football to the Faroese, Icelandic, Latvian or Finnish opponents they should face in Europe. Broadly similar standard too. A decent Finnish team might be Caley Thistle calibre. A Faroese one might be Elgin's level. Of course they might actually play Scottish opposition in Europe. It also gets them used to a routine of travelling a fair hike & staying in hotels as a team.

I didn't see the point of the English Division 5 teams being in it. And the Eire sides weren't the usual League of Ireland European reps, so hard to see what they gained.

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... and for what it's worth, I very much doubt a normal Linfield or TNS title winning side would win an average Championship in Scotland.

I'd like to think either Bigot Brother would pass 100 points by Easter in English League One.

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I've never minded this cup because realistically we have a seriously limited chance of going deep into the two big cups, so this gives a chance of some "decent" silverware and a cup final day out for the fans ... think we've made it to 5 finals so far and they're usually a good day out.

But these bloody B teams ... just get shot of them. If the lowland leagues want them, fine but they shouldn't be disrupting a senior cup competition. What the hell are the "blazers" thinking about.

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  • 1 month later...

Level of interest in this competition at an all-time low? 

Fraserburgh made 8 changes from the weekend for their game against St Johnstone B last night. That's the enthusiasm on display from a Highland League side. 

Results:

  • Brora Rangers 2-0 Aberdeen B
  • Albion Rovers 2-3 Celtic B
  • Bonnyrigg Rose 0-0 Livingston B (Livi win on pens) 
  • Elgin City 1-0 Dundee United B
  • Fraserburgh 0-2 St Johnstone B
  • Kilmarnock B 3-0 Cowdenbeath 
  • Motherwell B 1-2 East Kilbride 
  • St Mirren B 0-0 East Stirlingshire (ES win on pens) 

Tonight: 

  • Hibernian B 1-1 Brechin City (Brechin win on pens) 
  • Spartans 0-1 Rangers B
  • Hearts B 2-3 Buckie Thistle

Second Round:

  • Elgin City vs Stenhousemuir 
  • Forfar Athletic vs Kelty Hearts 
  • Brechin City vs Stirling Albion
  • East Fife vs St Johnstone B
  • Buckie Thistle vs Brora Rangers 
  • Rangers B vs Dumbarton 
  • East Kilbride vs Annan Athletic 
  • Celtic B vs Livingston B
  • FC Edinburgh vs Stranraer 
  • Kilmarnock B vs East Stirlingshire 
Edited by Radford
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3 hours ago, Cardle is Magic said:

Unless you're really, really plugged in to Scottish football then you'd have had no idea these games were taking place last night.

Can only guess the crowds were appalling, with teams surely losing money.

Get the B teams punted ASAP.

That's not going to happen anytime soon. Crowds need to come and watch their team.

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5 hours ago, Radford said:

Level of interest in this competition at an all-time low? 

Fraserburgh made 8 changes from the weekend for their game against St Johnstone B last night. That's the enthusiasm on display from a Highland League side. 

Results:

  • Brora Rangers 2-0 Aberdeen B
  • Albion Rovers 2-3 Celtic B
  • Bonnyrigg Rose 0-0 Livingston B (Livi win on pens) 
  • Elgin City 1-0 Dundee United B
  • Fraserburgh 0-2 St Johnstone B
  • Kilmarnock B 3-0 Cowdenbeath 
  • Motherwell B 1-2 East Kilbride 
  • St Mirren B 0-0 East Stirlingshire (ES win on pens) 

Tonight: 

  • Hibernian B vs Brechin City 
  • Spartans vs Rangers B
  • Hearts B vs Buckie Thistle

Second Round:

  • Elgin City vs Stenhousemuir 
  • Forfar Athletic vs Kelty Hearts 
  • Hibernian B/Brechin City vs Stirling Albion
  • East Fife vs St Johnstone B
  • Hearts B/Buckie Thistle vs Brora Rangers 
  • Spartans/Rangers B vs Dumbarton 
  • East Kilbride vs Annan Athletic 
  • Celtic B vs Livingston B
  • FC Edinburgh vs Stranraer 
  • Kilmarnock B vs East Stirlingshire 

Fraserburgh are more interested in Local cups which they have a good chance of winning of course 

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3 hours ago, MrBoy2022 said:

That's not going to happen anytime soon. Crowds need to come and watch their team.

Why should crowds show up when they have no interest in watching a meaningless competition?

Will be hard enough to afford proper games for a lot of folk this season, never mind this nonsense.

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I'm no fan of the B teams being involved (though it's nowhere near as bad as having them in the league system), but I'm not sure that the level of interest in what basically amounts to a preliminary round really tells you anything about the popularity of the competition. 8 of the 11 proper teams playing in this round wouldn't even have been in the competition under the traditional format (6 out of 11 from 2014 onwards).

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4 hours ago, Zen Archer (Raconteur) said:

All the good teams join in round 3

I'm going to take this as a positive statement ... christ knows we need a bit of positivity from somewhere ...

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