It's that time of the year again as the Premier Sports Cup draw takes centre stage.
The competition group phase take place ahead of the new league campaigns kicking off across the SPFL.
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Celtic are the holders and will join the tournament in the knockout stages.
The dream to reach the showpiece at Hampden starts here as fans start marking off fixture dates in the diary.
When is the Premier Sports Cup draw?
The Premier Sports Cup draw for the 2022/23 competition takes place on Wednesday, May 25.
The show gets on the road at 1pm.
Is the Premier Sports Cup draw live and can I stream it?
Yes - the draw will be shown live by Premier Sports via their FreeSports channel.
FreeSports is available on Freeview HD channel 65, Sky HD channel 422, Virgin HD 553, TalkTalk 64, BT Vision channel 64 and is also available via Samsung TV Player and on the FreeSports Player — www.freesportsplayer.tv
How does the draw work?
37 SPFL clubs from 2021/22 plus Highland League champions Fraserburgh and Lowland League champions Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic are in the hat.
The additional slot to make it 40 is taken by Buckie Thistle this year, the Highland league runners-up following an SPFL board decision.
The Lowland League were awarded the extra spot last term.
The 40 clubs will be drawn into eight groups of five on a seeded basis.
Details of the seeding pots will be confirmed ahead of the draw.
Celtic, Rangers, Hearts, Dundee United and Motherwell earn direct entry to the last 16 due to taking part in European competition.
The 8 group winners and three best runners-up will join the five Euro sides in the knockout stages.
Road to the final dates
Group stage - MD1: Weekend of July 9/10, 2022, MD2: Midweek of July 12/13, 2022, MD3: Weekend of July 16/17, 2022, MD4: Midweek of July 19/20, 2022, MD5: Weekend of July 23/24, 2022.
Second round - Midweek of August 30/31, 2022
Quarter-finals - Midweek of October 18-20, 2022
Semi-finals - Weekend of January 14/15, 2023
Final - Sunday February 26, 2023
Seeding pots and club numbers
Pot 1 - 1 Ross County, 2 Livingston, 3 Hibernian, 4 St Mirren, 5 Aberdeen, 6 St Johnstone, 7 Dundee, 8 Kilmarnock
Pot 2- 9 Arbroath, 10 Inverness Caledonian Thistle, 11 Partick Thistle, 12 Raith Rovers, 13 Hamilton Academical, 14 Morton, 15 Ayr United, 16 Dunfermline Athletic
Pot 3- 17 Queen of the South, 18 Cove Rangers, 19 Airdrieonians, 20 Montrose, 21 Queen's Park, 22 Alloa Athletic, 23 Falkirk, 24 Peterhead
Pot 4 - 25 Clyde, 26 Dumbarton, 27 East Fife, 28 Kelty Hearts, 29 Forfar Athletic, 30 Annan Athletic, 31 Edinburgh City, 32 Stenhousemuir
Pot 5 - 33 Stranraer, 34 Stirling Albion, 35 Albion Rovers, 36 Elgin City, 37 Cowdenbeath, 38 Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic, 39 Fraserburgh, 40 Buckie Thistle
