The Viaplay Cup Final will be played ONE week before Christmas as the SPFL released details of the competition format for next season.
The journey for competing clubs starts on June 8 when they will discover who they will come up against in the group stages as they bid to go all the way to Hampden. As normal the teams representing Scotland in Europe will NOT be included in the draw for the first part of the tournament. Celtic and Rangers will head into the knockout round and be joined by Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibs after the Hoops lifted the Scottish Cup and completed the Treble. That success means fifth in the Premiership land a Euro place.
The draw will be broadcast live from 1pm live on Viaplay Sport and further details in terms of the teams and draw formalities will be released in due course. The first games will be played on the weekend of July 15/16 with the group format coming to a close on the weekend of July 29/30 ahead of the new SPFL season kicking off. The knockouts will begin mid August.
Full competition schedule for the Viaplay Cup
Group stage
MD1: Weekend of July 15/16
MD2: Midweek of July 18/19
MD3: Weekend of July 22/23
MD4: Midweek of July 25/26
MD5: Weekend of July 29/30
Second round
Weekend of August 19/20
Quarter-finals
Midweek of September 26-28
Semi-finals
Weekend of November 4/5
Final
Sunday December 17
