Southern League Cup (Scotland)

The Southern League Cup was a regional Scottish football competition held during the Second World War, due to the suspension of national competitions. Held between 1940 and 1946,[1] the competition involved all teams from the Southern League and was played as four groups of four with the group winners forming the semi-finals. In the final season, due to additional teams, the competition doubled in size with quarter-finals for the eight group winners.

Southern League Cup
SportFootball
Founded1940
Ceased1946
No. of teams16
CountryScotland
Last
champion(s)		Aberdeen
Most titlesRangers (4)
Related
competitions		Southern League
Scottish League Cup

Rangers dominated the tournament, appearing in every final and winning four out of the six. On two occasions, the winners were decided by which team had more corner kicks after the finals ended in draws.

The Southern League Cup helped to contribute to the present-day Scottish League Cup: it was merged with its North Eastern equivalent in the 1945–46 season, with the nationwide competition proving popular (the final, won by Aberdeen, attracted a crowd of crowd of 135,000 at Hampden Park).[2][3] It was thus continued on those lines on an official basis from then on.

As the war ended, regular league football returned in 1946, with the regional leagues and cups disbanded.

Tournaments
Season Winner Score Runner-up Venue
1940–41 Rangers 4 – 2 (rep.) Heart of Midlothian Hampden Park
1941–42 Rangers 1 – 0 Morton Hampden Park
1942–43 Rangers 1 – 1
(11 – 3 corners)		 Falkirk Hampden Park
1943–44 Hibernian[4] 0 – 0
(6 – 5 corners)		 Rangers Hampden Park
1944–45 Rangers 2 – 1 Motherwell Hampden Park
1945–46 Aberdeen 3 – 2 Rangers Hampden Park

References
  1. McColl, Brian. "Southern Football League Cup". Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2008.
  2. "Rangers 2–3 Aberdeen". FitbaStats. 11 May 1946. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  3. "Match Report: Aberdeen 3–2 Rangers". AFC Heritage Trust. 11 May 1946. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  4. "Hibernian FC Official Site". Archived from the original on 29 June 2008. Retrieved 4 March 2010., Hibernian F.C. official website.
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