The 2014 Scottish Challenge Cup final, also known as the Ramsdens Cup final for sponsorship reasons, was a football match that took place at Easter Road on 6 April 2014, between Raith Rovers and Rangers. The match was televised by BBC ALBA. It was the 23rd final of the Scottish Challenge Cup since it was first organised in 1990 to celebrate the centenary of the now defunct Scottish Football League, it was the first Challenge Cup final since the formation of the SPFL. Both teams progressed through four elimination rounds to reach the final. The match was both clubs' first appearance in the final of the competition, whilst it was Raith Rovers' first cup final in 20 years since winning the League Cup in 1994.
Route to the final
The competition is a knock-out tournament and in 2013–14 was contested by 32 teams; the 30 clubs that played in the Championship, League One and League Two of the Scottish Professional Football League, Highland League club Formartine United by invitation (the highest placed team in that league from the previous season with an SFA licence) & the winner of a preliminary round tie between Spartans & Threave Rovers (the highest placed teams in the previous season's East of Scotland & South of Scotland leagues with SFA licences), the winner of the tie being Spartans. For the first and second rounds only, the draw was divided into two geographical regions – north/east and south/west. Teams were paired at random and the winner of each match progressed to the next round and the loser was eliminated.
Raith Rovers Round Opposition Score First round Stirling Albion (h) 2–1 Second round Dunfermline Athletic (a) 2–0 Quarter-final Falkirk (h) 1–0 Semi-final Annan Athletic (h) 3–0
Rangers Round Opposition Score First round Albion Rovers (a) 4–0 Second round Berwick Rangers (h) 2–0 Quarter-final Queen of the South (a) 3–0 Semi-final Stenhousemuir (a) 1–0
Match details
RAITH ROVERS: GK20 Lee Robinson RB2 Jason Thomson (c) CB4 Paul Watson CB5 Dougie Hill LB3 Callum Booth RM7 Joe Cardle CM8 Kevin Moon CM6 Liam Fox LM11 Grant Anderson CF29 John BairdCF10 Calum Elliot Substitutes:GK17 Ross LaidlawDF14 Reece Donaldson DF19 Fraser Mullen FW15 Gordon Smith FW9 Greig Spence Manager: Grant MurrayRANGERS: GK1 Cammy Bell RB2 Richard FosterCB6 Lee McCulloch (c)CB3 Bilel Mohsni LB5 Lee Wallace RM4 Fraser AirdCM8 Ian Black CM10 Kyle Hutton CM11 Nicky LawLM7 Steven Smith CF9 Jon Daly Substitutes:GK17 Steve SimonsenDF14 Sébastien Faure MF15 Dean Shiels FW16 Calum Gallagher FW12 Nicky Clark Manager: Ally McCoist
Match officialsRamsdens Cup final officials , spfl.co.uk. Scottish Professional Football League. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2014. Referee: Kevin Clancy Assistant referees: Stephen Mitchell Joseph Lawson Fourth official: Greg AitkenMatch rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Five named substitutes. Maximum of three substitutions.
References