The 2021–22 Scottish Cup was the 137th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition.
The defending champions St Johnstone, who won the 2021 Scottish Cup Final on 22 May 2021, were defeated by Kelty Hearts in the fourth round.
Calendar The calendar for the 2021–22 Scottish Cup was announced by Scottish Football Association on 30 July 2021.
The format featured several changes from the previous season, with all Highland and Lowland League teams entering in the same round. Replays were re-introduced for drawn matches played before the fourth round after they were removed for the 2020–21 competition. However, replays that were level after 90 minutes went directly to a penalty shootout instead of playing extra time.
Round Original date Number of fixtures Clubs New Entries Leagues entering at this round Preliminary round 28 August 2021 11 113 → 102 37 First round 18 September 2021 30 102 → 72 34 18 Highland League teams 16 Lowland League teams Second round 23 October 2021 20 72 → 52 10 10 League Two teams Third round 27 November 2021 20 52 → 32 20 10 Championship teams10 League One teams Fourth round 22 January 2022 16 32 → 16 12 12 Premiership teams Fifth round 12 February 2022 8 16 → 8 None Quarter-finals 12 March 2022 4 8 → 4 None Semi-finals 16 & 17 April 2022 2 4 → 2 None Final 21 May 2022 1 2 → 1 None
Preliminary round The preliminary round took place on 28 August 2021.
Cumnock Juniors, Dalkeith Thistle, Darvel, Dunbar United, and Sauchie Juniors took part in the Scottish Cup for the first time having each gained their Club Licence. Auchinleck Talbot, Irvine Meadow, Musselburgh Athletic also competed for the first time as SFA members rather than qualifiers. Clydebank made their first appearance in the Scottish Cup since 2001–02 after re-founding as a junior club in 2003 and gaining their SFA licence.
Draw Teams in bold advanced to the first round.
East of Scotland LeagueSouth of Scotland LeagueWest of Scotland LeagueNorth Caledonian LeagueSJFA North RegionPremier Division Blackburn United Broxburn Athletic Camelon Juniors Dunbar United Dundonald Bluebell Hill of Beath Hawthorn Jeanfield Swifts Linlithgow Rose Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale Musselburgh Athletic Newtongrange Star Penicuik Athletic Sauchie Juniors Tranent Juniors Tynecastle Whitehill Welfare First Division Burntisland Shipyard Coldstream Dalkeith Thistle Dunipace Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare Haddington Athletic Hawick Royal Albert United Preston AthleticNewton Stewart St Cuthbert Wanderers Threave Rovers Wigtown & BladnochPremier Division Auchinleck Talbot Clydebank Cumnock Juniors Darvel Irvine Meadow Tier 7 Conferences Girvan Glasgow UniversityGolspie SutherlandNorth Superleague Banks O' Dee
The draw for the preliminary round took place on 12 August 2021. Auchinleck Talbot, Camelon Juniors, Clydebank, Cumnock Juniors, Darvel, Dunipace, Glasgow University, Haddington Athletic, Hill of Beath Hawthorn, Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale, Newtongrange Star, Sauchie, St Cuthbert Wanderers, Tranent Juniors and Wigtown & Bladnoch all received a bye to the first round.
Matches
Replay
First round The first round took place on the weekend of 18 September 2021. Along with the 11 winners from the preliminary round and 15 teams with byes, there were 34 new entries at this stage - 18 from the Highland Football League and 16 from the Lowland Football League. The draw took place on 29 August 2021.
Draw Teams in bold advanced to the second round.
Highland LeagueLowland LeagueEast of Scotland LeagueWest of Scotland LeagueOtherBrechin City Brora Rangers Buckie Thistle Clachnacuddin Deveronvale Formartine United Forres Mechanics Fort William Fraserburgh Huntly Inverurie Loco Works Keith Lossiemouth Nairn County Rothes Strathspey Thistle Turriff United Wick AcademyBerwick Rangers Bo'ness United Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic Broomhill Caledonian Braves Civil Service Strollers Cumbernauld Colts Dalbeattie Star East Kilbride East Stirlingshire Edinburgh University Gala Fairydean Rovers Gretna 2008 The Spartans University of Stirling Vale of LeithenPremier Division Blackburn United Camelon Juniors Dunbar United Hill of Beath Hawthorn Jeanfield Swifts Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale Newtongrange Star Penicuik Athletic Sauchie Juniors Tranent Juniors Tynecastle First Division Dalkeith Thistle Coldstream Dunipace Haddington Athletic Preston AthleticPremier Division Auchinleck Talbot Clydebank Cumnock Juniors Darvel Irvine Meadow Tier 7 Conferences Glasgow UniversityNorth Caledonian League Golspie Sutherland North Superleague Banks O' Dee South of Scotland League St Cuthbert Wanderers Wigtown & Bladnoch
Matches
Replays
Second round The second round took place on the weekend of 23 October 2021. Along with the 30 winners from the first round, there were 10 new entries at this stage - all from League Two. The draw took place on 19 September 2021.
Draw Teams in Italics were unknown at the time of the draw. Teams in bold advanced to the third round.
League TwoHighland LeagueLowland LeagueEast of Scotland LeagueWest of Scotland LeagueOtherAlbion Rovers Annan Athletic Cowdenbeath Edinburgh City Elgin City Forfar Athletic Kelty Hearts Stenhousemuir Stirling Albion StranraerBrechin City Brora Rangers Buckie Thistle Formartine United Huntly Nairn County RothesBerwick Rangers Bo'ness United Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic Broomhill Civil Service Strollers Dalbeattie Star East Kilbride East Stirlingshire Gala Fairydean Rovers University of StirlingPremier Division Dunbar United Jeanfield Swifts Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale Sauchie Juniors Tranent Juniors First Division Dunipace Haddington Athletic Preston AthleticPremier Division Auchinleck Talbot Clydebank DarvelNorth Superleague Banks O' Dee South of Scotland League St Cuthbert Wanderers
Matches
Replays
Third round The third round took place on the weekend of 27 November 2021. Along with the 20 winners from the second round, there were 20 new entries at this stage - from League One and the Championship. The draw took place on 24 October 2021 at 5:15pm live on the Scottish Cup YouTube, Facebook and Twitter pages.
Draw Teams in Italics were unknown at the time of the draw. Teams in bold advanced to the fourth round.
ChampionshipLeague OneLeague TwoTier 5Tier 6Arbroath Ayr United Dunfermline Athletic Greenock Morton Hamilton Academical Inverness Caledonian Thistle Kilmarnock Partick Thistle Queen of the South Raith RoversAirdrieonians Alloa Athletic Clyde Cove Rangers Dumbarton East Fife Falkirk Montrose Peterhead Queen's ParkAlbion Rovers Annan Athletic Edinburgh City Forfar Athletic Kelty Hearts Stenhousemuir Stirling AlbionHighland League Brechin City Lowland League Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic Civil Service Strollers Dalbeattie Star East Kilbride Gala Fairydean RoversEast of Scotland Premier Division Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale Sauchie Juniors Tranent Juniors West of Scotland Premier Division Auchinleck Talbot Clydebank Darvel North Superleague Banks O' Dee
Matches
Replays
Fourth round The fourth round took place on the weekend of 22 January 2022. Along with the 20 winners from the third round, there were 12 new entries at this stage - from the Premiership. The draw took place on 29 November 2021 following the Brechin City v Darvel match live on BBC Scotland.
Draw Teams in Italics were unknown at the time of the draw. Teams in bold advanced to the fifth round. Auchinleck Talbot were drawn against Premiership club Heart of Midlothian (58 places above them), representing the biggest league position gap between two teams in the competition's history since the pyramid system was introduced.
PremiershipChampionshipLeague OneLeague TwoOtherAberdeen Celtic Dundee Dundee United Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Livingston Motherwell Rangers Ross County St Johnstone St MirrenArbroath Ayr United Greenock Morton Kilmarnock Partick Thistle Raith RoversAirdrieonians Alloa Athletic Cove Rangers Dumbarton PeterheadAnnan Athletic Edinburgh City Kelty Hearts Stirling AlbionLowland League East Kilbride North Superleague Banks O' Dee West of Scotland Premier Division Auchinleck Talbot Clydebank Darvel
Matches
Fifth round The fifth round took place on the weekend of 12 February 2022, featuring the 16 winners from the fourth round. The draw took place on 22 January 2022 following the Alloa Athletic v Celtic match live on Premier Sports 1. Teams in bold advanced to the quarter-finals.
Draw PremiershipChampionshipLeague OneLeague TwoAberdeen Celtic Dundee Dundee United Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Livingston Motherwell Rangers St MirrenArbroath Partick Thistle Raith RoversPeterheadAnnan Athletic Kelty Hearts
Matches
Quarter-finals The quarter-finals took place on the weekend of 12 March 2022. The draw took place on 14 February 2022 following the Peterhead v Dundee match live on BBC Scotland with guest Paul Slane.
Draw Teams in Bold advanced to the semi-finals. PremiershipCeltic Dundee Dundee United Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Motherwell Rangers St Mirren
Matches
Semi-finals The semi-finals took place on the weekend of 16 April 2022. The draw took place on 14 March 2022 following the Dundee United v Celtic match live on Premier Sports 1 with guest Greg Hemphill.
The semi-finalists were Celtic, Hearts, Hibernian and Rangers, the first time in the competition's history (its 122nd edition since Celtic were founded in 1888) that this combination of teams made up the last four.
Draw PremiershipCeltic Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Rangers
Matches
Final
Broadcasting The Scottish Cup was broadcast by Premier Sports and BBC Scotland. Premier Sports had the first two picks of the fourth and fifth rounds, the quarter-finals as well as first pick of one semi-final and aired the final non-exclusively. BBC Scotland broadcast one match per round from the first round onwards and two matches per round from the fourth round to the quarter-finals, as well as one semi-final and the final.
The following matches were broadcast live on UK television: RoundBBC ScotlandPremier SportsFirst roundBerwick Rangers v Gretna F.C. 2008Second roundClydebank v Elgin CityThird roundBrechin City v DarvelFourth roundHibernian v Cove RangersAuchinleck Talbot v Heart of MidlothianRangers v Stirling AlbionAlloa Athletic v CelticFifth roundArbroath v HibernianPeterhead v DundeeAnnan Athletic v RangersCeltic v Raith RoversQuarter-finalsHeart of Midlothian v St MirrenMotherwell v HibernianDundee v RangersDundee United v CelticSemi-finalsHeart of Midlothian v HibernianHeart of Midlothian v HibernianCeltic v RangersFinalRangers v Heart of Midlothian
References