Isuzu UK announced as the Official Commercial Vehicle Partner for Scottish Cup
The eagerly anticipated Fourth Round takes place between January 21-23
Agreement further demonstrates Isuzu UK’s support and commitment to football in the UK
Isuzu UK has announced a new multi-year partnership with the Scottish FA as the Official Commercial Vehicle Partner for the Men’s Scottish Cup.
With this new partnership, Isuzu UK is further expanding its role as the driving force behind domestic football with a partnership already in place in England, with the Isuzu FA Vase and Isuzu FA Trophy and with the Irish Football Association.
The Scottish Cup first began in the 1873-74 season and is the second oldest competition in association football. The first final was held on March 21, 1874, at the original Hampden Park with Queen’s Park emerging victorious against Clydesdale.
Celtic have won the trophy more times than any other club with 40 titles to their name, the most recent coming in 2020. Their Glasgow rivals Rangers are not far behind with 34 Scottish Cup triumphs.
The next round of this season’s competition is being held on the weekend of 21 January, with the Semi-Finals set for Saturday, 29April and Sunday, 30April 2023. The final will be held on Saturday 3 June 2023 at the National Stadium, Hampden Park.
The Pick-up Professionals at Isuzu dealerships across Scotland will be getting actively involved with their local clubs, with some having already started making preparations for local sponsorship deals and promotional matchday activations.
William Brown, Managing Director, Isuzu UK said “We are extremely proud to announce our new partnership with the Scottish FA and the Scottish Cup.
“This agreement further demonstrates our commitment to domestic football and is also the last piece of the puzzle which now provides us with sports sponsorship across the whole of the UK.”
Michael Paterson, Head of Marketing and Partnerships, Scottish FA commented “We are delighted to welcome Isuzu UK as the Official Commercial Vehicle Partner for the Men’s Scottish Cup.
“Our flagship tournament boasts an illustrious history and, with a bumper Fourth Round weekend to look forward to in January, it is a hugely exciting time to welcome on board such an iconic and established international brand.
“This prestigious competition has given us so many unforgettable moments over the years and we look forward to sharing some more alongside the team at Isuzu UK.”
The Scottish Cup continues apace this weekend, as the Fourth Round kicks off with a bumper Friday night feast, with three ties this evening.
The 16 competing clubs have the carrot of knowing who their potential opponents would be in the Fifth Round if they emerge victorious, with the Fifth Round ties having already been drawn due to the competition’s condensed schedule this season.
St. Mirren and Inverness get the weekend underway at 6pm this evening, in a match where the home side will go in as favourites, being unbeaten in their last four matches against Inverness.
Inverness will be hoping to upset the odds however, and as a side on form will be confident in their ability to do so, having defeated their Highland rivals Ross County in the last round. The tie’s winners have the prospect of a trip to Kilmarnock or Montrose ahead of them.
Motherwell host Greenock Morton at 7pm, with the victors set to travel to either Stranraer or Queen of the South in the subsequent round.
Motherwell will be high on confidence having thumped Formartine United 5-0 in the previous round and will be aware that the competitive record is on their side: Motherwell are unbeaten in their last 19 matches against Greenock Morton at Fir Park in all competitions (W16 D3), while Morton’s last win in Motherwell came in August 1970.
Greenock Morton needed extra time to see off East Fife in the last round and have not beaten top flight opposition in the Scottish Cup since January 2008, when they beat Gretna 3-0 at Palmerston.
Friday’s televised match sees Dundee United travel to Forfar Athletic, live on BBC Scotland at 7.45pm. This will be the first competitive meeting of Forfar Athletic and Dundee United since March 1987, when United beat the Loons 2-0 at Station Park in a Scottish Cup quarter-final, following a 2-2 draw at Tannadice.
History is against Forfar Athletic, who have only reached the Scottish Cup quarter-final five times in their history, most recently in 2001/02, while they have only ever recorded one victory over top flight opposition in the Scottish Cup – a 2-0 victory over Falkirk in 1910/11.
The action continues on Saturday, first with Kilmarnock hosting Montrose at 11.45am in the first competitive meeting of the two clubs since April 1992, when Killie won 1-0 at Rugby Park in the old Division One.
Kilmarnock are aiming to reach the Scottish Cup quarter-final for just the fifth time since they won the competition back in 1997, while Montrose are striving to reach the Scottish Cup quarter-final for the first time since 1975/76, and for just the fifth time ever.
St. Johnstone host Clyde at 5.30pm in what will be just the third time the two sides have ever met in the Scottish Cup and their first meeting since back in 1938/39, when Clyde won 2-0 at Shawfield Park.
St Johnstone have not lost a Scottish Cup tie to a team outside the top two tiers since January 2006, when they were beaten 1-0 by Gretna. Clyde are aiming to reach the Scottish Cup quarter-final for the first time since 2004/05, the only time in the last 32 years that they have made the last eight.
Saturday’s televised match also kicks off at 5.30pm, with Aberdeen v Livingston live on Premier Sports.
Although Livingston hold the advantage in Scottish Cup ties, with three victories to one, Aberdeen are unbeaten in their last 16 Scottish Cup matches at Pittodrie, their last defeat coming against Raith Rovers in February 2010.
Livingston are aiming to reach the quarter-final of the Scottish Cup for the first time since 2004/05, with a home tie against Forfar Athletic or Dundee United awaiting them should they be triumphant.
The first of two televised matches on Sunday kicks off at 12.15pm, with Stranraer hosting Hibs live on BBC One. History is very much on the side of Hibs, with Stranraer’s last Scottish Cup win over top flight opposition coming back in February 1973, when they defeated St Johnstone 2-1 at Muirton Park.
This is just the second time Stranraer and Hibernian have been drawn together in the Scottish Cup – the previous tie in 2001/02 saw Hibs win 4-0 at Easter Road after a 0-0 draw at Stair Park. It will be the tenth competitive meeting of the two sides in total, with the Blues having won just one of the previous nine, a 2-1 win at Easter Road in Division 1 in August 1998.
The action concludes at 3pm on Sunday with the eagerly-anticipated Rangers v Celtic derby bringing the weekend to a close, live on Premier Sports.
This will be the first Scottish Cup meeting of the old rivals at Ibrox since January 2011, when the sides drew 2-2 before Celtic won the replay 1-0 at Celtic Park.
Celtic have won five of their last six Scottish Cup ties against Rangers – the Light Blues’ only victory in this period came in a penalty shoot-out in the 2015/16 semi-final.
With the home side having already wrapped up their first league title in a decade, Rangers now set their sights on completing a league and Scottish Cup double for the first time since 2008/09. Celtic, however, will be determined to end the season with silverware and defend the trophy they have won for the past four consecutive seasons.
Scottish Cup Fourth Round Fixtures:
Friday, 16 April
St. Mirren v Inverness Caledonian Thistle; kick-off 6pm
Motherwell v Greenock Morton; kick-off 7pm
Forfar Athletic v Dundee United; kick-off 7.45pm (live on BBC Scotland)
Saturday, 17 April
Kilmarnock v Montrose; kick-off 11.45am
St. Johnstone v Clyde; kick-off 5.30pm
Aberdeen v Livingston; kick-off 5.30pm (live on Premier Sports)
Sunday, 18 April
Stranraer v Hibernian; kick-off 12.15pm (live on BBC One)
Rangers v Celtic; kick-off 3pm (live on Premier Sports).
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Two Edinburgh teams will go into Monday’s Scottish Cup quarter-final draw – just. A late, late show at Ainslie Park saw Spartans strike deep into injury time to force a replay at Berwick, while Hibs safely negotiated a potential banana-skin when they comfortably saw off Arbroath at Easter Road. Shock of the round was Rangers tame surrender to Raith Rovers at Ibrox.
Spartans fell behind to an early Berwick goal and were often second-best during a stirring encounter played in front of a full house at Ainslie Park. Just as in the last round, however, the Lowland League saved the best ’til last. Deep into stoppage time Ally MacKinnon fired home a equaliser that sent the crowd into raptures and ensured wee Spartans live to fight another day. The replay will take place on Tuesday 17 February, and it will take another never-say-die performance to see the local lads progress.
Easter Road couldn’t match Ainslie Park for drama on Saturday, although Hibs did have to come from a goal down to dispose of fourth-tier league leaders Arbroath. A well-worked move saw Kieran Stewart open the scoring for the visitors, but Hibs fans’ nerves were soothed when Djedje equalised with a sweetly struck volley just before half-time.
Hibs continued to dominate after the break, although there was a lot of huffing and puffing to little effect. The introduction of McGeogh brought a sense of purpose to Hibs’ already dominant midfield, however, and it was no surprise when the Easter Road men immediately capitalised on their superiority.
Hibs’ second had more than a touch of good fortune about it – a Cummings shot that wasn’t going to trouble the ‘keeper took a wicked deflection off defender Liam Gordon on the hour mark – and the Easter Road men quickly followed up to seal their place in the quarter finals with a Dylan McGeoch strike in 68 minutes. More workmanlike than spectacular, this was a case of ‘job done’; sterner tests await.
It will be Rangers, however, that will make all the Monday headlines – but once again it will be for all the wrong reasons.
Just when you think it really can’t get any worse for Rangers, it gets worse. This Rangers ‘team’ – I use the term loosely – simply couldn’t match an honest Raith Rovers side for determination, energy, effort or endeavour. Barely 11,000 diehard Rangers fans turned up to watch the debacle – these are dreadful times indeed for a once-great club. It’s not funny anymore – even when the coup de grace, the final indignity, is delivered by the oft-ridiculed figure of fun that is Christian Nade.
After today’s showing, the Ibrox Board might consider relocating their Extraordinary General Meeting from the London’s sumptuous Dorchester Hotel to somewhere more fitting with their current status.
Suggestions welcome …
Elsewhere, there were few surprises. Hot favourites Celtic scored early and were never in any danger against Dundee, Falkirk beat Brechin 2-1 and Inverness CT edged a narrow victory at Partick Thistle. Result of the day was Championship side Queen of the South’s 2-0 victory over Scottish Cup holders St Johnstone with second half goals by Lyle (48) and Reilly (90). On Sunday, Dundee United made short work of Stranraer. Three up at half-time, the Tangerines coasted to an easy victory.
Darts supremo Gary Anderson will help make the draw for the quarter-finals of the William Hill Scottish Cup on Monday afternoon. The current PDC World Champion will be joined by the Scottish FA First Vice-President, Alan McRae and Joe McCallum from competition sponsors William Hill. The draw takes place at 2pm and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports News. You can also follow the draw on the @ScottishFA Twitter feed.
Scottish Cup weekend again, and for many neutrals the tastiest tie of the round is the Spartans v Berwick Rangers game at Ainslie Park. Spartans go into the game as underdogs, but playing in front of a packed full house it would be absolutely no surprise to see the North Edinburgh community club progress to the quarter-finals for the first time in their history.
While it would be a notable victory, on the giant-killing scale Spartans beating Berwick Rangers would barely register a slight tremor. Their visitors, however, know all about cup upsets: Berwick featured in the greatest giant-killing story of them all.
On a cold January afternoon in 1967, 13,365 packed into Berwick’s Shielfield Park to watch a mighty Rangers team, packed with internationals, hammer the ‘wee Rangers’. That was the expectation, but nobody told the Berwick men!
Rangers pummelled away at their hosts from kick-off and forced ten corners in the opening half hour. A goal seemed inevitable, but when it came it shook Scottish football to it’s foundations – in the 32nd minute Sammy Reid hammered the ball past Rangers keeper Norrie Martin to put the minnows ahead!
Rangers battered away at Big Jock Wallace in the Berwick goal – yes, that big Jock Wallace – but they couldn’t break the defiant borderers down. The story goes that, with the game well into injury time and the Ibrox club facing cup exit, Rangers skipper and club legend John Greig had a word with referee Eddie Thomson and asked for another couple of minutes – but was told: “I’ve already given you four!” Berwick Rangers held on to create the greatest shock in Scottish Cup history.
The result was announced on TV and radio in the sombre tones usually reserved for royal funerals and rail disasters. I was a wee laddie at the time, but I remember it like yesterday. What I can’t recall is whether the announcers wore black ties – but I suppose back in those days it was all black and white anyway!
We won’t get shocks of that magnitude this weekend – not if Hibs were humbled by Arbroath, Stranraer stun Dundee United or wee Spartans shock Berwick.
But will there be dancing in the streets of Sparta tonight? I really do think there will be – take your partners!
Local club The Spartans play Berwick Rangers this Saturday (7 February) at Ainslie Park in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup. If we win we will make history as the first non-league team to play in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup for 55 years!
This Cross-Border clash sees the Lowland League title holders take on their third SPFL opponents on the Road to Hampden. We have already beaten Clyde and Morton and in both games the bumper home support has made all the difference.
Can you be the twelfth man on 7 February? We are making a big plea for everyone in the North Edinburgh community to come along and back their local team as we aim to make history!
The TV cameras will be along, “Pulse of the Place” our local Samba band will provide the pre match entertainment and hundreds of local youngsters will be bringing a real family atmosphere. It promises to be a magical afternoon.
Our Ainslie Park arena holds 3500 people, with 500 seats in our covered stand. Kick-off is at 3pm so please come down early if you want a seat.
Admission is £12 for adults, £8 for concessions and Under 12 s are free (pay at gate) – continuing our commitment to offer affordable football for all. With a bumper crowd expected, we have entrances open on both Pilton Drive and Pilton Avenue.
You can keep up to date with the pre-match news, previews and interviews on our hat-trick of social media sources:
