2018–19 Scottish Challenge Cup
The 2018–19 Scottish Challenge Cup, known as the IRN-BRU Cup due to sponsorship reasons, was the 28th season of the competition. The tournament took on a similar format from the previous season with the addition of two teams from England's National League entering the competition for the first time. This took the total number of participating clubs to 58.
Thirty teams from the Scottish Championship, Scottish League One and Scottish League Two competed, along with four teams from the Highland Football League and four from the Lowland Football League. In addition to this, Under-21 teams of the clubs competing in the Scottish Premiership were represented. This was the third edition with two clubs from both Northern Ireland's NIFL Premiership and the Welsh Premier League and was the second time that two teams from the League of Ireland entered. A new change was the addition of two entrants from the English National League.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle were the defending champions after they beat Dumbarton 1–0 in the 2018 final, but they were eliminated in the first round by Dunfermline Athletic.
Ross County won the competition for the third time, defeating Connah's Quay Nomads 3–1 in the final.
Format
Preliminary round
Matches
First round
The draw for the first round was made on 26 June 2018 at 1pm live on the .North Section
Draw
Teams in Bold advanced to the second round.| North section |
01. Alloa Athletic 02. Arbroath 03. Brechin City 04. Cowdenbeath 05. Dundee United 06. Dunfermline Athletic 07. East Fife 08. Elgin City 09. Forfar Athletic 10. Inverness CT 11. Montrose 12. Peterhead 13. Raith Rovers 14. Ross County 15. Stirling Albion 16. Aberdeen U21s 17. Dundee U21s 18. Heart of Midlothian U21s 19. Hibernian U21s 20. Livingston U21s 21. St Johnstone U21s 22. Cove Rangers 23. Formartine United 24. Inverurie Loco Works |
Matches
;NotesReplay
South Section
Draw
Teams in Bold advanced to the second round.| South section |
25. Airdrieonians 26. Albion Rovers 27. Annan Athletic 28. Ayr United 29. Berwick Rangers 30. Clyde 31. Dumbarton 32. Edinburgh City 33. Falkirk 34. Greenock Morton 35. Partick Thistle 36. Queen of the South 37. Queen's Park 38. Stenhousemuir 39. Stranraer 40. Celtic U21s 41. Hamilton Academical U21s 42. Kilmarnock U21s 43. Motherwell U21s 44. Rangers U21s 45. St Mirren U21s 46. Spartans 47. East Kilbride 48. East Stirlingshire |
Matches
Second round
Teams from Wales, Northern Ireland, England and the Republic of Ireland entered in the second round. Originally, Bray Wanderers were to be the second side to represent the League of Ireland however, they were subsequently thrown out by the FAI on 16 July 2018 for failing to pay their players and replaced by Limerick. A similar statement was released by the FAI hours later about Limerick who were also in financial difficulties. St Patrick's Athletic were then invited to compete as the next ranked team in line but declined. Sligo Rovers accepted the position in their place so they would represent the League of Ireland instead.Draw
The draw for the second round was made on 16 August 2018 at 1pm live on the .Teams in Bold advanced to the third round.
Teams in Italics were not known at the time of the draw.
| SPFL | Other Scottish | Teams from other countries |
Championship
| Highland League
| National League
|
Matches
Third round
Draw
The draw for the third round was made on 11 September 2018 at 1pm live on the .Teams in Bold advanced to the quarter-finals.
| SPFL | Teams from other countries |
Championship
| National League
|
Matches
Quarter-finals
Draw
The draw for the quarter-finals was made on 16 October 2018 at 1pm at The Hub in Edinburgh live on the .Teams in Bold advanced to the semi-finals.
| Teams from other countries | |
Championship
| Welsh Premier League
|
Matches
;NotesSemi-finals
Draw
The draw for the semi-finals was made on 21 November 2018 at 1pm at Hampden Park live on the .Final
Player of the Round
The Golden Ball Award is a 'Player of the Round' award given to the player who is adjudged to have had the best performance of that round out of all the players in teams left competing in that round of the competition. The winner is voted for by supporters from a chosen short-list of players, which is posted on the Irn-Bru Football Twitter page.| Round | Player | Club | Match | Ref |
| First Round |  Aidan Fitzpatrick | Partick Thistle | 5–0 v Stranraer | |
| Second Round |  Mikey Drennan | Sligo Rovers | 4–1 v Livingston U21s | |
| Third Round |  Christian Mbulu | Motherwell U21s | 2–0 v Sligo Rovers | |
| Quarter-finals | Scott Shepherd | Edinburgh City | 2–2 v Alloa Athletic | |
| Semi-finals | Ross Stewart | Ross County | 2–1 v East Fife |
Broadcasting rights
The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition are held jointly by BBC Alba, S4C and subscription channel Premier Sports. Prior to the re-format in the 2016–17 season, BBC Alba had exclusive rights.One of the semi-final matches was also confirmed as being broadcast live on BT Sport despite no apparent previous announcement of rights.
The following matches were broadcast live on UK television:
| Round | BBC Alba | S4C | Premier Sports | BT Sport |
| Second Round | The New Saints v Queen's Park | |||
| Third Round | Arbroath v Edinburgh City | Connah's Quay Nomads v Coleraine | ||
| Quarter-Finals | Queen's Park v Connah's Quay Nomads | |||
| Semi-Finals | Ross County v East Fife | Connah's Quay Nomads v Edinburgh City | Ross County v East Fife | |
| Final | Ross County v Connah's Quay Nomads | Ross County v Connah's Quay Nomads | Ross County v Connah's Quay Nomads |