Premier Sports Cup draw: How to watch, seedings, club numbers and who Hibs and Aberdeen can get

Just days after the 2023/24 season culminated with Ross County securing their Premiership status with a play-off win over Raith Rovers, preparations have already begun for the 2024/25 Scottish football campaign.

On Wednesday, the draw is made for the group stages of next season’s Premier Sports Cup. The Scottish Professional Football League confirmed on Tuesday morning the seedings for the tournament and the match schedule. The domestic game does not sleep, even in the shadow of Scotland’s participation in Euro 2024.

Aberdeen and Hibs avoided the group stages last term by dint of being involved in European competition but due to their poor performance in the league and finishing in the bottom six, they are the two most glamorous names in the hat. With five SPFL clubs again taking part in UEFA competitions next season – Celtic, Rangers, Hearts, Kilmarnock and St Mirren – the group stage draw will involve the remaining 37 SPFL clubs from 2023/24, plus Highland League champions Buckie Thistle and Lowland League champions East Kilbride. The third additional place for 2024/25 will be taken by Highland League runners-up Brechin City.

The draw for the group stages of the 2024/25 Premier Sports Cup takes place on Wednesday.

As has been the case for the previous two seasons, there is no regionalised aspect to the group stage draw. The 40 participating clubs will be split into five seeding pots based on final league placings in season 2023/24. One club from each pot will be drawn into the eight Groups A-H. The eight group winners and three best runners-up will join Celtic, holders Rangers, Hearts, Kilmarnock and St Mirren in the last 16.

The SPFL has confirmed that the pots have been configured as follows, with club numbers assigned for the draw:

Pot 1: 1 Dundee, 2 Aberdeen, 3 Hibernian, 4 Motherwell, 5 St Johnstone, 6 Ross County, 7 Livingston, 8 Dundee United.

Pot 2: 9 Raith Rovers, 10 Partick Thistle, 11 Airdrieonians, 12 Greenock Morton, 13 Dunfermline Athletic, 14 Ayr United, 15 Queen’s Park, 16 Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Aberdeen and Hibs will be involved in the draw.

Pot 3: 17 Arbroath, 18 Falkirk, 19 Hamilton Academical, 20 Alloa Athletic, 21 Montrose, 22 Cove Rangers, 23 Kelty Hearts, 24 Queen of the South.

Pot 4: 25 Annan Athletic, 26 Stirling Albion, 27 Edinburgh City, 28 Stenhousemuir, 29 Peterhead, 30 The Spartans, 31 Dumbarton, 32 East Fife.

Pot 5: 33 Forfar Athletic, 34 Elgin City, 35 Bonnyrigg Rose, 36 Clyde. 37 Stranraer, 38 East Kilbride, 39 Buckie Thistle, 40 Brechin City.

The 2024/25 Premier Sports Cup begins on the weekend of July 13/14, with further group stage matchdays on July 16/17, July 20/21, July 23/24 and July 27/28. Due to the increased number of UEFA midweek dates, the quarter-finals will be played on the weekend of September 21/22. The semi-finals are scheduled for the weekend of November 2/3 and the final will take place on Sunday, December 15.

The SPFL last week announced record prize and TV money of over £3.5 million for the 2024/25 Premier Sports Cup – an increase of 14 per cent on the 2023/24 competition. Next season’s Premier Sports Cup winners will receive £400,000, while each participating club is guaranteed to receive at least £30,000.

The draw, which takes on Wednesday, May 29, at 1pm, will be made available on the Premier Sports YouTube channel and Premier Sports X/Twitter page. Viewers can also watch it on the SPFL YouTube channel.