THE Scottish League Cup has gone through a few transformations and even more names in a bid to make the competition more glamorous.
It began with Bells’ sponsoring the cup in 1979, then it was Skol Lager, Coca-Cola, CIS Insurance, Co-operative Insurance, Scottish Communities, which was the Scottish Government, QTS (me neither), Utilita Energy and now Betfred.
These new names made little difference. The League Cup was seen by the Old Firm, pre 2012, as the fourth and final priority after the title, European progress and Scottish Cup.
As for the rest, it was their best chance, they thought, of picking up silverware and in recent times St Mirren, Kilmarnock and Ross County did just that. Try telling the supporters of those clubs that it was a Mickey Mouse tournament.
But it did lack something. The ties began at the start of the season, the final took place in February or March and the crowds were never great all the way through unless a derby was pulled out at a draw.
Something needed to be done and, for once in Scottish football, something was done.
This season the early rounds were brought forward to early July and group stages were introduced. These finished on Saturday and now we go into a last 16 including the four clubs who had European duties and haven’t played a match yet.
Previously it was only now that it got interesting and even then the ties were greeted like having to take the in-laws to a gardening centre on a Sunday. It’s one of those tasks that nobody wants to do but you don’t have much of a choice.
Celtic have been particularly guilty of this. Even when they were one of the best teams in Europe, the League Cup was not a tournament which treated them well. Partick Thistle and Dundee beat Jock Stein teams.
And more recently, when Wim Jansen’s side won the trophy in 1997, it had been 15 years since they last tasted victory in the final. It was almost as if they didn’t care.
Since then Morton and Ross County have put out Celtic, and there was, of course, the Raith Rovers final of 1994.
The new format has breathed some much-needed life into the competition. The group stages have worked, no matter what Mark Warbuton was moaning about last week, crowds have been well up on previous seasons when all the fans had were mind-numbing friendlies which were no more than training exercises.
We’ve had plenty of stories. Kilmarnock’s humiliation, Alloa’s success, holders Ross County going out and Partick Thistle topping a group. Could anyone truly recall what happened on the opening rounds of last year’s League Cup?
There have been a lot of goals, two 7-0s on Saturday alone, and almost every manager, apart from the one at Ibrox, believes the competiveness of the group matches has meant their players are at peak fitness ahead of the weekend’s opening league matches.
We don’t get much right; however these changes have proved to be correct including the final being played in November.
Now all that remains is to see what ‘wee’ team beat Celtic. Some traditions never change.
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