Scottish Women's Football League Cup
The Scottish Women's Football League Cup is a Scottish women's football competition that began in 1972–73 with the founding of the Scottish Women's League. It was open to all SWFL clubs and served as the top league cup until 2002, when the top clubs formed the Scottish Women's Premier League (SWPL) and their own SWPL Cup. Since then, the SWFL Cup has been for lower-tier clubs in the SWFL.
Today, the SWFL Cup is the league cup for level-5 SWFL clubs, a standalone amateur tier. After a 2019 reorganisation, the football pyramid was restructured so that teams in the top two levels now contest the SWPL Cup, while teams in the third and fourth levels take part in the SWF Championship Cup and the League One Cup.
Key moments in the competition’s history include Westthor n United winning the first edition in 1972–73, and Sports Connection becoming the first official sponsor in 1997. In 2012, separate cups were created for the SWFL First and Second Divisions, with the First Division trophy effectively becoming the second tier of Scottish women’s football (later the third tier after another restructuring).
Since 2009, Scottish women’s football has moved to a summer schedule (March to November). The 2020 season was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. After the 2019 restructuring, the SWFL First and Second Divisions were reorganised, the top trophy became the SWFL Cup for the recreational level, and a new SWF Championship Cup was introduced for the Championship.
The 2021 SWFL Cup was a straight knockout and won by Bishopton. The 2022 edition introduced a group phase, with the top teams advancing to the knockout rounds and eliminated clubs competing for the SWFL Plate.
There was also a separate SWFL Second Division Cup from 2012 to 2019 for the lowest tier of the SWFL, typically featuring 40–50 teams in a six-round, mostly single-leg format before a last-32 knockout. This competition was discontinued after the 2019 changes.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 12:21 (CET).