Gala Fairydean Rovers up for Scottish Challenge Cup next football season

Manager Martin Scott’s Borderers are one of ten fifth-tier sides invited to take part in the KDM Evolution Trophy’s new opening league phase – introduced last year but expanded by a third this time round – and they’ll be going up against the 20 William Hill League One and Two clubs and ten William Hill Premiership B teams.

The nine other guest clubs signed up are Fairydean’s forthcoming Scottish Lowland Football League East rivals Berwick Rangers, Bonnyrigg Rose and Cowdenbeath, western opposite numbers Clydebank and Cumbernauld Colts and the Scottish Highland Football League’s Formartine United, Banks o’ Dee, Fraserburgh and Clachnacuddin.

The 40 clubs contesting the league phase of next term’s Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup, known as the KDM Evolution Trophy since last year – up from 30 in 2025 – will be split into four pots by division, with each club playing two different opponents from each of the other pots.

Points picked up over those six match-days, taking place from mid-August to mid-October, will count for one league table, with the top 22 clubs qualifying for a knockout round of 32 in November, joined at that stage by the William Hill Championship’s ten clubs, including current holders Raith Rovers.

Championship clubs will be seeded, as will the opening league round’s top six.

The rest of the competition after that round of 32 will follow the usual knockout format en route to 2027’s final next March or April, with £150,000 up for garbs for the winners and £100,000 for the runners-up.

A round of 16 will be played at the end of November, with quarter-finals following in mid-January and semis next February.

Teams knocked out during the league phase will be eligible for payouts of £15,000 to £18,500 depending how high up the table they end up and they’ll earn £30,000 if they make it to round two but get no further.

Rovers, 12th-placed finishers out of 18 making up last season’s single Lowland league, are looking forward to going up against third-tier and fourth-tier opposition in the trophy for the first time, with chairman Ryan Cass saying: “On behalf of everyone at Gala Fairydean Rovers, I am absolutely delighted to confirm that we have accepted an invitation to compete in the SPFL KDM Evolution Trophy for the upcoming season.

“We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the SPFL for this invitation and for granting us the opportunity to take part in this competition.

“To be invited to participate is a magnificent testament to the hard work, dedication and progress everyone at this football club has achieved over recent years – from our coaching staff and players to our commercial team and volunteers and our community trust.

“This tournament represents a brilliant opportunity for our club.

“It allows us to test ourselves against excellent opposition, showcase our talent on a wider stage and create memorable match-days for our loyal supporters.

“We enter this competition not just to participate but to compete, learn and do our community proud, and I know our fans will share our immense excitement.

“We look forward to welcoming the SPFL clubs to our home ground and taking our travelling support on this exciting new journey.

“Let’s make the most of this brilliant opportunity together.”

SPFL group chief executive Neil Doncaster added: “We are delighted to build on the success of last season’s new-look competition by inviting ten guest clubs to participate in next season’s tournament, which will be sure to benefit the community clubs we have invited and provide new challenges for our member clubs.

“While we will continue to minimise travel with broadly regionalised league phase matches, following discussions with our members, home clubs will now retain gate receipts in full in the league phase to support them financially.”

League-phase fixtures will be announced on Thursday, July 16.