It’s the final of the Scottish Challenge Cup, a fixture steeped in tradition, fraught with meaning, the antithesis of diddiness.
ICT won the cup in 2003-04 and 2017-18, Raith in 2013-14 and 2021-22. They were to have met in the 2019-20 final but it was cancelled due to Covid and the two sides were declared co-winners, so it’s correct to say that each has won the cup two-and-a-half times.
Raith are fifth in the Championship, Inverness first in League One. They met in the League Cup group stage back in July and Raith won 5 – 1. Only four third-tier teams have ever won this cup: Stenhousemuir, Stranraer, Alloa and Queen of the South.
Clubs that have never played in the Challenge Cup final are: Celtic, Aberdeen, Motherwell, Hearts, Hibs, Kilmarnock, Arbroath, Montrose, East Fife, Cove Rangers, Kelty Hearts, East Kilbride, The Spartans, Forfar, Annan, Elgin, Stirling Albion and Edinburgh City.
Top ticket price is £20. Top ticket price for the coming FIFA World Cup final is $10,990. Story.
2025-26 Scottish Challenge Cup final (tomorrow):
Raith Rovers [4 – 1] Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Meanwhile in the Championship, Morton visit Dunfermline. The Pars are fourth in the Championship with 40 points, and Morton are sixth with 36. So far this season they’re even, with a win, a loss and a draw each. A win today would put Morton 1 point out of the promotion playoffs.
The last Morton player to score against Dunfermline was Cammy MacPherson on February 17th. The last Dunfermline player to score against Morton was Charlie Gilmour on November 22nd.
[Dunfermline 3 – 1 Morton. Morton goal by Blues.]
The other Championship matches:
Arbroath (3rd) [2 – 4] St Johnstone (1st)
Ayr United (8th) [1 – 1] Partick Thistle (2nd)
Ayr sacked their manager Monday. They’re on an eight-game winless streak.
Ross County (9th) [0 – 4] Airdrieonians (10th)
Other matches:
Drumchapel United 0 – 2 Largs Thistle (March 31)
Cowdenbeath 0 – 4 Clydebank (April 1)
Lipno Stęszew [1 – 1] Środa
1.FC Kaiserlauten [3 – 0] Fortuna Düsseldorf
Banks o’ Dee [6 – 1] Wick Academy
Only Brechin, Brora or Formartine can win the Highland League.
Clydebank [4 – 0] Broxburn Athletic
Only Clydebank, Bonnyrigg Rose, Linlithgow Rose or Tranent can win the Lowland League.
Largs Thistle [0 – 1] Rutherglen Glencairn
Lesmahagow vs Greenock [postponed]
Ardeer Thistle [4 – 0] Port Glasgow
Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts [3 – 3] Coldstream
ReinMeer Aomori [2 – 2] Grulla Morioka [Grulla win on PK] (tomorrow)
Tokyo Verdy Beleza [0 – 1] Elfen Saitama (tomorrow)
Aberdeen have joined the Union of European Clubs. Story.
Hamilton Accies will play at New Douglas Stadium next season. Story.
Bo’ness Athletic will fold at the end of this season. Story.
Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for the third straight time. Story.
Whenever the Scottish Sun has a story about a non-Premiership club the accompanying photo is always just a pile of footballs.
The 2026 Canadian Premier League begins:
Vancouver FC [0 – 1] HFX Wanderers [Goal by Callegari.]
This is the eighth season for the Canadian Premier League. The league now has a team in Montreal, but no longer has a team in Winnipeg. Only five of the league’s original seven clubs remain and one of those has rebranded itself twice.
There’s a gap in the CanPL schedule in June where the World Cup group stage will go, though none of the CanPL clubs play at a World Cup venue. The Toronto Argonauts and BC Lions are the ones who have had to move out of their stadiums for FIFA.
The league has abandoned its eccentric five-team playoff format and returned to the rational universe of two semi-finals and a final.
J League 100 Year Vision League East, matchday 9:
[Machida Zelvia 0 – 3 FC Tokyo (April 1)]
JEF United (10th) [3 – 2] Tokyo Verdy (4th)
Mito HollyHock (9th) [1 – 1] Kashima Antlers (1st) [Mito win on PK]
Kashiwa Reysol (8th) [3 – 0] Yokohama F Marinos (7th) (tomorrow)
FC Tokyo (3rd) [0 – 0] Machida Zelvia (2nd) [Zelvia win on PK] (tomorrow)
Kawasaki Frontale (6th) [3 – 2] Urawa Red Diamonds (5th) (tomorrow)
Historical matches:
1891/4/4 Cowlairs 4 – 5 Morton
1931/4/4 Rangers 2 – 1 Morton
1953/4/4 Morton 4 – 1 Alloa
1981/4/1 Rangers 4 – 0 Morton
1981/4/4 Morton 1 – 3 Aberdeen
SFL results 1890-91:
1891/4/4 St Mirren 1 – 0 Celtic
1891/4/4 Third Lanark 1 – 2 Cambuslang
1891/4/4 Rangers 4 – 0 Vale of Leven
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