THERE will be a new name on the Scottish League Cup this season, no matter who wins the famous three-handled trophy at Hampden next March.
Yesterday's draw for the first round of the tournament saw Co-Operative Insurance begin their 10th year as its sponsors, but it will no longer be known as the CIS Cup. A re-branding of the company, whose current deal with the Scottish Football Leagu
e expires next year, means the official title of the competition is now the Co-Operative Insurance Cup.
Irrespective of the moniker, the continued financial backing of the League Cup is crucial for the SFL whose chief executive David Longmuir has already opened talks aimed at securing a further extension of the successful partnership beyond the end of the coming season.
"Our deal with Co-Operative Insurance brings around £4.5million a year into Scottish football," said Longmuir. "In addition to the basic £1 million a year the sponsorship provides, it also delivers a television contract worth another £1 million and around £2.5 million more in gate receipts and other revenue.
"That is distributed to all clubs in the SPL and SFL. We have one year left of our present contract and we are in negotiations for a renewal."
There was also a new name in the draw yesterday with Annan Athletic, elected to the SFL less than three weeks ago, taking their place as the 28th and lowest seeds of the clubs entering the tournament at the first round stage.
They were handed an away tie against Dumbarton, one of their new Third Division rivals, as they prepare for an intense opening month of the season which kicks off on Saturday with a Challenge Cup first round tie at Clyde.
Harry Cairney, the Annan manager, was on holiday in Florida when his club won the race to replace Gretna in the SFL and is still trying to pull together a squad capable of successfully making the step up from East of Scotland League level.
"I came off the golf course on the day of the election and received a text from my chairman Henry McClelland," said Cairney. "It just said 'we are in'.
"It's been absolutely hectic since I came back. The mobile phone has basically been stuck to my ear. It's great, because we've got a bit more status now and players are more interested in coming to the club.
"We need a squad of around 21 players and at the moment we have around 16 or 17, so there is still room for four or five more. We are now trying to target guys who have been through the SFL, because we will need players with that kind of experience in our team. It's going to be difficult. We offered East of Scotland League contracts to several players at the end of last season and I'm not going to go back to them now and tell them the offers are no longer on the table.
"We have honoured those contracts and we will see how they cope over the first few months of the season. We will find out very quickly if they are up to SFL standard or not."
With the 12 SPL clubs, along with Dundee and Queen of the South, exempt from the first round stage, St Johnstone were top seeds and will travel to Stenhousemuir.
Among the more intriguing ties, Dunfermline face a potentially hazardous trip to Peterhead and Livingston go to East Stirlingshire. The ties take place on 5 and 6 August.
CO-OPERATIVE INSURANCE CUP DRAWFirst round (Tue 5 & Wed 6 August)Montrose v Cowdenbeath
Ross County v Airdrie United
Dumbarton v Annan Athletic
Peterhead v Dunfermline Ath
Stranraer v Morton
Alloa Athletic v Elgin City
Clyde v Queen's Park
Albion Rovers v Raith Rovers
Ayr United v Berwick Rangers
East Fife v Brechin City
Arbroath v Stirling Albion
Partick Thistle v Forfar Ath
East Stirlingshire v Livingston
S'housemuir v St Johnstone
The full article contains 673 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
