LEAGUE CUP FINAL RETURNS TO A PRE-CHRISTMAS SLOT

THE Scottish League Cup Final is poised to revert to a pre-Christmas slot for the first time in 18 years. As Sportsmail first revealed in May, the SPFL will complete a revamp of the competition by playing the Hampden showpiece final on Sunday November 27. The Final was last played before Christmas in 1998, when Rangers beat St Johnstone 2-1. The change is part of a reboot of the much-maligned competition, which sees a return to eight groups of five teams playing each other in a round-robin across five dates in July. New broadcast sponsors BT Sport will offer blanket coverage of the competition, concluding with live coverage of the Final in November. The earlier date will also help to facilitate the return of a three-week winter break, which immediately follows the New Year round of fixtures. SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster said: ‘We’re very pleased to announce more of the key dates for the SPFL’s league and cup competitions next season. ‘Significantly, the Scottish League Cup semi-finals and Final will again be contested before the end of the year, which we know is something a large number of supporters and stakeholders including the media were very keen on. ‘With dates also confirmed for the new Scottish League Cup group stage, all four leagues kicking off on the same weekend and the Ladbrokes Premiership play-off final dates confirmed, we believe that season 2016/17 will bring a huge amount of freshness and even more excitement to Scottish football and its supporters.’