Window will stay open until October
● Clubs given extension to do transfer business ● Betfred Cup to kick off in October during international break
Scottish football’s revised post-lockdown calendar has been given further clarity with confirmation that the extended transfer window will close on 5 October.
The Scottish FA/SPFL Joint Response Group (JRG) have also revealed that the 202021 Betfred Cup competition, which is normally the curtain-raiser to the season in July, will kick off on 6 October.
The tournament will retain the initial group stage format, introduced four years ago, with eight sections of five teams playing each other once. The eight group winners and four best runners-up will qualify for the last 16 knockout round where they will be joinedbyscotland’sfoureuropean club competition representatives – Celtic, Rangers, Motherwell and Aberdeen.
This season’s Betfred Cup group matches will provide the first competitive action of the campaign for Championship, League 1 and League 2 clubs ahead of their truncated 27-game SPFL seasons which will start on 17 October.
Clubs in League 1 and League 2 had been offered the chance to opt-out of the Betfred Cup if they felt it was logistically or financially unviable for them as Scottish football seeks to recalibrate following the shutdown imposed in March by the coronavirus pandemic.
But the competition is now expected to go ahead with a full complement of SPFL clubs, along with Highland League champions Brora Rangers and Lowland League champions Kelty Hearts who are both involved in the group stage.
The initial group stage fixtures will take place during the October international break which could raise potential issues for clubs such as Hearts and Hibs if they have three or more players called up by their countries, allowing them to request postponements of domestic fixtures.
But if Hearts’ demotion to the Championship is confirmed by the ongoing arbitration process into the SPFL’S decision-making process in curtailing the 2019-20 season, a lack of match action for their players would clearly impact their prospects of international selection at that stage.
The Scottish FA’S summer transfer window, which formally opened yesterday (Tuesday), has been approved by Fifa. The world governing body ruled that it could not exceed 12 weeks and, in line with the majority of other 2 Celtic right-back Jeremie Frimpong gets his hands on the Betfred Cup after last year’s final win over Rangers. This season’s competition will begin on 6 October.
European leagues, it will close for SPFL clubs at midnight on Monday 5 October.
The SPFL board have also amended their regulations for loan signings by lower division clubs for the new season, extended the existing October window for temporary recruits by League 1 and League 2 teams to also include those in the Championship.