SFA left facing £1m Scottish Cup bill

THE Scottish Football Association is prepared to pay out more than £1million in prize money from its own funds if it can't find a new sponsor for the Scottish Cup.

The first round of the revamped competition is only six weeks away, but the draw has still to be made and the SFA has been unable to inform its member clubs how prize money will be allocated under the new format.

An SFA spokesperson admitted yesterday that the draw for the first round would have been made by now if a sponsor had been identified to replace Tennent's, which ended its 17-year support of the Scottish Cup at the end of last season. But with a new sponsor still not in place, the clubs involved in the opening round might have to wait another two weeks before learning who they will be up against on Saturday, 29 September.

"The SFA is speaking to a number of potential sponsors for the Scottish Cup," said SFA head of communications Andy Mitchell. "There is currently no timescale on any plan to make an announcement about a sponsor.

"We want to have a sponsor in place as soon as possible, but there is no cut-off point. How sponsorship works is that interest grows as time goes on, and we don't have the top clubs entering until January. It's not a major concern.

"In terms of planning for the competition and deciding when best to make the draw, the position should be clearer within the next week or two."

The governing body's flagship competition has a revised format this season, with Scottish Junior FA teams invited to participate for the first time and all 78 SFA member clubs included in the draw.

When the radical changes were announced in June, the SFA was confident that the revamp would help attract a new sponsor but it's failure to do so could prove expensive. If a sponsor can't be found in the next few weeks the SFA may be forced to press ahead without one and could be faced with the prospect of paying the £1million prize money itself.

Speaking when the Scottish Cup revamp was announced in the first week in June, SFA president George Peat said: "If we don't manage to get one [a sponsor] by the start of the season, then the SFA will just need to sponsor it ourselves until we do. It would cost at least £1million to give the clubs the money they would get from a sponsor."

But he added: "It is getting harder these days in football to find the kind of sponsorship we are looking for."

Scottish Cup prize money is a significant source of income for part-time clubs, but Mitchell said the SFA is willing to meet the cost if a sponsor can't be found. "The SFA would cover the prize money so the clubs will not lose out financially."

The draw for the first round will include Scottish Junior FA representatives Linlithgow Rose, Pollok and Culter along with the SFA member clubs who previously played in the now defunct Scottish Qualifying Cups.

The north and south Qualifying Cups were also covered by the Tennent's agreement and were worth £10,000 to the winners, but Mitchell admitted that clubs have still to be informed about how prize money will be allocated under the new 'all-in' format.

Third Division teams will begin their campaign in the second round on Saturday, 27 October, along with the East of Scotland League champions Annan Athletic, South of Scotland title winners Threave Rovers and the top two in last season's Highland League, Keith and Inverurie Loco Works.

This season's competition will be played over eight rounds, with the SPL sides entering at the last-32 stage. Semi-final replays have been scrapped.

WHO BACKS WHAT

PREMIER LEAGUE

Clydesdale Bank replaced the Bank of Scotland this season with a four-year £8m deal

LEAGUE CUP

CIS Insurance has been the sponsor since 1999. The current deal runs until 2009

SCOTTISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Irn-Bru's three-year deal to back the SFL, which is worth £3million, started this season