Festive final beckons as william hill scottish cup fixtures confirmed

The William Hill Scottish Cup final is set to be an historic Christmas cracker after the remaining fixtures for the 2019/20 competition were approved by the Scottish FA board.

The semi-final fixtures - Heart of Midlothian v Hibernian and Celtic v Aberdeen - will be played on the weekend of Saturday, 31 October and Sunday, 1 November with dates and kick-offs subject to live broadcast. The final, which was originally scheduled for Saturday, 9 May, will now be played on Sunday, 20 December. All three fixtures will be played at Hampden Park. The following changes to the cup competition rules were also agreed for the remaining fixtures in the competition:

• Players who have previously played for another team during the 2019/20 competition will not be cup-tied.
• Clubs will be permitted to use five substitutes, as per the changes to the Laws of the Game agreed by IFAB.

Ian Maxwell, Scottish FA Chief Executive: "We are pleased to confirm dates for the remaining stages of the 2019/20 William Hill Scottish Cup. It has always been our intention to play the tournament to a finish and while the impact of COVID-19 has dramatically altered the schedule, we are confident that the final will be a unique and memorable showpiece event during the Christmas holidays. The dates for the final stages of the competition will give the semi-finalists the best chance to prepare for such important fixtures. By ensuring no players will be cup tied, we have also ensured that each club will be able to field their strongest possible teams. The dates also give us the best possible chance of having supporters attend the matches at Hampden. The health and wellbeing of players, staff and supporters are of paramount importance and we will continue to follow the public health guidance from the Scottish Government."

Details of the 2020/21 Scottish Cup fixtures will be issued in due course.