⚽ The Kick-Off - Monday 27th July 2026
Premier Sports Cup round up. Draw for the Last 16 made. Celtic sell Daizen Maeda. Hearts sign Laurent Mendy. Motherwell bring in Alex Lowry on loan. Opening weekend of Highland & Lowland Leagues.
Random Scottish Football Fact #356:
Dundee FC legend Bobby Cox and award-winning actor Brian Cox were cousins.
WEEKEND ROUND-UP
🏆 PREMIER SPORTS CUP GROUP STAGE
Group A: Aberdeen finished top with four wins from four after beating Kelty Hearts 3-0.
Group B: Montrose just needed a point at home to The Spartans to win the group, but after a 2-0 defeat, Dundee United topped the group.
Group C: St Mirren finished top on goal difference despite their 1-0 home defeat to Dunfermline Athletic. The Pars went through as one of the best three runners-up.
Group D: Ross County finished as group winners ahead of Dundee thanks to a 3-0 away win at Airdrieonians. Dundee also went through.
Group E: Stenhousemuir finished top of the pile after picking up the bonus point in their draw with Livingston. Partick Thistle finished as runners-up and qualified for the next round.
Group F: Inverness Caledonian Thistle were top after beating bottom-of-the-group Greenock Morton 1-0. East Fife finished second ahead of St Johnstone.
Group G: Ayr United already knew they would finish top going into Saturday. They made it four wins from four with a 4-1 win against Alloa Athletic.
Group H: Despite drawing 0-0 away to Peterhead and missing out on the bonus point, Kilmarnock pipped Hamilton Academical to top of the group by a point.
View the Premier Sports Cup Group Stage tables here
⚽️ THE LATE GOALS SOCIETY
(goals scored in the 85th minute or later)
Andy Ryan (Hamilton Academical - 85’), Lewis Martin (Brechin City - 86’), Martin Rennie (Forfar Athletic - 87’), Chris Kane (Dunfermline Athletic - 88’), Matthew Shiels (Queen’s Park - 89’), Sam Stanton (90’ - St Johnstone), Jack Healy (East Fife - 90+5’)
🔴 THE RED CARD CLUB
(sent off over the weekend)
No new members this weekend.
LATEST NEWS
🏆 The draw for the Last 16 of the Premier Sports Cup was made yesterday.
Aberdeen v Dundee
Dundee United v Celtic
Dunfermline Athletic v Ross County
Heart of Midlothian v Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Hibernian v Partick Thistle
Kilmarnock v Ayr United
Rangers v St Mirren
Stenhousemuir v Motherwell
Ties are due to be played on the weekend of August 15/16.
🟢 Daizen Maeda has left Celtic for English Premier League club Ipswich Town in a deal worth approximately £10 million. - Matthew Fulton, STV
✍️ Hearts confirmed the signing of 29-year-old midfielder Laurent Mendy from Forest Green Rovers for an undisclosed fee. - Heart of Midlothian website
✍️ Alex Lowry has joined Motherwell on a season-long loan deal from Wycombe Wanderers. The 23-year-old is a product of the Rangers Academy system and had a loan spell at Hearts. - Motherwell FC website
✍️ Dundee signed goalkeeper Owen Goodman on a season-long loan from Crystal Palace. - Dundee FC website
🔵 Rangers forward Danilo has joined Botofago on a year-long loan with a conditional obligation to buy. - BBC
✍️ Falkirk announced the loan signing of Aodhan Doherty on a season-long loan from Blackburn Rovers. - Falkirk FC website
🔵 Kilmarnock have sold defender Dominic Thompson to Belgian side SK Beveren for an undisclosed fee. - Kilmarnock FC website
🔴 Aberdeen’s Nicolas Milanovic has re-joined Australian club Western Sydney Wanderers for an undisclosed fee. The 24-year-old had signed last summer from the Wanderers. - Aberdeen FC website
✍️ Here is your roundup of signings across the rest of the SPFL.
Clyde turned Chris Inglis’ trial into a permanent deal. The 22-year-old centre back was most recently with East Stirlingshire. - Clyde FC website
East Kilbride signed 24-year-old Owen Moffat. The winger was most recently with Greenock Morton. - East Kilbride on X
Forfar Athletic have brought 18-year-old defender Jack Wyllie to Station Park on loan from Rangers until January. - Forfar Athletic website
Livingston have signed midfielder Cammy MacPherson on a one-year-deal. The 27-year-old was at Greenock Morton last season. - Livingston FC website
Livi also re-signed Graham Carey on a one-year deal. - Livingston FC website
Queen of the South made Deniz Mehmet’s spell at Palmerston permanent after a trial period. - Queen of the South website
🔴 Hamilton Academical announced that Barry Maguire had departed the club on the expiry of his contract. - Hamilton Academical website
🤝 St Mirren and Lowland League West side Albion Rovers have entered into a co-operation agreement.
Goalkeeper Grant Tamosevicius and defender Innes Clark have made loan moves. - St Mirren website
⚫ St Mirren’s Jonah Ayunga has agreed a new one-year contract. The 29-year-old is expected to return from an ACL injury in the new year. - St Mirren website
⚽ The opening weekend of the Breedon Highland League had several eye-opening results. Lossiemouth, who were down to nine men, scored to beat Huntly 1-0. New boys Invergordon drew 0-0 away at Fraserburgh, and despite selling players and having to cut their budget, Forres Mechanics beat Keith 5-1. Title-holders Brora Rangers started their campaign with a 3-0 win at home to Deveronvale.
⚽ Saturday also saw the start of the new Lowland League West and East seasons.
In the West, Auchinleck Talbot were the biggest winners with a 6-0 home win over Dalbeattie Star. Clydebank beat Newton Stewart 4-2. Kilwinning Rangers beat Renfrew by the same score line. Over 700 witnessed Pollok’s 2-0 win over Troon.
In the east, Lowland League winners Linlithgow Rose started their league campaign with a 1-1 draw at home to Civil Service Strollers. Bonnyrigg Rose were the biggest winners with a 3-0 away win over Musselburgh Athletic.
⚽ Robbie Ure scored his 15th league goal of the season for Swedish side Sirius in the Allsvenskan. Sirius are top of the league by 11 points after beating IFK Göteborg 4-1.
🆕 Stenhousemuir launched their new away shirt.
🆕 Forfar Athletic revealed their home shirt for the season.
🏔️ Highland League club Nairn County have followed up their golf-themed away shirt with their new charity third shirt. The shirt, in partnership with local charity The Liam Finnerty Charitable Trust, maps all 282 Munros in Scotland - a nod to Liam's love of the outdoors and adventuring.
👦 The SPFL has changed its rules for the upcoming season to allow players to feature from the age of 15. - Alan Temple, The Courier
🆚 The SPFL also announced that the five clubs competing in Europe, Celtic, Hearts, Rangers, Motherwell and Hibernian, have requested postponements for (potential) UEFA play-off ties for the weekend of August 22/23.
The Dundee derby will be televised that weekend. - SPFL website
🔴 Former St Johnstone youngster Callan Hamill has signed his first professional contract with Arsenal. The 17-year-old right back joined the Premier League champions at the start of last season and has played regularly for their youth teams. - Arsenal website
🏟️ Stenhousemuir’s Ochilview is going cashless from August. - Stenhousemuir FC on X
SCOTTISH FOOTBALL FIXTURES TODAY
No Scottish football fixtures today 👎
🙏🏼 Thank you for reading today’s Scottish Football Kick-Off. 🗣️ If you like getting this email, please recommend it to a friend, work colleague or family member or consider becoming a paid subscriber. The Scottish Football Kick-Off is reader supported. 📱 Latest subscriber number: 3106 🆓 The daily kick-off will always be free.

