Scottish League Cup final to return to Pre-Christmas slot

The Scottish League Cup final will be played in November next season.

The Scottish Professional Football League has announced the competition will revert to a pre-Christmas conclusion for the first time since 1998.

The final will be played on November 27, almost five months earlier than the current slot in March. It was previously announced that the competition is also going back to a group stage format in July. The league also announced that a Premiership winter break would begin "immediately after the New Year fixture round" and end with the Scottish Cup fourth-round fixtures over the weekend of January 21.

The league season kicks off on August 6 and the regular Premiership campaign will end on May 20-21, 2017 with the play-offs due to end on May 28.

SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster said: "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."