As late July gives way to early August, the world soccer scene will start to become significantly more active. For now, there’s only a limited menu of competition to choose from. One of more interesting events currently underway is the Scottish League Cup, a competition comprised of all Scottish Professional Football League teams. The Scottish League Cup dates back to 1946 and is the second most prestigious competition in Scotland behind the Scottish Cup which will start up in August. The field for the Scottish League Cup consists of 40 teams including all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs along with the top teams from the Highland Football League and the Lowland Football League. Teams playing in Champions League and Europa League qualifiers get a bye into the second round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this matchup, Group A play continues as Scottish Premier League representatives Heart of Midlothian FC–known commonly as simply Hearts–will host League Two entrant Stenhousemuir at Tynecastle Park. Hearts is the oldest team in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland and have a very rich and fascinating history. The team was originally formed in 1874 by a dancing club<\/em> called the Heart of Midlothian Quadrille Assembly. The name of the club had been inspired by the novel The Heart of Midlothian<\/em> by Walter Scott. The Heart of Midlothian<\/em> is a curious literary choice to inspire a dancing club, let alone a soccer team. Scott is a well regarded writer and the book was very popular in it’s day but it’s not exactly a ‘pick me up’ taking place with the historical backdrop of the Porteous Riots. The plotline involves executed smugglers, murder, infanticide and other fun topics. The title of the book makes reference to the Old Tolbooth Prison in Edinburgh–which was located in the ‘heart’ of County Midlothian where the Porteous Riots began. So Hearts is a soccer team named after a dancing club named after a prison referenced in a popular book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hearts ran into financial trouble in the early 2010s but have recovered nicely. They’ve been a middle of the pack team since then and finished 6th in the Scottish Premiership last season. They’ve previously won the Scottish League Cup on four occasions–their last league cup win came in 1962 though they were the runner up in 2013. Stenhousemuir also has a long history in Scottish football dating back to 1884 though their backstory is nowhere near as colorful as their opponents’. They’ve spent most of their history in the lower ranks of Scottish football. Most recently, they’ve bounced up and down between League Two–the lowest level of professional football–and League One. This season they’re back down to League Two after relegation last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stenhousemuir went 10-7-19 in League One last year with a 5-3-10 away record. Asking them to be competitive against even a mid level Premiership team is somewhat unrealistic. That being said, I’m not sure that the soccer betting odds<\/a> accurately reflect the qualitative disparity between these teams. The home side should win this one with ease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n