East Fife boss Crawford to face his old club in Premier Sports Cup

Stevie Crawford’s side has been drawn in group C in the contest’s initial eight group stage, with the full fixture list and television selections to be issued in due course.

The Fifers have been tagged alongside Premiership side Ross County, League One teams Alloa Athletic and Dunfermline Athletic – Crawford (pictured) was previously in charge of the latter – and Highland League runners-up Buckie Thistle.

Regionalisation has been abolished for 2022-23, after six years of the north-south split in the group stage.

Subject to TV selections, the dates for ties are July 9-10, July 12-13, July 16-17, July 19-20 and July 23-24.

The group stage uses the traditional three points for a win and one point for a draw model but all drawn matches go straight to a penalty shoot-out, with the winner of the shoot-out awarded a bonus point.

The eight group winners and three best runners-up, from groups A to H, progress to the second round, where they are joined by European qualifiers Celtic, Rangers, Hearts, Dundee United and Motherwell.

The competition then reverts to a traditional knock-out format.

The second round is due in the midweek of August 30-31, with the quarter-finals in the midweek of October 18-20.

Semi-finals are due over the weekend of January 14-15, with the final on Sunday, February 26.