KEY dates for the 2018/19 Scottish football season have been published by the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL).
The body confirmed on Tuesday that the Ladbrokes Premiership winter break will be retained next year, running from 31 December to 18 January.
Action gets underway with the Betfred Cup group stages running from 14-28 July, before all four league seasons begin on 4 August.
The first knockout round of the League Cup, featuring the Scottish sides involved in European qualifiers, will take place on 18 August while the opening round of the IRN-BRU Cup is scheduled for the midweek of 14 and 15 August.
All of these dates are subject to live broadcast selections and a full fixture list for the league campaigns will be published in mid-June.
2018/19 season - key dates
Betfred Cup group stage matches
MD1 Saturday July 14
MD2 Midweek of July 17/18
MD3 Saturday July 21
MD4 Midweek of July 24/25
MD5 Saturday July 28
Betfred Cup round 2
Saturday August 18
Ladbrokes SPFL (all divisions)
Fixture round 1 - Saturday August 4
Fixture round 2 - Saturday August 11
Ladbrokes Premiership winter break
Monday December 31 until Friday January 18
IRN-BRU Cup round 1
Midweek of August 14/15
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