The tournament took on a similar format from the previous season with the addition of two teams from England's National League entering the competition for the first time.
In addition to this, Under-21 teams of the clubs competing in the Scottish Premiership were represented.
[2] Inverness Caledonian Thistle were the defending champions after they beat Dumbarton 1–0 in the 2018 final,[3] but they were eliminated in the first round by Dunfermline Athletic.
Ross County won the competition for the third time, defeating Connah's Quay Nomads 3–1 in the final.
The draw for the first round was made on 26 June 2018 at 1pm live on the SPFL Facebook page.
East Stirlingshire Teams from Wales (The New Saints and Connah's Quay Nomads), Northern Ireland (Crusaders and Coleraine), England (Sutton United and Boreham Wood) and the Republic of Ireland (Bohemians and Sligo Rovers) entered in the second round.
[5] Originally, Bray Wanderers were to be the second side to represent the League of Ireland however, they were subsequently thrown out by the FAI on 16 July 2018 for failing to pay their players and replaced by Limerick.
[6] A similar statement was released by the FAI hours later about Limerick who were also in financial difficulties.
[7] St Patrick's Athletic were then invited to compete as the next ranked team in line but declined.
Sligo Rovers accepted the position in their place so they would represent the League of Ireland instead.
[8] The draw for the second round was made on 16 August 2018 at 1pm live on the SPFL Facebook page.
The winner is voted for by supporters from a chosen short-list of players, which is posted on the Irn-Bru Football Twitter page.
The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition are held jointly by BBC Alba, S4C (for matches involving Welsh teams) and subscription channel Premier Sports.
Prior to the re-format in the 2016–17 season, BBC Alba had exclusive rights.
[20] One of the semi-final matches was also confirmed as being broadcast live on BT Sport despite no apparent previous announcement of rights.