Kenny Shiels guide Killie to the League Cup semi-finals, beating rivals Ayr United. Despite the win, Shiels criticised rival team tactics, believing the club should have done more. On 18 February 2012, Kilmarnock beat Rangers 1–0, with Shiels' son Dean scoring in the 12th minute, making him the first Kilmarnock manager to beat Rangers twice in one season. After the match, Shiels said a win over Rangers was dedicated to the club's supporters and praised his son, who scored the only goal in the match, for his performance as "outstanding". On 18 March 2012, Shiels' Kilmarnock side travelled to Hampden Park for
Allan Wilson (Scottish politician) and manager of various Ayrshire juvenile, amateur and junior teams in the Scottish Junior Football Association, Scottish Amateur Football Association and the Scottish Football Association. In the 2007 Scottish Parliament Election he lost his seat Cunninghame North to the Scottish National Party's Kenny Gibson, by only 48 votes in an election with over a thousand spoilt ballot papers, making it the most marginal seat in the country. Wilson originally wished to challenge the result via a recount but the Scottish Labour Party, following advice from their solicitors, did not proceed with an election petition on his behalf. In the 2011