Carling Cup

Carling Cup Overview

The Carling Cup is an annual club football tournament in England run managed by the FA and sponsored by Carling.

Carling Cup Format

The Carling Cup is a knock-out stage competition, with a First Round with teams from all the Leagues (and except Premier League), divided into northern and southern sections, half teams are seeded, half are not seeded. As this stage is played in a single game, the draw is done in two phases: first, it's decided if the seeded team will play at home or away, then this club is drawn with an unseeded club. If there is a tie, there is extra-time and, if necessary, penalty shoot-outs. Premier League clubs come into the Carling Cup in the second round, except the teams playing UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup, that join the tournament in Third Round.

All the stages are played with a single match, except the semifinals, that are played in a home and away and the winner is decided in aggregate. Final is played at Wembley Stadium, in a single match, whit extra time and penalty shoot-outs, if necessary.

Teams
92 clubs can enter the Carling Cup, 20 from the Premier League and 72 from the Football League System (The Championship, League 1 and League 2)

Carling Cup Schedule

The Football League 2007-08 started on August 13, 2007, and the final between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur will be on February 24, 2008, at 3pm

Winning Clubs

Liverpool have won in most occasions, 7 times, Aston Villa 5, Nottingham Forest and Chelsea 4, Tottenham Hotspurs and Leicester City 3. Five teams have won in two occasions, eleven teams won the Cup just once.

History

In the beginning of the 1960s, when all the stadia had the floodlights and a competition in the middle of the week was needed. So, it was created the League Cup, a competition without top teams in the early editions. Unlike the FA Cup, where also non-league clubs participate, the Football League Cup was only for teams of the Football League. The final of the first six editions were played on a home and away basis. In 1961, Aston Villa prevailed over Rotherham Utd. Norwich City, Birmingham City (after a derby against Aston Villa), Leicester City, Chelsea and West Bromwich Albion were the winners in the first era of the Football League. Since the 1967 edition, the Football League Cup final have been played in a single match, at the Wembley Stadium.

In 1967, a Third Division team, Queens Park Rangers, defeated First Division West Bromwich, 3-2. in 1968, some top teams entered the competition, and the final was between Leeds and Arsenal, and Leeds won 1-0. There was no big Giant killing in the League Cup, anyway less than in the FA Cup, as Non-League teams cannot take part, and also because top teams used to play without regular players. Anyway, Swindon Town defeated Arsenal in 1969. After first Manchester City win in 1970, Aston Villa confirmed their feeling with this tournament: though in 3rd Division, they reached the final, where they lost against Tottenham.

The Villans won the Cup in 1975, as they were still in Second Division, before that Stoke City, Wolverhampton and Tottenhamagain won the tournament. In 1977, it took two replays (one at Hillsborough and the second one at Old Trafford) to Aston Villa to win the Cup again. Early 80s tournaments were dominated by Liverpool: the Reds won four Cups in a row, especially in 1983 they won over Manchester United 2-1 after extra time with a goal scored by Whelan. In the meantime, in 1982 the League signed a sponsorship contract with the Milk Marketing Board, and the cup changed its name into Milk Cup until 1986, then it became Littlewood Challenge Cup. In 1986, Oxford United reached the top, winning the Milk Cup, defeating Queens Park Rangers in the final, 3-0. Another “unusual” winner in 1988, when Luton Town defeated Arsenal in 1988. In 1990, just for a couple of years, the name changed again into Rambelows Cup, than Coca Cola Cup.

During the 1990s, also Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester City won the Cup, that became Worthington Cup in 1998. With the introduction of the Champions League, with 4 English participating teams, the Football League Cup became the fourth priority for top teams (after Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup). Anyway, just because top teams had squads of 25-30 players, they won in 2001 and 2003 (Liverpool), 2004 and 2006 (Manchester United), 2005 and 2007 (Chelsea). Since 2001, the final is played at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, and there was no more replay (Liverpool in fact won on penalties in 2001 over Birmingham City). Since 2002, the cup has changed its name into Carling Cup. Currently, Liverpool is leading with seven victories, than Aston Villa follows with five. The 2007 final between Chelsea and Arsenal, won by the Blues with two goals by Didier Drogba was the last played at Millennium Stadium.

Trophy

Team Honours

Past Winners

Most Successful Teams

Important Links

References