THE LEAGUE CUP
The three League Cup trophies used in the competition. (L-R: the League Cup, the Milk Cup, the Littlewoods Challenge Cup) During the late 1950s, the majority of senior English clubs installed floodlights at their grounds, enabling matches to be staged on weekday evenings throughout the winter months. The League Cup was introduced for the 1960–61 season specifically to take advantage of this development, functioning as a midweek, floodlit competition and effectively replacing the Southern Professional Floodlit Cup. In its early years, many leading clubs chose not to participate. It was not until automatic qualification for the UEFA Cup was offered to the winners that full Football League membership engagement was secured. Over the past decade, changes to the structure of European competitions—including the expansion and restructuring of the UEFA Champions League—placed the League Cup’s European qualification berth under threat. However, the competition has retained a place in European football via qualification for the UEFA Europa Conference League. England and France remain the only UEFA member associations to award European qualification to the winners of their secondary domestic cup competitions. This has helped preserve the League Cup’s relevance, particularly for clubs for whom cup success represents the most realistic route into European competition.
The competition has been sponsored since the 1982 season, as outlined below: |
| Period | Sponsor | Name of Cup |
| 1960 - 1982 | No main sponsor | Football League Cup |
| 1982 - 1986 | Milk Marketing Board | Milk Cup |
| 1986 - 1990 | Littlewoods | Littlewoods Challenge Cup |
| 1990 - 1992 | Rumbelows | Rumbelows Cup |
| 1992 - 1998 | Coca-Cola | Coca-Cola Cup |
| 1998 - 2003 | Worthington's | Worthington Cup |
| 2003 - 2012 | Molson Coors | Carling Cup |
| 2012 - 2016 | Capital One | Capital One Cup |
| 2016 - 2017 | No main sponsor | EFL Cup |
| 2017 to date | Carabao Energy Drink | Carabao Cup |
Entry to the competition was not compulsory for Football League clubs until the 1971–72 season. In the inaugural 1960–61 season, a total of 87 clubs entered, with notable absentees including Arsenal, Sheffield Wednesday, Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion, and Wolverhampton Wanderers — four of whom had finished in the top five of the First Division in 1959–60.
The increase in participation during the 1966–67 season reflected two significant developments: the decision to stage the final at Wembley Stadium, and the introduction of automatic qualification for the winners to the European Inter‑Cities Fairs Cup (later the UEFA Cup). By 1969–70, all 92 Football League clubs had entered the competition for the first time, although Everton did not participate in the following 1970–71 season.
After entry became mandatory from 1971–72 onwards, the only enforced absence occurred in 1986–87, when Luton Town were disqualified due to a club policy banning away supporters from attending matches at their ground.
Entries have been as follows:
| Season | Number of Entrants | Non-Entrants |
| 1960-61 | 87 | Arsenal, Sheffield Wednesday, Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| 1961-62 | 82 | Arsenal, Burnley, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Sheffield Wednesday, Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| 1962-63 | 80 | Arsenal, Burnley, Chelsea, Everton, Ipswich Town, Liverpool, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday, Tottenham Hotspur, West Browmich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| 1963-64 | 82 | Arsenal, Burnley, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday, Tottenham Hotspur, West Browmich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| 1964-65 | 82 | Arsenal, Burnley, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday, Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| 1965-66 | 83 | Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday, Tottenham Hotspur, Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| 1966-67 | 90 | Everton, Liverpool |
| 1967-68 | 90 | Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur |
| 1968-69 | 91 | Manchester United |
| 1970-71 | 91 | Everton |
The first games took place under floodlights on 26th September 1960. Bristol Rovers beat Fulham 2-1 and West Ham beat Charlton Athletic 3-1. The first goal in the competition was scored by Maurice Cook, Fulham’s centre forward, in the ninth minute at 7.24pm.
(Maurice Cook - first goalscorer in the League Cup)
The competition's top goalscorers are Ian Rush and Sir Geoff Hurst with 49 goals each:
The competition's youngest scorer is Chris Rigg (aged 16 years and 51 days) who scored in Sunderland's defeat to Crewe Alexandra on Tuesday 8 August 2023:
The competition's lowest attendance was 612 for the match played between Halifax Town and Tranmere Rovers on Wednesday 6th September 2000 at Valley Parade, Bradford. The final score was 1-2.
The highest scoring penalty shoot-out was between Preston North End and Fulham on 17th September 2024 in the Carabao Cup 3rd round match at Deepdale. Preston won the shootout 16-15:
Current holders:
MANCHESTER CITY
Here's a full list of the League Cup winners:
| Club | No. of wins | Seasons in which competition won | |
 | Liverpool | 10 | 1980-81, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1994-95, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2011-12, 2021-22, 2023-24 |
| Manchester City | 9 | 1969-70, 1975-76, 2013-14, 2015-16, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2025-26 |
 | Manchester United | 6 | 1991-92, 2005-06, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2016-17, 2022-23 |
 | Chelsea | 5 | 1964-65, 1997-98, 2004-05, 2006-07, 2014-15 |
 | Aston Villa | 5 | 1960-61, 1974-75, 1976-77, 1993-94, 1995-96 |
 | Nottingham Forest | 4 | 1977-78, 1978-79, 1988-89, 1989-90 |
 | Tottenham Hotspur | 4 | 1970-71, 1972-73, 1998-99, 2007-08 |
 | Leicester City | 3 | 1963-64, 1996-97, 1999-2000 |
 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 2 | 1973-74, 1979-80 |
 | Birmingham City | 2 | 1962-63, 2010-11 |
 | Norwich City | 2 | 1961-62, 1984-85 |
 | Arsenal | 2 | 1986-87, 1992-93 |
 | Blackburn Rovers | 1 | 2001-02 |
 | Oxford United | 1 | 1984-85 |
 | Swindon Town | 1 | 1968-69 |
 | Swansea City | 1 | 2012-13 |
 | Leeds United | 1 | 1967-68 |
 | Luton Town | 1 | 1987-88 |
 | Queen's Park Rangers | 1 | 1966-67 |
 | Sheffield Wednesday | 1 | 1990-91 |
 | Stoke City | 1 | 1971-72 |
 | Middlesbrough | 1 | 2003-04 |
 | West Bromwich Albion | 1 | 1965-66 |
 | Newcastle United | 1 | 2024-25 |
For details of the League Cup final results click here.
For details of each season's results or your club's League Cup results click here.
For details of League Cup semi-final appearances click here.
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