The Football League Cup (aka the League Cup or the Capital One Cup) является the second most prestigious cup tournament in England, in which teams from the Premier League take part.
The tournament is organized according to the single-elimination (knockout) scheme. The winner must be revealed at the first attempt, so if the regular time ends with a tied score, extra-times are awarded, followed by a penalty shootout. The semi-final stage of the tournament includes two matches: one on the field of each opponent. It is noteworthy, that in the regular time of these meetings the famous away goal rule does not apply, therefore, if the total score of the game is equal, extra-times are assigned. Guests’ goal during extra-time is equivalent to one and a half goals of hosts. A penalty shootout is carried out according to the standard scenario.
Official name: the Football League Cup
Number of participants: 92
The tournament is attended by 92 teams from the four top divisions of the English Championship. At the same time, unlike the FA Cup, teams enter the contest depending on their rating, and the number of participants remains unchanged throughout the whole history of the tournament. As a rule, newcomers to the Premier League start at the stage of final 1/32. And the English “Top Four” clubs and European championships partakers hold their first matches at the final 1/16 stage.
The first League Cup matches are conducted in mid-August and include confrontations of divisions 2–4 representatives. At the end of September Premier League clubs enter the fight at the final 1/32 stage. The tournament quarter-finals are held the day before Boxing Day, and semi-final meetings – at the end of February. The League Cup final match is played in early March at Wembley.
The winner of the League Cup gets a ticket to the fourth qualifying round of the Europa League. If a winner ranks 1–5 in the standings of England, the ticket is given to the sixth team of the championship. The finalist enters the European tournament only in some cases: when both representatives of the Premier League “Big Five” meet in the FA Cup final or when the club outside the “Big Five” becomes the FA Cup winner, and the finalist has a ticket to the Champions League.
see the League Cup calendar
That was the case in 2013, when Wigan Athletic won the FA Cup, and Manchester City lost it and took the 2nd place in the Premier League. Due to this coincidence, the League Cup holder Swansea City entered the Europa League.
The current League Cup (2014/2015 season) holder is the Chelsea club from London, which won the final with финале Tottenham scoring 2:0. See the final Chelsea – Tottenham match review here.
