Carabao Cup - EFL Cup Tickets

Carabao Cup History

The Carabao Cup, or the EFL Cup, as it's more commonly known, is a competition with a great history in English football. It's a tournament that has been run since 1961 and has had many different names, and is fondly thought of by football fans.

The League Cup is effectively the second biggest domestic cup trophy in English football (after the prestigious FA Cup) and one that attracts a great deal of interest, especially as the tournament moves into its latter stages.

The first team to win the trophy was Aston Villa, who beat Rotherham in a two-legged final in 1961. The final remained a two-legged affair up until 1967 and has usually been held at Wembley Stadium, but was played at the Millennium Stadium between 2001 and 2007 when Wembley was being redeveloped.

Liverpool have won the competition the most times, doing so on 10 occasions. Manchester City have won this trophy eight times, while Chelsea, Aston Villa, and Manchester United have won the EFL Cup five times apiece. Tottenham sits just behind these teams, with four League Cup successes.

The trophy has also occasionally been won by so-called 'lesser teams,' including the likes of Luton Town, Oxford United, and Norwich City.

Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest had a very successful spell in the competition in the late 80s and early 90s. Manchester United won it twice in a row in 2009 and 2010 under Sir Alex Ferguson.

The League Cup final is always a big occasion, watched by millions, and cup tickets are incredibly popular and sought after by neutrals as well as fans of the clubs taking part.

A Cup of Many Names

The competition has seen its fair share of sponsors, whose name is then taken as part of the cup's identity. Between 1960-61 and 1980-81, the trophy was simply called the Football League Cup. From 1981 to 1986, it was referred to as the Milk Cup, as it was sponsored by the Milk Marketing Board.

It has since been called the Littlewoods Cup, Rumbelows Cup, Coca-Cola Cup, Worthington Cup, Carling Cup, and Capital One Cup, and since the 2017-18 season, it's been sponsored by the Carabao Energy Drink, hence the Carabao Cup.

English League Cup Recent Previous Winners

• 2015 Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur
• 2016 Manchester City 1-1 Liverpool (5-3 Penalties)
• 2017 Manchester United 3-2 Southampton
• 2018 Manchester City 3-0 Arsenal
• 2019 Manchester City 0-0 Chelsea (4-3 Penalties)
• 2020 Manchester City 2-1 Aston Villa
• 2021 Manchester City 1-0 Tottenham
• 2022 Liverpool 0-0 Chelsea (11-10 Penalties)
• 2023 Manchester United 2-0 Newcastle United
• 2024 Liverpool 1-0 Chelsea

The Carabao Cup - How Does it Work?

All teams within the English Football League (top four divisions) take part in the Football League Cup. Initial rounds do not include the big guns. Most Premier League teams join the tournament in the second round, and those who are in European action then join the following round.

Football tickets for the Carabao Cup are very popular, especially from the quarter-finals onwards. The semi-finals are contested over two legs, and the final is a one-off encounter.

The EFL Cup final no longer involves a replay, meaning that the game will go to extra time and then, if necessary, penalties before a winning team is then crowned.

Full list of Carabao Cup winners & runners-up