Carabao Cup - EFL Cup Tickets

The Carabao Cup, or the EFL Cup, as it's also known, is a competition with a great history in English football. It's a tournament that has been run since 1960 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 early rounds of the Carabao Cup are usually amongst the cheapest football tickets in England, partly due to heavy rotation from the bigger teams which provides opportunities for up-and-coming young players. Ticket prices climb from the quarter-finals onwards with the final tickets usually split between the two competing clubs which often brings the resale market into play.

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 nine times, Manchester United on six occasions, while Chelsea and Aston Villa have won the EFL Cup five times apiece. Tottenham and Nottingham Forest sit just behind these teams, with four League Cup successes each.

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 70s and late 80s. Manchester United won it twice in a row in 2009 and 2010 under Sir Alex Ferguson.

The most successful manager in League Cup history is Pep Guardiola. The Spaniard won a record four consecutive Carabao Cups from 2018 to 2021. The 2026 triumph made it five victories in this competition for the former Barcelona midfielder.

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.

The Carabao Cup - How Does it Work?

All 92 clubs from the Premier League and the English Football League enter the Carabao Cup, the 20 top-flight sides plus the 72 clubs across the Championship, League One and League Two. Since 2025/26 the competition has opened with a preliminary round involving four League Two clubs, before the first round proper.

Initial Carabao Cup 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.

Since 2018/19 there has been no extra time in any round except the final. If a tie is level after 90 minutes it goes straight to penalties, which is part of what makes the early rounds so unpredictable. Only the final goes to extra time before a shootout, and there are no replays.

Full list of Carabao Cup winners & runners-up