Sunday (27 February 2011) sees the first English domestic trophy to be settled when Wembley stadium hosts the League Cup (also known as the Carling Cup) final between Arsenal and Birmingham City. For Arsenal, a win will give them their first trophy since they lifted the FA Cup in 2005, and it could mark the start of a memorable haul as the Londoners are the only team left who could still pull off a remarkable quadruple. They are running second in the Premiership to Manchester United, are still in the FA Cup and the amazing comeback in the first leg against Barcelona keeps their Champions League hopes alive.
For Birmingham City, the trophy brings a welcome distraction from a league form that could see them relegated out of the Premiership come the end of the season. It does seem to be their cup year though with a convincing 3-0 win of Sheffield Wednesday taking them into the FA Cup quarter finals.
Arsenal’s Route to the Final
Arsenal’s opening match in the League Cup was against north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and they came out 4-1 winners. Another romp occurred in the next match with a 4-0 victory away at Newcastle United. This set up a home tie against Wigan Athletic, and another clean sheet with a 2-0 victory. The two-leg semi-final though was more nervous with a 1-0 defeat away at Ipswich Town before hitting gear at the Emirates and winning 3-0.
Birmingham City’s Route to the Final
Birmingham City were slightly fortunate to get past the first game unscathed with a slightly tense 3-2 victory over Rochdale. It was even harder in the next round when Brentford held them to a 1-1 draw and they could only win on penalties. A tense local derby against Aston Villa followed, which they won 2-1 thanks to a late goal by Nikola Zigic. The two-leg semi-final saw them lose 2-1 away at West Ham United before winning after ninety minutes by the same score at St Andrews; Craig Gardner knocked in the winner during extra time.
Previously for Arsenal vs Birmingham City
Arsenal won comfortably 3-0 when the two teams met at St Andrews in January to do the double over Birmingham City. The game at the Emirates in October was a tighter affair with the Gunners coming out 2-1 winners. Arsenal won the match 3-1 at the Emirates last season but could only manage a 1-1 draw at Birmingham.
League Cup History
Unlike the FA Cup, the League Cup is only open to teams in the top four divisions of English football. Some consider it a waste of time while others start taking it seriously as it nears its climax.
The trophy dates back to 1960-61 and in its early days entry was not compulsory, so a lot of top teams ignored it. It was only when the prize for winning included a place in the UEFA Cup for the following season that interest grew.
Since 1981, the rights to name the cup have been given to sponsors, and the first to take up that were the Milk Marketing Board and thus from 1981 to 1986 it was known as the Milk Cup, despite some fans suggesting it should have been named after another of the board’s products and be called the Butter Cup. Since then, the trophy has been named after Littlewoods, Rumbelows, Coca-Cola and Worthington before the current sponsors named it the Carling Cup in 2003.
Steve Rogerson - Steve Rogerson is a UK-based writer specialising in television, technology, sports and beer.
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