The 2006–07 Football League Cup (known as the Carling Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 47th staging of the Football League Cup, a knock-out competition for the top 92 football clubs played in English football league system. The competition name reflects a sponsorship deal with lager brand Carling. The competition began in August 2006 and ended with the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

on 25 February 2007. The Millennium Stadium in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

hosted the final, as the reconstruction of

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

could not be completed in time to host the final. The winners were

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, beating Arsenal in the final 2-1 after two goals by Didier Drogba.

Format

Chelsea_Vs_Arsenal_-_Carling_Cup_Final_25_Feb_2007

The competition consists of five single elimination rounds (taking place only on week-nights) before a two-legged semi-final and then a final match at a neutral venue. The venue for each fixture in round one to the finals will not be neutral. It will be the home ground of one of the two clubs in each fixture, and will be decided as part of the draw for each round. There are no replays in the competition. If necessary, extra-time and penalties will decide each tie's winners on the night.

First round

The 72 Football League clubs compete from the first round, which is divided into North and South sections. Each section is divided equally into a pot of seeded clubs and a pot of unseeded clubs. Clubs' rankings depend upon their finishing position in the 2005-06 season. Therefore, the clubs relegated from the Premier League in 2006; Sunderland (North),

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

and

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

(South) are the top seeds, and the clubs newly promoted to the Football League —

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete his ...

and

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

— are bottom seeds in north and south sections respectively. *At 12:00 BST on 21 June 2006, seeded clubs and unseeded clubs were paired off to create the first round draw. *The small numbers represent the seeding. *Ties are shown in order of the draw. ¹ Score after 90 minutes

Second round

In Round 2, the 36 winners from Round 1 were joined by the 12

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

clubs not participating in European competitions. The draw took place on 26 August 2006 and matches were played during the week commencing 18 September. ¹ Score after 90 minutes

Third round

Round 3 was drawn on 23 September from the 24 remaining clubs and the eight Premier League clubs in European competitions. The ties were played the week of 23 October: ¹ Score after 90 minutes

Fourth round

The Fourth round draw was made on 25 October 2006. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Quarter-finals

The quarter-final draw was made on 11 November 2006 at 12:00

GMT Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a cons ...

. ---- ---- ----

Semi-finals

The semi-final draw was made on 23 December 2006 at 12:00

. Unlike the other rounds, the semi-final ties were played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home.

First leg

----

Second leg

''Chelsea won 5–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Arsenal won 5–3 on aggregate.''

Final

External links

Official Carling Cup website

Carling Cup
at bbc.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:2006-07 Football League Cup EFL Cup seasons Cup