The 2009–10 Football League Cup (known as the Carling Cup due to the competition's sponsorship by lager brand Carling) was the 50th season of the Football League Cup, a knock-out competition for the top 92 football clubs played in English football league system. Manchester United successfully defended their League Cup title after defeating Aston Villa by 2–1 in 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 ...

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 ...

on 28 February 2010. Each season, the League Cup winners – like the winners of the FA Cup – were granted a place in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

for the following season. However, in cases where a team had already gained a place in European competition via their league position or progress in other cup competitions, their place in the Europa League was deferred to the next-placed league side. In this season, since Manchester United and FA Cup winners

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 ...

qualified for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

via the Premier League, Aston Villa and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

qualified for the Europa League as the sixth- and seventh-placed sides in the league.

First round

The draw for the First Round took place on 16 June 2009, with matches played two months later in the week beginning 10 August 2009. Newcastle United and

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

received a first round bye as the highest ranked Football League teams from the previous season's league placings. The other 70 of the 72 Football League clubs competed in the First Round, divided into North and South sections. Each section was divided equally into a pot of seeded clubs and a pot of unseeded clubs. Clubs' rankings depend upon their finishing position in the 2008–09 season.

¹ Score after 90 minutes

Second round

The 13

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 ...

teams not involved in European competitions entered at this stage, along with the winners from the First Round plus Newcastle United and

, who received a First Round bye. From the Second Round onwards, the teams are no longer split geographically. The draw for the Second Round took place on 12 August 2009, after the First Round games had been completed, and the matches were played in the week beginning 24 August 2009. ¹ Score after 90 minutes

Third round

The seven

teams involved in European competition enter at this stage, along with the winners from the Second Round. The draw for the Third Round took place on 29 August 2009, after the Second Round games had been played. The matches were played in the week beginning 21 September 2009. ¹ Score after 90 minutes

Fourth round

The draw for the Fourth Round took place after the Third Round games had been played, on 26 September 2009, and the matches were played on the week beginning on 26 October 2009. The only clubs from outside the Premier League left in the draw were Barnsley, Peterborough United and Scunthorpe United. ¹ Score after 90 minutes

Fifth round

The Fifth Round draw took place on 31 October, and the matches were played in the week commencing 30 November 2009. ---- ---- ----

Semi-finals

The semi-final draw took place on 2 December 2009, after the completion of the first three Fifth Round matches. The first leg matches were to be played the week commencing 4 January 2010, but adverse weather conditions including severe snow and ice in North West England caused the games to be rearranged.

First leg

----

Second leg

''Aston Villa won 7–4 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Manchester United won 4–3 on aggregate.''

Final

The final was played at

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, on Sunday, 28 February 2010.

Prize money

The prize money is awarded by the Football League. The winners of the League Cup won £100,000 and the runners-up won £50,000. The losing semi-finalists each took home £25,000.

References

External links

Official Carling Cup website

at football-league.co.uk
Carling Cup
at bbc.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:2009-10 Football League Cup EFL Cup seasons

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

Football League Cup