The 2005–06 Football League Cup (known as the Carling Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 46th staging of the

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by t ...

, a knock-out competition for the top 92

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

clubs played in

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...

. The competition name reflects a sponsorship deal with lager brand Carling. The competition began on 22 August 2005, 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 26 February 2006 at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national r ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

while reconstruction work was still ongoing at

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 Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. The tournament was won by

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

, who beat surprise finalists,

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington ...

4–0 in the final, thanks to two goals from

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while ...

and one each from

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pl ...

and Louis Saha. Wigan had only been promoted to the

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 ...

at the beginning of the season.

First round

The 72

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

clubs compete from the First Round. 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 2004–05 season. Therefore, the clubs relegated from the Premier League in 2005, Norwich City, Crystal Palace and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, were the top seeds, and the clubs newly promoted to the Football League, Barnet and

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Park s ...

, were bottom seeds. *On 28 June 2005 seeded clubs and unseeded clubs were paired off to create the first round draw. *Matches occurred on 22, 23 and 24 August 2005. *Extra time played when the scores were level after 90 minutes. *A penalty shoot-out took place if the scores were level after extra time.

Second round

The 36 winners from the First Round joined the 12

clubs not participating in European competition in Round Two. The draw was made on 27 August. The matches occurred on 20 and 21 September.

Third round

The 24 winners from the Second Round joined the eight

clubs participating in European competition in Round Three. The draw was made on 24 September. Matches were played on 25 and 26 October.

Fourth round

The draw for the Fourth Round was made on 29 October 2005 and matches were played on 29 and 30 November. Doncaster caused the shock of the round, beating

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park, ...

3-0. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter finals was made on 3 December 2005 and matches were played on 20 and 21 December. The only non-Premier League club, Doncaster Rovers gave

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

a scare by drawing 2–2 after extra-time but Arsenal made it through 3–1 on penalties ---- ---- ----

Semi-finals

The semi-final draw was made on 21 December, 2005 after the conclusion of the quarter finals. Unlike the other rounds, the semi-final ties were played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The ties were played in the weeks beginning 9 January and 23 January 2006.

First leg

----

Second leg

''Score level at 2-2 on aggregate. Wigan win on away goals rule.'' ---- ''Manchester United win 3–2 on aggregate''

Final

The 2006 Carling Cup Final was played on 26 February 2006 and was contested between Premier League teams

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

and

at the

. The favourites Manchester United won the game comfortably 4–0 in normal time.
Match details on Soccerbase

References

External links

Official Carling Cup websiteCarling Cup
at bbc.co.uk
League Cup news, match reports and pictures
on Reuters.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:2005-06 Football League Cup EFL Cup seasons

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, cl ...