The 2006–07 Football League Cup (known as the Carling Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 47th staging of the

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

, a knock-out competition for the top 92

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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 ...

. 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 examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

on 25 February 2007. The

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium (), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium () for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it has a retractable roof and is the home of the Wales national rugby union team; it has ...

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

hosted the final, as the reconstruction of

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

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

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 mostly ...

in the final 2-1 after two goals by

Didier Drogba Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian former professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. He is the Top international association football goal scorers by cou ...

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 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, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

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 Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

(North),

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional 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. The team compete in the ...

and

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

(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, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

and Hereford United — 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 is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

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

Semi-finals

The semi-final draw was made on 23 December 2006 at 12:00 GMT. 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 League Cup

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...