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 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 ...

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

successfully defended their League Cup title after defeating

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

by 2–1 in 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 ...

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 ...

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 (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

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 qualified for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

via the Premier League, Aston Villa and

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

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 Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

and

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

received a first round bye as the highest ranked

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 ...

teams from the previous season's league placings. The other 70 of the 72

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 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 ...

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

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 North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...

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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 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

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 ...