The 2010–11 Football League Cup (known as the Carling Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 51st 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 ...

. The winners were granted a place in the

2011–12 UEFA Europa League The 2011–12 UEFA Europa League was the third season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 41st edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 30 June 2011 with ...

. 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 best-placed league side not already qualified for European competitions.

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 ...

were the defending champions for the second successive season, but were knocked out in the fifth round by

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. 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 ...

was contested on 27 February 2011 between

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Birmingham were the surprise 2–1 winners in the final to win just the second major trophy in their history. Birmingham City also won their first major trophy since 1963 (also a League Cup) and earned a place in European competition for the first time since 1961.

First round

The draw for the first round took place on 16 June 2010, with matches played two months later on 10 August 2010.

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

and

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

received a First Round bye as the highest ranked teams from the previous season's league placings. The other 70 of 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 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 2009–10 season.

¹ Score after 90 minutes

Second round

The 13 Premier League teams not involved in European competitions entered at this stage along with the winners from the first round plus Burnley and Hull City, who had received a First Round bye. If there is a draw at full-time there will be extra time followed by a penalty shootout if the scores are still level. From the second round onwards, the teams are no longer split geographically. The draw for the second round took place on the evening of 11 August 2010, after the first-round matches had been completed, and the matches were played in the week beginning 23 August 2010.

¹ Score after 90 minutes

Third round

The seven

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 involved in European competition entered at this stage, along with the winners from the second round. The draw for the Third Round took place on 28 August 2010, after the second-round games had been played. The matches were played in the week beginning 20 September 2010.

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

were the only League Two side to reach this round of the tournament. ¹ Score after 90 minutes

Fourth round

The Fourth Round draw took place on 25 September 2010, and the matches were played on the week commencing 25 October 2010. For the second consecutive round,

was the lowest ranked remaining side, being the lone representative from League Two. All four leagues involved in this competition had representation in the Fourth Round for the first time since the 2006–07 competition. ¹ Score after 90 minutes

Fifth round

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

was the lowest ranked side left in the competition, and the sole remaining representative of the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

in the fifth round draw, which took place on 30 October 2010. Matches were played in the week commencing 29 November 2010. ---- ---- ----

Semi-finals

The semi-final draw took place on 1 December 2010, after the completion of the Fifth Round matches. The first leg matches were played the week commencing 10 January 2011, with the second legs a fortnight later.

First leg

----

Second leg

''Arsenal won 3–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Birmingham City won 4–3 on aggregate.''

Final

The final was played at

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 ...

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, 27 February 2011.

Prize money

The prize money was 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 {{DEFAULTSORT:2010-11 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 ...