The 2013–14 Football League Cup (known as the Capital One Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 54th season 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 the ...

, 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 c ...

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 ...

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

were the defending champions, but were eliminated by Birmingham City in the 3rd round. Numbers within brackets represented a team's league level in the 2013–14 season, level 1 being the Premier League, level 2 the Championship, and so on. On 16 December 2013, it was announced that goal-line technology would be used in three of the four quarter-finals and any subsequent matches in the Capital One Cup. The system was used the very next day, in the

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

– Chelsea quarter-final, in which an own-goal from Lee Cattermole was allowed. The cup was won by

Manchester City 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 tw ...

who defeated

3–1 in the final. This was their first League Cup trophy since 1976 and their third win overall.

First round

The draw for the first round took place on 17 June 2013 at 09:30 BST. Ties were played during the week commencing 5 August 2013.

Second round

The draw for the second round took place on 8 August 2013 at 12:30 BST. All the Premier League clubs that were not partaking in European competition ( UEFA Champions League or Europa League) entered in this round along with Reading who were one of the two best relegated teams from the prior season. Wigan Athletic, who were the other of the two best relegated teams did not enter in this round, due to winning the FA Cup and thus a place in the UEFA Europa League. They entered in the third round. All ties were played during the week commencing 26 August 2013.

Third round

The draw for the third round took place live on Sky Sports on 28 August 2013. All the clubs partaking in European competition (holders

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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

, Chelsea,

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 ...

, Tottenham Hotspur and Wigan Athletic) entered here, as well as the winning teams from the second round. Only Crystal Palace from the Premier League failed to make it to the third round, and only Bristol City, Swindon Town, Peterborough United and Tranmere Rovers remained from League One.

Fourth round

The draw for the fourth round took place on 25 September 2013 live on Sky Sports. All ties were originally to be played during the week commencing 28 October 2013, but the game between

and Southampton was later moved to 6 November 2013. Birmingham City, Burnley and Leicester City were the only teams outside of the Premier League left in the competition, all three compete in the Championship.

Fifth round

The draw for the fifth round took place on 30 October 2013. All ties were played during the week commencing 16 December 2013. Leicester City, who compete in the Championship, were the only team outside of the Premier League left in the competition.

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals took place on 18 December 2013 after the televised game between

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

and

First leg

Second leg

Final

Top scorers

Broadcasting rights

The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition were held by the subscription channel Sky Sports, who have held rights to the competition since 1996–97. During this season Sky had exclusive live broadcasting rights. These matches were broadcast live by Sky Sports on television:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2013-14 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, c ...