During the late 1950s, the majority of senior English clubs equipped their grounds with floodlights. This opened up the opportunity to exploit weekday evenings throughout the Winter. The League Cup was introduced in the 1960-61 season specifically as a mid-week floodlit tournament. In the early years of the competition, many of the top teams declined to take part, and it was only when automatic entry to the UEFA Cup was promised to the winners that the full League membership took part.
Liverpool have won it the most, with seven victories including four successive trophies in the early 1980s. The present holders (2005) are Chelsea, after defeating Liverpool in the final by a scoreline of 3-2 after extra time.
|
Year |
Winner |
Runnerup |
|
1961 |
Aston Villa |
Rotherham United |
|
1962 |
Norwich City |
Rochdale |
|
1963 |
Birmingham City |
Aston Villa |
|
1964 |
Leicester City |
Stoke City |
|
1965 |
Chelsea |
Leicester City |
|
1966 |
West Bromwich Albion |
West Ham United |
|
1967 |
Queens Park Rangers |
West Bromwich Albion |
|
1968 |
Leeds United |
Arsenal |
|
1969 |
Swindon Town |
Arsenal |
|
1970 |
Manchester City |
West Bromwich Albion |
|
1971 |
Tottenham Hotspur |
Aston Villa |
|
1972 |
Stoke City |
Chelsea |
|
1973 |
Tottenham Hotspur |
Norwich City |
|
1974 |
Wolverhampton Wanderers |
Manchester City |
|
1975 |
Aston Villa |
Norwich City |
|
1976 |
Manchester City |
Newcastle United |
|
1977 |
Aston Villa |
Everton |
|
1978 |
Nottingham Forest |
Liverpool |
|
1979 |
Nottingham Forest |
Southampton |
|
1980 |
Wolverhampton Wanderers |
Nottingham Forest |
|
1981 |
Liverpool |
West Ham United |
|
1982 |
Liverpool |
Tottenham Hotspur |
|
1983 |
Liverpool |
Manchester United |
|
1984 |
Liverpool |
Everton |
|
1985 |
Norwich City |
Sunderland |
|
1986 |
Oxford United |
Queens Park Rangers |
|
1987 |
Arsenal |
Liverpool |
|
1988 |
Luton Town |
Arsenal |
|
1989 |
Nottingham Forest |
Luton Town |
|
1990 |
Nottingham Forest |
Oldham Athletic |
|
1991 |
Sheffield Wednesday |
Manchester United |
|
1992 |
Manchester United |
Nottingham Forest |
|
1993 |
Arsenal |
Sheffield Wednesday |
|
1994 |
Aston Villa |
Manchester United |
|
1995 |
Liverpool |
Bolton Wanderers |
|
1996 |
Aston Villa |
Leeds United |
|
1997 |
Leicester City |
Middlesbrough |
|
1998 |
Chelsea |
Middlesbrough |
|
1999 |
Tottenham Hotspur |
Leicester City |
|
2000 |
Leicester City |
Tranmere Rovers |
|
2001 |
Liverpool |
Birmingham City |
|
2002 |
Blackburn Rovers |
Tottenham Hotspur |
|
2003 |
Liverpool |
Manchester United |
|
2004 |
Middlesbrough |
Bolton Wanderers |
|
2005 |
Chelsea |
Liverpool |
