The League Cup Weekend
February 22nd 2008 05:00
The Poor Man's League Cup?
That could be because it reminds one of an old friend who you've just not got anything in common with anymore and who, if we're honest, gets on your nerves slightly.
This weekend Tottenham Hotspur will do battle with Chelsea in the 2008 Carling Cup Final. And what a luke warm spectacle it promises to be. Tottenham, having not won a sausage for the best part of a decade, are more likely to take it seriously than Chelsea, who will see it as a mere distraction from their Premier League campaign... but is anybody expecting an exciting affair? Even if the game itself happens to be an eight goal thriller, will this make us look at the Rumbelows Cup with extra fondness? Of course not. Which is a shame.
The competition originated in the 1960/61 season, designed primarily as a mid-week competition so that clubs could use their newly installed fancy massive lightbulbs (or floodlights as they have become known). Realistically it never stood a chance and most of the top clubs even declined to enter the competition until a UEFA Cup spot was promised the winner. And that really is the only reason for entering nowadays, which is why you see Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea (amongst others to be fair) playing their reserve teams.
The most annoying aspect of the Coca Cola Cup is that despite the utter contempt shown by the big clubs for it in recent years, they're still winning the bloody thing!
There is most definitely an argument to be made to abandon the competition altogether or simply run it for those clubs outside the Premier League, but I imagine that is at least another five years away and would also cause outrage in the lower leagues.
The Worthington Cup actually generates decent revenue, especially for the smaller outfits it was actually designed to help in the first place and as trivial as it to those who don't need to win it, the FA Cup's younger and poorer cousin still has something to offer for those who haven't won anything since, say, 1976.
Finally, The Littlewoods Cup is the most British of all trophies... it's old, historic, sometimes thrilling, but ultimately pointless... and who would want to throw that away for a fixture or two less? At least it gives Peter Crouch a game.
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