The English League Cup, the expediency of which is regularly questioned at the Foggy Albion, is of great importance primarily for the numerous clubs of the lower divisions, the so-called “quagmire” of the English football pyramid. Those whose club museums are not too burdened with trophies and regalia, the English League Cup gives a unique chance to meet with the leading teams of England, the grandees of European football, play in the largest stadiums of the country, express themselves loudly and replenish the club box office a little. This is the uniqueness of this tournament.
The English League Cup, established in 1960, from the very beginning caused a flurry of criticism and a cool attitude from the grandees. The first draw of the tournament was ignored by Arsenal, Tottenham, West Brom, and Wolverhampton. And Liverpool refused to participate in this tournament from 1962 to 1968.
The English League Cup is played among 92 clubs of professional divisions. 20 of them represent the Premier League and another 72 - the three lowest levels of the English football hierarchy. The winner of the tournament receives the right to start in the next draw of the Europa League. Unless, of course, he did not get a ticket to the European Cups through the championship. In this case, the right to participate in the LE is transferred to the finalist.
League Cup is a real unique chance for small clubs to one day climb their Olympus football. Many in Foggy Albion believe that only in the lower divisions begins real English football. England, whose championship has always been one of the strongest on the continent, in 1991 established a super-successful and highly profitable project - the Premier League.
The workload of leading English clubs and the saturation of their calendar reached its peak. Sometimes they have to spend 60-70 matches of the highest level and intensity in the season. Almost simultaneously with the Premier League, the no less successful, prestigious and profitable brainchild of UEFA - the Champions League was added here. Here are the grandees of English football and use the league cup to rotate the squad and as a training ground for “running in” youth. Plus an insufficient level of motivation from the grandees. This is the secret of the rare successes of the clubs of the lower floors of the English football building.
So, in the CL 2012/2013 season, Bradford, representing League 2, the fourth level of the English football pyramid, managed to reach the finals, where he lost to Swansea representing the Premier League. This was the first time since 1962 when a team from the very bottom of professional English football managed to reach the final. Then the freelance Rochdale distinguished himself in a similar way, eventually losing to Norwich.
But the achievement of “Bradford” still became unique. He is the only one in history who, in the course of his triumphal march by the time of his fame, managed to beat three representatives of the Premier League - Wigan, Aston Villa and Arsenal. James Hanson, the author of the decisive goal against Villans, couldn’t score 843 minutes before sending the Birmingham players overboard the tournament, as if accumulating all his potential scorer for a personal high point ...
The Bradford march through the tournament distance is a beautiful tale with a sad ending (0: 5 in the final from Swansea City). This team proved to the whole country (and possibly Europe - the KL finals were broadcast to many countries of the continent) that not only in the Premier League they know how to play football. The FA Cup, the oldest club tournament in the world, unlike the CL, gives such a unique chance not only to professionals, but also to several hundreds of amateur and semi-professional clubs of the numerous divisions of the Conference. For example, in the 2007/2008 season, 731 teams took part in the CA draw. In this very prestigious tournament, the real spirit of uncompromising English football reigns.