The Milk Cup, the Coca-Cola Cup, the Worthington Cup, the Carling Cup, the Carabao Cup, the Mickey Mouse Cup? It doesn’t matter how you remember it (it’s Worthington for me), because it’s not overly...memorable. My memories are almost exclusively limited to those instances when it was won by unfancied teams. Leicester City’s win in 2000 with Gerry Taggart and Muzzy Izzet in their ranks, Middlesbrough’s 2004 victory featuring Juninho and Bolo Zenden. More recently, Swansea City emerged victorious in 2013 with cult hero Michu leading the line. But ask me who lifted the trophy in 2021, and I wouldn’t be able to tell you without looking it up (Manchester City beat Tottenham 1-0).

Its place in the footballing calendar has long been scrutinised and recent comments by Pep Guardiola have stoked the fire once more. Guardiola claims that he is unable to field a first XI due to the number of fixtures the club has across various competitions. Shouldn’t the manager be responsible for effective squad rotation?  Whatever; it is his right to play whichever players he chooses, although little sympathy will be offered to a club with such riches to call upon.

It will be interesting to see whether Guardiola complains as much about the newly redeveloped Club World Cup which will take place in the summer of 2025. I suspect he may not be quite as vocal, due to the shared financial interests of City and UEFA. If I am wrong, I will of course publish an apology.

Ironically, the League Cup was first introduced in 1961 to compensate for plans to reduce the number of fixtures. Oh, if they only had a crystal ball. The number of fixtures is substantial and simply fitting them all is of just as much concern as player welfare. Lower down the pyramid, matches come just as thick and fast due to the number of teams in the league. Those leagues are now also affected by international breaks – just two fixtures were held in League One during the most recent - and that’s before you’ve catered for extreme weather, FA cup runs and other unknowns.

Commercially, the standalone fixtures would appear to do well. All Premier League teams in action last night reported similar attendances to their most recent home league fixtures, although the cost of admission is rightly reduced. However, the prize money of just £100,000 is measly for even the most miserly of the English footballing elite. Even the FA Cup’s prize money of £2m is insignificant to most clubs, and it pales in comparison to the television revenues generated by the Premier League.

It worries me that the FA Cup may soon succumb to the same fate, pushed to the side by bigger competitions with bigger prize pots, but far less history. If the League Cup were to go, could that protect the FA Cup for the foreseeable future?

From a global perspective, the League Cup makes no sense. However, the incredulity expressed by newly recruited foreign managers when they find out they have to play away at Accrington Stanley in September will never cease to be amusing. More seriously, though, some of the foreign managers barely seem to recognise the tournament, which demonstrates its lack of standing and reputation. Among the other top European football countries, only Portugal boasts two domestic club tournaments. Other countries whose clubs compete in a League Cup include Iceland, Finland, Israel, and of course Scotland. It speaks volumes that so many of the other countries don’t see the need for a similar tournament. 

In conclusion, I have no problem with teams fielding weakened sides as long as they don’t present themselves as martyrs in doing so. However, if I had the power I would scrap the competition altogether. Not because of the number of fixtures necessarily, but rather simply the lack of prestige.

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By Leon Parrott