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The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or by the name referring to the title sponsor (currently the Capital One Cup), is a football competition played by teams in England and Wales. Similar to the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout (single elimination) basis. Unlike the FA Cup, where 758 teams entered in 2012–13, only 92 clubs can enter the League Cup – the 20 Premier League clubs, and the 72 clubs of The Football League, which organises the competition. Also unlike the FA Cup, the semi-finals are played over two legs. The winners qualify for the UEFA Europa League, unless they have qualified for the Champions League through their league position, in which case the Europa League berth goes to the highest-placed team from the Premier League not already qualified for Europe. The current holders are Chelsea, who beat Tottenham Hotspur 2–0 in the 2015 final to win their fifth League Cup. Although the League Cup is one of the three major domestic trophies attainable by English league teams, it is perceived by larger clubs as a lower priority than the league championship, UEFA Champions League, and the FA Cup. League Cup winners receive £100,000 prize money (awarded by the Football League) with the runners-up receiving £50,000, considered relatively insignificant to top-flight teams, compared to the £2 million prize money of the FA Cup, which is in turn eclipsed by the Premier League's television money (awarded on final league position) and consequent participation in the Champions League. Some clubs have made a point of fielding a weaker side in the competition, making the opportunity for giant-killing of the larger clubs more likely. Many of the top English sides, Arsenal and Manchester United in particular, have used the competition to give young players valuable big-game experience. In 2010, in response to Arsène Wenger's claim that a League Cup win would not end his trophy drought, Alex Ferguson described the trophy as "a pot worth winning". The women's game has its own League Cup, which is open to the 36 women's clubs in the three divisions of the FA Women's Premier League, although the women's competition is governed by the FA and not the Football League. ==History== The original idea for a League Cup was that of Stanley Rous who saw the competition as a consolation for clubs who had already been knocked out of the FA Cup. However it was not Rous who came to implement it, but Alan Hardaker. Hardaker, the Secretary of the Football League initially proposed the competition as a way for the clubs to make up on lost revenue due to a reduction in matches played for when the league was to be re-organised. The re-organisation of the league was not immediately forthcoming, however the cup competition was introduced regardless. The trophy was paid for personally by Football League President Joe Richards, Richards was proud of the competition and he had his own name engraved on it. Richards described the competition's formation as an 'interim step' on the way to the league's re-organisation. Richards' priority was the re-organisation of the leagues; 'perhaps by cutting down the number of clubs in each division, as has already been suggested, and even given more consideration to the system of four up and four down'. Hardaker felt that the Football League needed to adapt to the times as the English game was losing prestige and he felt that the Football League should take the lead in revitalising football in the nation: "It must be obvious to all of you that the time has come to do something, and it is up to the Football League to give the lead. I hope the Press will not immediately assume that the League is going to fall out with the F.A. or anybody else... the time has come for our voice to be heard in every problem which affects the professional game."〔 The League Cup competition was established at a time when match day attendances were dwindling. The league had lost 1 million spectators compared to the previous season. It was established at a time when tensions between the Football League and the Football Association were high. The biggest disagreement was how revenue was shared between the clubs. 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, to replace the Southern Professional Floodlit Cup. The League Cup was criticised by the better endowed clubs, ''The Times'' correspondent at the time felt that the League Cup was a step in the wrong direction, the European Cup had been formed in five years prior to the League Cup and the correspondent felt the League Cup's introduction was adding to existing problems. ''The Times'' published on May 30, 1960: "Where a drastic reduction is required in an attempt to raise quality, no doubt quantity and a further spread of mediocrity will be the dose. Where men like Count Bernabeu with his wider horizons, think in terms of a European-league for the future in which a lead could surely now be given jointly by our leaders, the Football League propose next season to implement their useless Football League Cup to be played in midweek. It gets the players, the clubs and the public nowhere." Aston Villa were the inaugural winners in 1960–61 defeating Rotherham United 3–2 in the final over two legs. Football in England was considered to be of a low quality compared to what was being played on the continent, as relatively unfashionable clubs Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers were England's representatives in Europe that year, having lifted the major honours ahead of much bigger clubs like Arsenal and Manchester United. Richards referred to the appetite for European football as 'continental fever' and was keen for the league to re-establish itself . 'We must be prepared to put the interests of the League and the game before individual clubs.' Sixteen clubs opposed the competition's creation, thirty one approved it.〔 The average attendance across the League Cup was 10,556, just higher than the average gate in the Third Division. The total attendance of the Football League competition had fallen by 4 million from the previous season. Richards is reputed to have told Hardaker that he foresaw the League Cup final being held at Wembley, but that it wouldn't be during his lifetime. The first League Cup final to be held at Wembley was Third Division Queens Park Rangers' win over First Division West Bromwich Albion on 4 March 1967. Richards died in 1968. The first League Cup was won in 1961 by Aston Villa, who still held the overall record for major trophies won despite their last piece of silverware being won during the interwar years. The next three finals, however, saw the trophy won by clubs who had never won a major trophy before. One of them, Norwich City, had yet to even play in the First Division, while their opponents Rochdale hadn't even played in the Second Division. The introduction of the League Cup had given the Football League more negotiating power with the FA and UEFA. Hardaker had threatened UEFA with a boycott of the Fairs Cup unless UEFA gave the League Cup winner European qualification. As a result of the negotiating tactics, UEFA provided the League Cup winner with a place in the European competitions providing the team was in the first division. Tottenham Hotspur were the first team to qualify for Europe by virtue of winning the competition. Although Leeds United had won the competition before Tottenham, Leeds qualified for Europe based on league position. The winners of the 1967 and 1969 editions QPR and Swindon Town did not participate in Europe as they were not in the First Division. Prior to the agreement with UEFA, the competition wasn't considered worthy of the larger clubs attention. However once a position in Europe was on offer, as was a final at Wembley Stadium, the competition's standing was improved and in the 1968–69 season only Manchester United declined to participate. Everton chose not to compete in 1970–71 so that they could concentrate their efforts on the European Cup. Entry was made compulsory for all Football League teams the following year. Liverpool have won the cup on the most occasions with eight victories including winning their four League Cups in successive years in the early 1980s. They completed two trebles of trophy wins, in 1984 and 2001, winning the League Cup in both of these years. English clubs lost their place in European competitions for an indefinite period in 1985 as a result of the Heysel disaster, where Liverpool fans had taken part in a riot at the European Cup final, resulting in the death of 39 spectators. That year's winners of the League Cup were Norwich City, who would otherwise have played in a European competition for the first time in the 1985-86 season. Oxford United, Arsenal, Luton Town and Nottingham Forest also missed out on the chance to compete in the UEFA Cup as League Cup holders over the next four years. Even when the ban was lifted in 1990, League Cup winners did not participate in European competitions for two more years, when Manchester United won the trophy and qualified for the UEFA Cup anyway as they had finished second in the league. In the previous two seasons, Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday had both been prevented from competing in the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners due to the gradual reintegration of English clubs in European competitions. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Football League Cup」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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