2011–12 Football League Cup

2011–12 Football League Cup
Country  England &  Wales

The 2011–12 Football League Cup, known as the Carling Cup due to the competition's sponsorship by lager brand Carling, is the 52nd season of the Football League Cup, a knock-out competition for England's top 92 football clubs. Birmingham City were the defending champions, having beaten Arsenal 2–1 in last season's Final, but were knocked out 2–0 by Manchester City in the Third Round.

The winner of the competition will qualify for the third qualifying round of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League.

Contents

Background

Broadcasting rights

The broadcasting rights for the 2011-12 Cup in the United Kingdom are shared between Sky Sports and the BBC. Sky Sports have rights to broadcast two live matches from each round while the BBC will show match highlights online and on a special League Cup highlights show which will broadcast in the late evening on BBC One.[1]

The BBC will show two legs of the semi-final fixtures, which will most likely be broadcast on BBC Two and Sky Sports will broadcast the remaining two legs.[2] Both BBC and Sky Sports will simulcast the final which will be at Wembley on 26 February 2012.

Preliminary Round

Times up to and including the Fourth Round are BST (UTC+1). Times from the quarter-finals onwards are GMT (UTC±0).

Due to Birmingham City having a bye to the Third Round following qualification to the Europa League, newly promoted AFC Wimbledon and Crawley Town played each other in a Preliminary Round, with Crawley Town having home advantage following a draw on 13 June. This was the first need for a Preliminary Round since the 2002–03 season.

First Round

The draw for the First Round took place on 16 June 2011 at 10:00 BST. The First Round took place in the week commencing 8 August 2011. Rioting in London caused three matches to be postponed on the advice of the Metropolitan Police. The fixtures at West Ham United, Charlton Athletic and Crystal Palace were called off on safety grounds. The ties at Bristol City and Bristol Rovers were called off later after the disorder spread across England.[3][4][5][6][7]

Second Round

The draw for the Second Round took place on 11 August 2011. The thirteen Premier League teams not involved in European competition entered the competition at this stage.[8]

The Second Round took place in the week commencing 22 August 2011.

Third Round

The draw for the Third Round took place on 27 August 2011. The eight English clubs who qualified for European competition in the 2010–11 seasonArsenal, Birmingham City, Chelsea, Fulham, Manchester City, Manchester United, Stoke City and Tottenham Hotspur – entered the competition at this stage. Only two teams from League Two remained at this stage: Aldershot Town and Shrewsbury Town.

The Third Round took place in the week commencing 19 September 2011.

Fourth Round

The draw for the Fourth Round took place on 24 September 2011. Aldershot Town were the lowest ranked team remaining in the competition and the only team representing League Two at this stage. No teams from League One remained.

The Fourth Round took place in the week commencing 24 October 2011.

Fifth Round

The draw for the Fifth Round took place on 29 October 2011. Cardiff City and Crystal Palace of the Championship were the only non-Premier League clubs left at this stage, which also saw last season's top four Premier League clubs competing.

The Fifth Round matches took place in the week commencing 28 November 2011.[9]

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals took place on 30 November 2011. Unlike the rest of the tournament, the semi-finals will be played over two legs, with the aggregate score after the second leg determining the winners. In the event of the aggregate scores being level after the second legs, 30 minutes of extra time will be played, with the away goals rule applied.

The first legs will take place in the week commencing 9 January 2012, with the second legs a fortnight later in the week commencing 23 January 2012.

First leg

Second leg

Final

The Final will be played on 26 February 2012 at Wembley.[10]. As a result of the draws for the semi-finals, the final will include one team each from the Premier League and the Championship.

26 February 2012
16:00
Winner of
Crystal Palace v Cardiff City
v Winner of
Manchester City v Liverpool
Wembley Stadium, London

Top scorers

Players in bold are still active in the competition.

Rank Player Club Goals[11]
1 Jay Rodriguez Burnley 5
2 Ramón Núñez Leeds United 4
Jeffrey Schlupp Leicester City 4
Rubén Rochina Blackburn Rovers 4
5 Ryan Lowe Bury 3
Don Cowie Cardiff City 3
Marvin Morgan Shrewsbury Town 3
Michael Owen Manchester United 3
Ashley Grimes Rochdale 3
Robbie Findley Nottingham Forest 3
Wilfried Zaha Crystal Palace 3
Luis Suárez Liverpool 3
Peter Løvenkrands Newcastle 3

References

  1. ^ "BBC wins Football League contract". BBC Sport. 6 November 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7080696.stm. 
  2. ^ "Football on the BBC - Football League". BBC. 2 August 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/8170690.stm. Retrieved 2011-08-23. 
  3. ^ "Charlton-Reading Carling Cup match called off". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 8 August 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14368434.stm. Retrieved 9 August 2011. 
  4. ^ "Crystal Palace v Crawley Town". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 8 August 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14368399.stm. Retrieved 9 August 2011. 
  5. ^ "West Ham-Aldershot Carling Cup tie postponed on police advice". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 8 August 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14368510.stm. Retrieved 9 August 2011. 
  6. ^ "Bristol City-Swindon Carling Cup game called off". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 9 August 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14368515.stm. Retrieved 9 August 2011. 
  7. ^ "Bristol Rovers' Carling Cup tie with Watford postponed". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 10 August 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14383984.stm. Retrieved 10 August 2011. 
  8. ^ http://www.carling.com/carlingcup/draw/
  9. ^ "Carling Cup Round 5 draw details". The Football League. 29 October 2011. http://www.football-league.co.uk/carlingcup/news/20111029/carling-cup-round-5-draw-details_2293330_2497621. 
  10. ^ [1]
  11. ^ "Carling Cup Stats: Top Goal Scorers - 2011/12". ESPN Soccernet. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/stats/scorers/_/league/eng.worthington/english-carling-cup?cc=3436. Retrieved 26 August 2011.