The 2008–09 Football League Cup (known as the Carling Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 49th season of the Football League Cup, a knock-out competition for the top 92 football clubs played in English football league system. The winners qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League, if not already qualified for European competitions.

Manchester United won the competition by defeating holders Tottenham Hotspur on penalties in the final on 1 March 2009.

First round The draw for the first round took place on 13 June 2008, with matches being played two months later in the week beginning 11 August 2008.

The 72 Football League clubs competed from the first round, which was divided into North and South sections. Each section was divided equally into a pot of seeded clubs and a pot of unseeded clubs. Clubs' rankings depend upon their finishing position in the 2007–08 season.

+ NorthTie noHome teamScore1Away teamAttendance1Preston North End2–0Chesterfield5,1502Chester City2–5Leeds United3,6443Leicester City1–0Stockport County7,3864Sheffield United3–1Port Vale7,6945Grimsby Town2–0Tranmere Rovers1,8586Crewe Alexandra2–0Barnsley2,4927Hartlepool United3–0Scunthorpe United2,0768Derby County1–1Lincoln City10,091Derby County won 3 – 1 after extra time9Notts County0–0Doncaster Rovers3,272Notts County won 1 – 0 after extra time10Sheffield Wednesday1–1Rotherham United16,2982 – 2 after extra time – Rotherham United won 5 – 3 on penalties11Shrewsbury Town0–1Carlisle United3,33712Wolverhampton Wanderers1–1Accrington Stanley9,424Wolverhampton Wanderers won 3 – 2 after extra time13Bury0–2Burnley4,27614Rochdale0–0Oldham Athletic5,7860 – 0 after extra time – Oldham Athletic won 4 – 1 on penalties15Nottingham Forest4–0Morecambe4,03016Huddersfield Town4–0Bradford City8,93217Macclesfield Town2–0Blackpool1,63118Walsall1–2Darlington2,702

+ SouthTie noHome teamScore1Away teamAttendance1Coventry City3–1Aldershot Town9,2932Milton Keynes Dons1–0Norwich City6,2613Wycombe Wanderers0–4Birmingham City2,7354Brighton & Hove Albion4–0Barnet2,5715Gillingham0–1Colchester United2,5666Southend United0–0Cheltenham Town2,998Cheltenham Town won 1 – 0 after extra time7Swansea City2–0Brentford5,3668Luton Town2–0Plymouth Argyle2,6829Exeter City1–3Southampton6,47110Watford1–0Bristol Rovers5,57411Bournemouth1–2Cardiff City3,39912Bristol City2–1Peterborough United5,68413Charlton Athletic0–1Yeovil Town6,23914Millwall0–1Northampton Town3,52515Swindon Town2–3Queens Park Rangers7,23016Crystal Palace2–1Hereford United3,09417Dagenham & Redbridge1–2Reading2,36018Ipswich Town4–1Leyton Orient10,477

1 Score after 90 minutes

Second round

Twelve Premier League teams – including the eleven that were not involved in European competitions – entered at this stage, along with the winners from the first round. The draw for the second round took place on 13 August 2008, and the matches were played in the week beginning 25 August 2008, with the exception of Manchester City's game against Brighton & Hove Albion, which was played on 24 September.

Tie noHome teamScore1Away teamAttendance1Ipswich Town2 – 1Colchester United17,0842Coventry City2 – 2Newcastle United19,249Newcastle United won 3 – 2 after extra time3Hartlepool United1 – 1West Bromwich Albion3,387Hartlepool United won 3 – 1 after extra time4West Ham United1 – 1Macclesfield Town10,055West Ham United won 4 – 1 after extra time5Huddersfield Town1 – 2Sheffield United15,1896Cardiff City2 – 1Milton Keynes Dons6,3347Swansea City1 – 1Hull City8,622Swansea City won 2 – 1 after extra time8Rotherham United0 – 0Wolverhampton Wanderers5,4040 – 0 after extra time – Rotherham United won 4 – 3 on penalties9Brighton & Hove Albion1 – 1Manchester City8,7292 – 2 after extra time – Brighton & Hove Albion won 5 – 3 on penalties10Reading5 – 1Luton Town7,49811Blackburn Rovers4 – 1Grimsby Town8,37912Wigan Athletic4 – 0Notts County4,10013Leeds United4 – 0Crystal Palace10,76514Crewe Alexandra2 – 1Bristol City3,22715Middlesbrough5 – 1Yeovil Town15,65116Fulham3 – 2Leicester City7,58417Queens Park Rangers4 – 0Carlisle United8,02118Nottingham Forest1 – 1Sunderland9,198Sunderland won 2 – 1 after extra time19Burnley3 – 0Oldham Athletic5,52820Southampton2 – 0Birmingham City11,33121Bolton Wanderers1 – 2Northampton Town7,13622Watford1 – 1Darlington5,236Watford won 2 – 1 after extra time23Preston North End0 – 1Derby County8,03724Cheltenham Town2 – 3Stoke City3,600

1 Score after 90 minutes

Third round

Eight teams involved in European competition entered at this stage along with the winners from the second round. Since nine English teams qualified for European competition in 2008, it was initially unclear precisely which eight teams would automatically enter the third round. Either Aston Villa, who had entered into European competition via the UEFA Intertoto Cup, or Manchester City, who qualified for the UEFA Cup via the UEFA Fair Play ranking would enter in the third round with the other entering in the second round instead. On 29 July 2008, it was announced that Aston Villa would enter the 2008–09 Carling Cup at the third round stage after reaching the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.

The draw for the third round was held on 30 August 2008, and the matches were played on Tuesday, 23 September and Wednesday, 24 September 2008, with the exception of the match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Derby County, which was played on 4 November.

Tie noHome teamScore1Away teamAttendance1Arsenal6 – 0Sheffield United56,6322Brighton & Hove Albion1 – 4Derby County6,6253Burnley1 – 0Fulham7,1194Portsmouth0 – 4Chelsea15,3395Blackburn Rovers1 – 0Everton14,3666Rotherham United3 – 1Southampton5,1477Swansea City1 – 0Cardiff City17,4118Ipswich Town1 – 4Wigan Athletic13,8039Stoke City2 – 2Reading9,1412 – 2 after extra time – Stoke City won 4 – 3 on penalties10Leeds United3 – 2Hartlepool United14,59911Watford1 – 0West Ham United12,91412Manchester United3 – 1Middlesbrough53,72913Liverpool2 – 1Crewe Alexandra28,59114Aston Villa0 – 1Queens Park Rangers21,54115Sunderland2 – 2Northampton Town21,0822 – 2 after extra time – Sunderland won 4 – 3 on penalties16Newcastle United1 – 2Tottenham Hotspur20,577

1 Score after 90 minutes

Fourth round

The fourth round draw took place on Saturday, 27 September, and the matches were played in the week commencing 10 November 2008.

Tie noHome teamScore1Away teamAttendance1Sunderland1 – 2Blackburn Rovers18,5552Arsenal3 – 0Wigan Athletic59,6653Chelsea1 – 1Burnley41,3691 – 1 after extra time – Burnley won 5 – 4 on penalties4Swansea City0 – 1Watford9,5495Manchester United1 – 0Queens Park Rangers62,5396Stoke City2 – 0Rotherham United15,4587Derby County2 – 1Leeds United18,5408Tottenham Hotspur4 – 2Liverpool33,242

1 Score after 90 minutes

Fifth round

The fifth round draw took place on Saturday, 15 November and the matches were played week in the commencing 1 December 2008.

Semi-finals

The semi-final draw took place on Saturday, 6 December 2008. The first leg matches were played on Tuesday, 6 January 2009 and Wednesday, 7 January 2009, while the second legs were played on Tuesday, 20 January 2009 and Wednesday, 21 January 2009.

First leg

Second leg

Manchester United won 4–3 on aggregate.

Tottenham Hotspur won 6–4 on aggregate.

Final

The final was played at Wembley Stadium, London, on Sunday, 1 March 2009.

Top scorers

The top scorers in the 2008–09 Football League Cup are as follows:

RankScorerClubGoals1Nathan EllingtonDerby County6Roman PavlyuchenkoTottenham Hotspur6Carlos TevezManchester United64Martin PatersonBurnley55Jermaine BeckfordLeeds United4James HenryReading4Carlos VelaArsenal4Emmanuel VillaDerby County49Henri CamaraWigan Athletic3Matt DerbyshireBlackburn Rovers3Robert EarnshawNottingham Forest3Emmanuel LedesmaQueens Park Rangers3NaniManchester United3Joel PorterHartlepool United3

References

External links

Official Carling Cup website Carling Cup News at football-league.co.uk Carling Cup at bbc.co.uk