The EFL Cup, previously known as the Football League Cup, is an association football competition contested between English clubs since 1960. It is open to teams from the top four levels of the English football league system, comprising teams from the Premier League, Championship, League One and League Two. The EFL Cup is considered to be less prestigious than the FA Cup, and clubs from the Premier League often use the competition as an opportunity to play younger players and lesser-used squad players. The role of the manager is to select the squad during the season, develop the tactics of the team and manage potential issues within the squad.
Pep Guardiola has won five EFL Cups as manager of Manchester City, the most of any manager. Brian Clough and Alex Ferguson won four EFL Cups as managers of Nottingham Forest and Manchester United respectively, while José Mourinho won four EFL Cups, three as manager of Chelsea, and one as manager of Manchester United. Four managers have won the League Cup as a player and manager, Martin O'Neill, Gianluca Vialli, Graeme Souness and Kenny Dalglish. Vialli won the competition as player-manager in 1998 with Chelsea.
English managers have won the competition the most, with 31 wins by 23 different managers. Scottish managers are next with 31 wins by 8 different managers and Spanish managers are third with six wins by two different managers. Eddie Howe was the last English manager to win the EFL Cup, when he led Newcastle United to victory in 2025.
EFL Cup–winning managers +EFL Cup-winning managersYearWinning managerNationalityClubRef.1961Aston Villa1962Norwich City1963Birmingham City1964Leicester City1965Chelsea1966West Bromwich Albion1967Queen's Park Rangers1968Leeds United1969Swindon Town1970Manchester City1971Tottenham Hotspur1972Stoke City1973Tottenham Hotspur1974Wolverhampton Wanderers1975Aston Villa1976Manchester City1977Aston Villa1978Nottingham Forest1979Nottingham Forest1980Wolverhampton Wanderers1981Liverpool1982Liverpool1983Liverpool1984Liverpool1985Norwich City1986Oxford United1987Arsenal1988Luton Town1989Nottingham Forest1990Nottingham Forest1992Manchester United1993Arsenal1994Aston Villa1995Liverpool1996Aston Villa1997Leicester City1998Chelsea1999Tottenham Hotspur2000Leicester City2001Liverpool2002Blackburn Rovers2003Liverpool2004Middlesbrough2005Chelsea2006Manchester United2007Chelsea2008Tottenham Hotspur2009Manchester United2010Manchester United2011Birmingham City2012Liverpool2013Swansea City2014Manchester City2015Chelsea2016Manchester City2017Manchester United2018Manchester City2019Manchester City2020Manchester City2021Manchester City2022Liverpool2023Manchester United2024Liverpool2025Newcastle United2026Manchester City
By individual +EFL Cup-winning managers by individualRankManagerNationalityWinning YearsClub(s) 1 Pep Guardiola 52018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2026 Manchester City2 Brian Clough41978, 1979, 1989, 1990 Nottingham Forest Alex Ferguson1992, 2006, 2009, 2010Manchester United José Mourinho2005, 2007, 2015, 2017Chelsea, Manchester United5 Bob Paisley 31981, 1982, 1983 Liverpool George Graham1987, 1993, 1999 Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur7 Joe Mercer 21961, 1970 Aston Villa, Manchester City Bill Nicholson1971, 1973Tottenham Hotspur Ron Saunders1975, 1977 Aston Villa Martin O'Neill1997, 2000 Leicester City Gérard Houllier200, 2003 Liverpool Manuel Pellegrini2014, 2016 Manchester City Jurgen Klopp2022, 2024 Liverpool
By nationality +EFL Cup-winning managers by nationalityCountryManagersTotal 23 31 8 31 2 6 1 4 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
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