2011–12 Football League Cup

Background

Broadcasting rights

The broadcasting rights for the 2011–12 Cup in the UK were shared between Sky Sports and the BBC. Sky Sports had rights to broadcast two live matches from each round while the BBC showed match highlights online and on a special League Cup highlights show which was broadcast in the late evening on BBC One.

The BBC showed two legs of the semi-final fixtures and Sky Sports showed the other two. Both BBC and Sky Sports simulcasted the final 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 newly relegated (and League Cup title holders) Birmingham City having a bye to the third round following qualification to the Europa League and the extra Europa League berth awarded to Fulham through the Fair Play league, newly promoted AFC Wimbledon and Crawley Town played each other in a preliminary round. The draw for the round took place on 13 June with Crawley Town at home. This was the first need for a Preliminary Round since the 2002–03 season. Torres Tubbs Midson

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. The round was also notable, from a footballing perspective, for the first competitive Nottingham derby since 1994 between Nottingham Forest and rivals Notts County. The match ended 3–3, with Forest winning the subsequent penalty shoot-out 4–3.

Northern section

Poole Collins Austin Nish Collins Quinn Lowton Philliskirk Mattis Loft Hunt
Roberts Schlupp McCormack Flynn Mason
Bennett Ellison Barcham Robinson Collins Smith Taylor Parker Welsh Robson Berrett Loy Lowe Austin
Wallace Zola
Maghoma Mellor
Hume Artell Findley
Morgan Westcarr
Hughes Tudgay Garner Findley Boateng Chambers Hawley Bencherif Sheehan Hughes Bishop Otsemobor Morrison O'Connor Eardley Sylvestre Llera

Southern section

Cooper
Feeney
Taylor Turnbull Ibehre
Lewington
Balanta Lambert
Chaplow
Forte Bostwick
Beardsley Boyd
Tomlin Téhoué Harris Clohessy Kalala Hall Daniels Chorley Richardson Cureton Grant
Beavon Henderson
Gillespie McCoy Beavon Rendell Harding Wordsworth Henderson James Rose Shephard Whittingham
Jarvis McGleish Virgo Brown Carayol Sordell Mariappa Dickinson Euell Hylton

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.

The second round took place in the week commencing 22 August 2011.

Mkandawire Lowe Gallagher
Dyer
Danns Fortuné
Cox Delfouneso Wright
Wroe Baldock
Powell Milijaš
Vokes McGugan Findley Majewski Elliott McCann Holmes Parkin
Cowie
Conway Ward Jones Hines Maxi
Carroll Goodwillie Anichebe
Arteta Petrov Ameobi Livesey Forte
Lambert Chorley
Dawson Richards Mayor Williams

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 season – Arsenal, 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.

Hammill Elokobi Spray Guedioura Hylton Oxlade-Chamberlain Benayoun Amougou Giggs Derbyshire Tudgay Simpson Coloccini Kakuta Pennant Whelan Wilson Crouch Etherington Upson Shotton Pavlyuchenko Townsend Ćorluka Kaboul Livermore Carroll Luongo Rochina Vukčević Cox Andrew Gestede Dyer Earnshaw
Cowie
Conway
Kiss
Gestede
Quinn Howard
Abe
Danns
St Ledger
Paintsil
Fernandes Luiz
Terry
Kalou
Malouda Sidwell
Dembélé
Baird
Ruiz Kuyt Balotelli Lallana Neville

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.

Park Owen
Valencia Easter O'Hara Nasri
Džeko
De Vries Yakubu
Pedersen
Givet Cabaye
Løvenkrands Sturridge

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals 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.

Kelly Gerrard Murray

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals took place on 30 November 2011. Unlike the rest of the tournament, the semi-finals are 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 took 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

19:45 GMT Conway Gestede Whittingham Scannell Jedinak Parr Cardiff City won 3–1 on penalties.

19:45 GMT Bellamy Džeko Liverpool won 3–2 on aggregate

Final

Main article: 2012 Football League Cup Final

The final was played on 26 February 2012 at Wembley Stadium. The final involved one team from the Premier League, Liverpool, and one from the Championship, Cardiff City. The game was won by Liverpool after a penalty shoot-out. Turner Cowie
Gestede
Whittingham
A. Gerrard Kuyt Adam Kuyt Downing Johnson

Top scorers

References

References

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9. (29 October 2011). "Carling Cup round 5 draw details". The Football League.
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11. "Carling Cup Stats: Top Goal Scorers – 2011/12". ESPN Soccernet.