Phil Sumbler“I had that League Cup in the back of my taxi once.” Well, that may not be the most accurate of descriptions but I did have it on my kitchen worktop for a while shortly after that magical day when we lifted our first – and to date only – major trophy at Wembley in 2013.
Not quite for that reason alone I will always have an affiliation with the League Cup but I certainly don’t get the fact that the competition is so much derided by many and too many teams, probably us included, will this week be happy to see the back of the competition for another season.
Focus over the past 20 years has definitely switched for most sides to league positions ahead of cup success. First the League Cup and then the FA Cup became the home for players on the edge of first team football to get game time and for many you see vastly weakened teams and no real remorse if they go out of the competition.
I don’t expect us to be any different when we open our campaign against Reading this season but for anyone that bemoans the League Cup then just think back to those halcyon days of 2013 and our run to the final that gave us some competition records and the chance to compete in Europe once again. When you have remembered that then maybe the affiliation with the tournament will be rekindled.
There have been eight runs of the competition since we won it, Manchester City have won six of them. They may have one of the most in depth squads ever assembled in the English game but if one of the greatest coaches of his era in Pep Guardiola can take the tournament seriously then why can’t others.
Critics of our win in the competition will talk about us playing a League Two side in the final. The same League Two side that managed to beat Premier League clubs in Wigan, Arsenal and Aston Villa on the route to the final. That League Two side. And of course that is forgetting the fact that on our own way to the final we won at both Liverpool and Chelsea. Both of those are nights that will stick long in the memory.
Liverpool were the cup holders, Chelsea the reigning Champions of Europe. These were not games that we won by sitting deep and hoping to counter, they were games that we were the better side in and deserved what we achieved. A 3-1 win at Anfield, a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge. The moment De Guzman scored the third at Anfield and when Danny Graham notched the second at Stamford Bridge were moments of huge elation and I will always remember that ‘I was there’ to see them both. Days that I will never forget.
It could have been all so different had Garry Monk not scored late to secure a “come from behind” win at Crawley and maybe we had the run of the ball in the quarter final against Middlesbrough but talk down the League Cup and I will always remember back to those wins at Anfield and Stamford Bridge – first wins in 48 and 87 years respectively. You don’t forget those games in a hurry.
The final may have been a procession but we deserved to win that competition because of our results on the route to the final and Braford deserved their own day because of their own progress. Talk to a Bradford fan, despite that heavy defeat, and they will remember that run for as long as they possibly can as well. The League Cup can be a distraction at this stage of the season but it can be so very special at the same time as well.
Of course, should we exit the competition tonight then I don’t suspect too many of us (if any) will lose sleep over the result but when people talk about the competition needing to be scrapped just remember that it’s a major trophy – one of only three in the domestic game – carries a place in Europe for the winners and has only ever been won by 23 clubs. One of those being Swansea City.
And as for the League Cup on my kitchen worktop? That came from being asked to take the trophy into my daughter’s school as part of the club showing it around the schools in the area. Nothing more spectacular than that!
