Has the league cup had its day

[red from the blue side]

22 hours ago, sglosbcfc said:

We could do what Scotland have done, have the league cup as a pre season tournament in the early round instead of friendlies. The group winners are then joined by Scotland's European entry teams for the second round. The tournament is over in October/November and the first trophy won. The first round groups are regionalised and their is a team from every division so for example Group 1 - Cardiff, Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, Plymouth and Exeter. 

One downside, our July police bill may be a tad higher than if we were playing Bitton!

I love this idea but unfortunately it would mean too many big clubs going out early to attract a proper sponsor. (Thinking North West and London).

[Lanterne Rouge]

Do I remember the LC first round being played pre-season a few years back - it only happened the once but I think we might have played Oxford.

[sglosbcfc]

4 hours ago, red from the blue side said:

I love this idea but unfortunately it would mean too many big clubs going out early to attract a proper sponsor. (Thinking North West and London).

No it wouldn't as there would only be one big club in each group. The 'European sides' don't come in until after the group stages so Man Utd, Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Burnley etc would be automatically through. In addition there would be only one Prem club in each group, in my example I put Cardiff in with City. The regions would be North, Midlands and South so City could be drawn with Southampton, Cardiff, Fulham, West Ham etc.

[Davefevs]

16 hours ago, OddBallJim said:

Several options:

• Make it a Premiership and Championship competition only.
• Make it a 'Football League' competition only - no prem involvement, and get rid of the LDV/JPT.
• Change the format.
• Scrap altogether. 

I'd probably go for option 2.

I think bullet 2 has some legs.  

The Football League Cup - for all clubs in EFL.  Run it pretty much alongside the current EFL cup calendar.  As the lower league sides start to drop out (if it goes to form), then the early rounds of the FA Cup start to kick in.  For Championship clubs entering the FAC in round 3, most of them will be out of the FLC by then.

rd1 - teams 9-22 from last season’s Lg2 plus two promoted from Conference (16 teams / 8 Winners) - would enable Champ and Lg1 teams to get one league fixture out of the way in the first week or two of season, easing fixture congestion later.

rd2 - 8 winners of rd1 plus all the rest (64 teams / 32 winners)

rd3 - 32 teams / 16 progress

rd4 - 16 teams / 8 progress

QF - 8 teams / 4 progress - by this point most (if not all) Lg1/2 clubs are out and about to embark on FAC Rd1

etc

FACup remains unchanged.

No European place for FLC.  The only drawback I can see is what is the incentive to win / progress in the FLC, other than Wembley/

[Gifford]

The league cup is an important stepping on point for new fans. Usually cheaper tickets and a good chance of drawing a Premier League team after getting past the first round. 

 

[Miah Dennehy]

Football is supposed to be fun, especially for fans of lower league teams (and I'm including City in that).  You watch a lot of mediocre football (me more than most) but what makes it worth it, is that every now and then a moment comes along that you will take with you to the grave, and an awful lot of those moments come along in cup competitions including the League Cup.

I will never forget being 3-1 down against City in the first leg, but going through at Ashton on away goals, or a last minute equaliser at Everton, which led to a very late night in an Everton pub and beating them on penalties in the second leg. I can only dream of how you lot must have felt to score a last minute winner against Manchester United (I didn't go to the game when we beat them in the same competition at their place :)) It's a competition like this that gives us the opportunities for some great nights out, and the more the big boys don't want to keep it, the more I want it kept.