2005–06 Football League Cup

Football tournament season
2005–06 Football League Cup
Carling Cup, League Cup
Tournament details
Country England
 Wales
Teams92
Defending championsChelsea
Final positions
ChampionsManchester United (2nd title)
Runner-upWigan Athletic
Tournament statistics
Top goal scorer(s)Louis Saha
(6 goals)

The 2005–06 Football League Cup (known as the Carling Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 46th staging of the Football League Cup, a knock-out competition for the top 92 football clubs played in English football league system. The competition name reflects a sponsorship deal with lager brand Carling.

The competition began on 22 August 2005, and ended with the final on 26 February 2006 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff while reconstruction work was still ongoing at Wembley Stadium.

The tournament was won by Manchester United, who beat surprise finalists Wigan Athletic 4–0 in the final, thanks to two goals from Wayne Rooney and one each from Cristiano Ronaldo and Louis Saha. Wigan had only been promoted to the Premier League at the beginning of the season.

First round

The 72 Football League clubs compete from the first round. Each section is divided equally into a pot of seeded clubs and a pot of unseeded clubs. Clubs' rankings depend upon their finishing position in the 2004–05 season. Therefore, the clubs relegated from the Premier League in 2005, Norwich City, Crystal Palace and Southampton, were the top seeds, and the clubs newly promoted to the Football League, Barnet and Carlisle United, were bottom seeds.

  • On 28 June 2005 seeded clubs and unseeded clubs were paired off to create the first-round draw.[1]
  • Matches occurred on 22, 23 and 24 August 2005.
  • Extra time played when the scores were level after 90 minutes.
  • A penalty shoot-out took place if the scores were level after extra time.
Tie no Home team Score1 Away team Date
1 Chesterfield 2–4 Huddersfield Town 24 August 2005
2 Colchester United 0–2 Cardiff City 24 August 2005
3 Derby County 0–1 Grimsby Town 24 August 2005
4 Rushden & Diamonds 0–3 Coventry City 24 August 2005
5 Torquay United 0–0 AFC Bournemouth 24 August 2005
0–0 after extra time — AFC Bournemouth win 4 – 3 on penalties
6 Blackpool 2–1 Hull City 23 August 2005
7 Bristol City 2–4 Barnet 23 August 2005
8 Burnley 2–1 Carlisle United 23 August 2005
9 Bury 0–3 Leicester City 23 August 2005
10 Crystal Palace 3–0 Walsall 23 August 2005
11 Cheltenham Town 5–0 Brentford 23 August 2005
12 Gillingham 1–0 Oxford United 23 August 2005
13 Hartlepool United 3–1 Darlington 23 August 2005
14 Ipswich Town 0–2 Yeovil Town 23 August 2005
15 Leeds United 2–0 Oldham Athletic 23 August 2005
16 Leyton Orient 1–3 Luton Town 23 August 2005
17 Lincoln City 5–1 Crewe Alexandra 23 August 2005
18 MK Dons 0–1 Norwich City 23 August 2005
19 Mansfield Town 1–1 Stoke City 23 August 2005
1–1 after extra time — Mansfield Town win 3 – 0 on penalties
20 Millwall 2–0 Bristol Rovers 23 August 2005
21 Northampton Town 3–0 Queens Park Rangers 23 August 2005
22 Nottingham Forest 2–3 Macclesfield Town 23 August 2005
23 Plymouth Argyle 2–1 Peterborough United 23 August 2005
24 Preston North End 1–1 Barnsley 23 August 2005
2–2 after extra time — Barnsley win 5 – 4 on penalties
25 Reading 3–1 Swansea City 23 August 2005
26 Rochdale 0–5 Bradford City 23 August 2005
27 Rotherham United 3–1 Port Vale 23 August 2005
28 Scunthorpe United 2–1 Tranmere Rovers 23 August 2005
29 Sheffield United 1–0 Boston United 23 August 2005
30 Shrewsbury Town 3–2 Brighton & Hove Albion 23 August 2005
31 Stockport County 2–4 Sheffield Wednesday 23 August 2005
32 Swindon Town 1–3 Wycombe Wanderers 23 August 2005
33 Watford 3–1 Notts County 23 August 2005
34 Wolverhampton Wanderers 5–1 Chester City 23 August 2005
35 Wrexham 0–1 Doncaster Rovers 23 August 2005
36 Southend United 0–3 Southampton 22 August 2005

Second round

The 36 winners from the first round joined the 12 Premier League clubs not participating in European competition in round two. The draw was made on 27 August.[2] The matches occurred on 20 and 21 September.

Tie no Home team Score1 Away team Date
1 Blackburn Rovers 3–1 Huddersfield Town 21 September 2005
2 Doncaster Rovers 1–1 Manchester City 21 September 2005
1–1 after extra time — Doncaster Rovers win 3 – 0 on penalties
3 Fulham 5–4 Lincoln City 21 September 2005
4 Barnet 2–1 Plymouth Argyle 20 September 2005
5 Burnley 3–0 Barnsley 20 September 2005
6 Crystal Palace 1–0 Coventry City 20 September 2005
7 Cardiff City 2–1 Macclesfield Town 20 September 2005
8 Charlton Athletic 3–1 Hartlepool United 20 September 2005
9 Gillingham 3–2 Portsmouth 20 September 2005
10 Grimsby Town 1–0 Tottenham Hotspur 20 September 2005
11 Leicester City 2–1 Blackpool 20 September 2005
12 Mansfield Town 1–0 Southampton 20 September 2005
13 Norwich City 2–0 Northampton Town 20 September 2005
14 Reading 1–0 Luton Town 20 September 2005
15 Rotherham United 0–2 Leeds United 20 September 2005
16 Scunthorpe United 0–2 Birmingham City 20 September 2005
17 Sheffield Wednesday 2–4 West Ham United 20 September 2005
18 Shrewsbury Town 0–0 Sheffield United 20 September 2005
0–0 after extra time — Sheffield United win 4 – 3 on penalties
19 Sunderland 1–0 Cheltenham Town 20 September 2005
20 Watford 2–1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 20 September 2005
21 West Bromwich Albion 4–1 Bradford City 20 September 2005
22 Wigan Athletic 1–0 AFC Bournemouth 20 September 2005
23 Wycombe Wanderers 3–8 Aston Villa 20 September 2005
24 Yeovil Town 1–2 Millwall 20 September 2005

Third round

The 24 winners from the second round joined the eight Premier League clubs participating in European competition in round three. The draw was made on 24 September.[3] Matches were played on 25 and 26 October.

Tie no Home team Score1 Away team Date
1 Birmingham City 2–1 Norwich City 26 October 2005
2 Bolton Wanderers 1–0 West Ham United 26 October 2005
3 Cardiff City 0–1 Leicester City 26 October 2005
4 Chelsea 1–1 Charlton Athletic 26 October 2005
1–1 after extra time — Charlton Athletic win 5 – 4 on penalties
5 Everton 0–1 Middlesbrough 26 October 2005
6 Grimsby Town 0–1 Newcastle United 26 October 2005
7 Manchester United 4–1 Barnet 26 October 2005
8 Aston Villa 1–0 Burnley 25 October 2005
9 Blackburn Rovers 3–0 Leeds United 25 October 2005
10 Crystal Palace 2–1 Liverpool 25 October 2005
11 Doncaster Rovers 2–0 Gillingham 25 October 2005
12 Fulham 2–3 West Bromwich Albion 25 October 2005
13 Mansfield Town 2–3 Millwall 25 October 2005
14 Reading 2–0 Sheffield United 25 October 2005
15 Sunderland 0–3 Arsenal 25 October 2005
16 Wigan Athletic 3–0 Watford 25 October 2005

Fourth round

The draw for the fourth round was made on 29 October 2005[4] and matches were played on 29 and 30 November. Doncaster caused the shock of the round, beating Aston Villa 3-0.

Bolton Wanderers2–1 (a.e.t.)Leicester City
Borgetti 104'
Vaz Tê 106'		 Williams 110'
Attendance: 13,067
Charlton Athletic2–3Blackburn Rovers
Ambrose 37'
Murphy 50'		 Kuqi 75'
Thompson 81'
Bentley 88'
The Valley, London
Attendance: 14,093
Referee: Peter Walton
Manchester United3–1West Brom
Ronaldo 12' (pen.)
Saha 16'
O'Shea 56'		 Ellington 77'
Attendance: 48,924
Middlesbrough2–1Crystal Palace
Viduka 52'
Németh 55'		 Queudrue 31' (o.g.)
Attendance: 10,791
Referee: Howard Webb
Wigan Athletic1–0Newcastle United
Connolly 88' (pen.)
Attendance: 11,574
Referee: Steve Bennett
Arsenal3–0Reading
Reyes 12'
Van Persie 42'
Lupoli 65'
Highbury, London
Attendance: 36,167
Referee: Lee Mason
Doncaster Rovers3–0Aston Villa
McIndoe 20' (pen.)
Heffernan 53'
Thornton 79'
Belle Vue, Doncaster
Attendance: 10,590
Referee: Mike Dean
Millwall2–2 (a.e.t.)Birmingham City
Dunne 57'
Elliott 116'		 Gray 10'
Heskey 102'
Penalties
3–4
The New Den, London
Attendance: 7,732
Referee: Graham Poll

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals was made on 3 December 2005[5] and matches were played on 20 and 21 December. The only non-Premier League club, Doncaster Rovers gave Arsenal a scare by drawing 2–2 after extra-time but Arsenal made it through 3–1 on penalties

Doncaster Rovers2–2 (a.e.t.)Arsenal
McIndoe 2'
Green 104'		 Owusu-Abeyie 63'
Gilberto 120'
Penalties
1–3
Belle Vue, Doncaster
Attendance: 10,006
Referee: Phil Dowd
Middlesbrough0–1Blackburn Rovers
Dickov 90'
Attendance: 14,710
Referee: Alan Wiley
Birmingham City1–3Manchester United
Jarošík 75' Saha 46', 63'
Park 50'
St Andrew's, Birmingham
Attendance: 20,454
Referee: Mark Halsey
Wigan Athletic2–0Bolton Wanderers
Roberts 40', 45'
Attendance: 13,401
Referee: Mike Dean

Semi-finals

The semi-final draw was made on 21 December, 2005 after the conclusion of the quarter-finals.[6] Unlike the other rounds, the semi-final ties were played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The ties were played in the weeks beginning 9 January and 23 January 2006.

First leg

Wigan Athletic1–0Arsenal
Scharner 78'
Attendance: 12,181
Referee: Howard Webb (S. Yorkshire)
Blackburn Rovers1–1Manchester United
Pedersen 35' Saha 30'
Attendance: 24,348
Referee: Rob Styles (Hampshire)

Second leg

Arsenal2–1 (a.e.t.)Wigan Athletic
Henry 65'
Van Persie 108'		 Roberts 119'
Attendance: 37,086

Score level at 2-2 on aggregate. Wigan win on away goals rule.

Manchester United2–1Blackburn Rovers
Van Nistelrooy 8'
Saha 51'		 S. Reid 32'
Attendance: 61,637
Referee: Graham Poll

Manchester United win 3–2 on aggregate

Final

The 2006 League Cup final was played on 26 February 2006 and was contested between Premier League teams Wigan Athletic and Manchester United at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. The favourites Manchester United won the game comfortably 4–0 in normal time.

Manchester United4–0Wigan Athletic
Rooney 33', 61'
Saha 55'
Ronaldo 59'		 (Report)
Attendance: 66,866
  • Match details on Soccerbase

References

  1. ^ "Swansea handed difficult cup test". BBC Sport. 28 June 2005. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
  2. ^ "Tottenham given Grimbsy cup test". BBC Sport. 27 August 2005. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
  3. ^ "Plum draws for Grimsby and Barnet". BBC Sport. 24 September 2005. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
  4. ^ "Doncaster face Villa in cup clash". BBC Sport. 29 October 2005. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
  5. ^ "Doncaster land plum Arsenal draw". BBC Sport. 3 December 2005. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
  6. ^ "Big guns kept apart in cup semis". BBC Sport. 21 December 2005. Retrieved 24 December 2017.

External links

  • Official Carling Cup website
  • Carling Cup at bbc.co.uk
  • League Cup news, match reports and pictures on Reuters.co.uk
  • v
  • t
  • e
SeasonsFinals
  • v
  • t
  • e
National teams
League
competitions
Level 1
Levels 2–4
Levels 5–6
Levels 7–8
Levels 9–10
Cup
competitions
FA cups
Football League cups
Other events
Club seasons
FA Premier League
Championship
League One
League Two
  • v
  • t
  • e
2005–06 in European men's football (UEFA)
Domestic leagues
Domestic cups
League cups
UEFA competitions