With the league in full swing and now passed the halfway point let’s check in on a few of the other competitions in the English Soccer world. In addition to the League title, teams are fighting to win some hardware in two other competitions. One very prestigious, the FA Cup, and one focused on the top divisions, the EFL Caraboa Cup, and not quite as significant.
Let’s take a look.
The EFL Caraboa Cup
Much like youth soccer, there are league games leading to a Championship and also tournament options to consider. In the English Football system, one of the annual tournaments is the League Cup. It is a competition among the top 4 divisions in the system, the Premier League, The Championship Level and League 1 and League 2 that started in 1960. . A total of 92 teams can enter each year with the winner gaining entry into the Europa League tournament and also $100,000 pounds.
The competition, starting in early August, is down to 4 teams competing in a 2 game (home and away) format. The first round games are complete.
Manchester City 2 v. Bristol City 1
Chelsea 0 v. Arsenal 0
The next round is scheduled for January 23 and 24th. Finals are scheduled in February or March pending the teams schedules. Bristol City is the underdog, coming out of the Championship level, while the other 3 teams are all in the top 6 of the Premier League. Bristol will have its hands full to advance, needing to win the next leg by 2 goals to advance on aggregate. Arsenal v Chelsea is a bit simpler, win and advance. For those nerds like me, Caraboa is an energy drink. They are the current tournament sponsor and also have a sponsorship deal with Chelsea FC. Generally, people in England just refer to this as the League Cup.
The FA Cup
This is the grand daddy of English soccer tournaments. It was started in 1870 and has run continuous since then. The winners purse is $2,000,000 pounds. Yes, that’s 20 times larger than the League Cup. Some serious cash for the winning team. Entry is available to the top 10 divisions of English football. It is 100’s of teams who can gain entry into the tournament. In theory, the local pub team in England can enter and win. Not likely….but just knowing you could win makes this a really cool event with great history! In 2011, over 700 teams entered the competition. Crazy! Due to the size and scope of the tournament, it starts in August each year and the finals are in May.
Here is what they are playing for…plus that cash we mentioned earlier.
Currently 32 teams remaining as we enter the 4th Round of the Cup. 13 from the Premier League and still 2 from League 2, the 4th level of football. Some serious underdogs. The next round of games in the last week of January, down to 16. If any of these lower level teams survive in the Quarter Finals, then we will have a real story on our hands. There have been 7 winners from the second level in Cup history…let’s hope we get another giant killer this year.
How about some great goals. Check out the video on Top 10 Goals in FA Cup history. I was more curious about those uniforms. Some serious baggy jerseys and some really short shorts. A little scary. What were they thinking? Thank goodness they got this fixed over the years. But you can’t deny these skills. Steven Gerrard with two wonder strikes. Wow! Top goal is Chelsea…of course!
Match Day 24 for the Premier League licks off tomorrow. Manchester City will try to get another streak going and a real battle to get into the top 4, positions 2-3-4 is brewing between 5 clubs. Should be interesting. Check it out!