Should the League Cup be a British cup?

Number1

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I think most people see this trophy as the least priority of all the domestic cup competitions in English football, Jose Mourinho recently talked about how he would be in favor of it being scraped all together.

I've often thought why not make this competition a British Cup, invite clubs like Rangers/Celtic/Hearts to compete in it and make it something different to take it out of the shadow of the FA Cup.

How do you see the EFL cup? Would you be in open to the idea of it being revamped to a British cup competition? Would you like to see it scraped all together? Or just leave it as it is?
 
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BobbyManc

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League Cup is pretty irrelevant, not sure if I'd be in favour of it being scrapped though. Think about Birmingham or Swansea when they won it. I actually quite like the idea of a British cup, would be interesting to see the likes of Celtic involved.
 

Andersons Dietician

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I think most people see this trophy as the least priority of all the domestic cup competitions in English football, Jose Mourinho recently talked about how he would be in favor of it being scraped all together.

I've often thought why not make this competition like a British Cup, invite clubs like Rangers/Celtic/Hearts to compete in it and make it something different and take it out of the shadow of the FA Cup.

How do you see the EFL cup? Would you be in open to the idea of it being revamped to a British cup competition? Would you like to see it scraped all together? Or just like it leaving as it is?
Kinda a strange trio. I mean Rangers, Celtic fair enough but mention Hearts and not the mighty Dons. Especially with the United connections.
Anyway, it could be intresting but it would just add more fixtures to an already congested season. It would certainly benefit Scottish football as there would be more money to be made for the teams. Just not sure how the quality of leagues would stack up.
 

Chipper

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I think it would lose more meaning if it was made a British cup, not least because they'd have to scrap the Europa League spot for the winners. The teams involved would give even less of a shit.
 

Zexstream

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It would make the league cup more interesting.

At the moment its a poor mans FA cup, it needs scrapping or reinventing. A British Cup would freshen it up but what it really needs is a huge cash incentive to make winning the thing worth your while.
 

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I would make the League Cup a handicap based on age and appearances. So the top six teams would be restricted to under 21s for example, 3rd division no restrictions, and a sliding scale in between. Cleverer mathematicians than I would adjust the handicap, season by season, to give everyone a chance.

For those who know horse racing I would turn the League Cup into football's Grand National, to differentiate it from the Cheltenham Gold Cup of the FA and League competitions.
 

Number1

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They need to get rid of it. There’s just no point in having two domestic cup competitions. They also need to revamp the fa cup.
Disagree with FA Cup, the FA Cup is the most watched domestic cup final in the world and results tonight (City going out against League 1 Wigan) show just how fantastic the FA Cup is and for fans of non-Premier League clubs to punch above their weight.

I'd maybe consider giving the winner of the FA Cup a Champions League spot instead of 4th, again creates a dream for non-Premier League clubs/lower half Premier League teams that they can achieve Champions League football.
 

automaticflare

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I would make the League Cup a handicap based on age and appearances. So the top six teams would be restricted to under 21s for example, 3rd division no restrictions, and a sliding scale in between. Cleverer mathematicians than I would adjust the handicap, season by season, to give everyone a chance.

For those who know horse racing I would turn the League Cup into football's Grand National, to differentiate it from the Cheltenham Gold Cup of the FA and League competitions.
this is a quality idea IMO. Would require some maths, but essentially evening the field.

I can't stand managers like Nigel Clough resting players for Burton in the cup. Its a joke.
 

SalfordRed18

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Disagree with FA Cup, the FA Cup is the most watched domestic cup final in the world and results tonight (City going out against League 1 Wigan) show just how fantastic the FA Cup is and for fans of non-Premier League clubs to punch above their weight.

I'd maybe consider giving the winner of the FA Cup a Champions League spot instead of 4th, again creates a dream for non-Premier League clubs/lower half Premier League teams that they can achieve Champions League football.
Source?
 

Henry Gaervell

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Nice idea, but as others have highlighted, the likely loss of the Europa League spot would be a non-starter.
 

711

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this is a quality idea IMO. Would require some maths, but essentially evening the field.

I can't stand managers like Nigel Clough resting players for Burton in the cup. Its a joke.
It could have the jocks in as well. The first year or two it would be difficult to guess the handicaps, but they would be adjusted with time, which would actually add interest to the thing, I think.
 

FlawlessThaw

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I would make the League Cup a handicap based on age and appearances. So the top six teams would be restricted to under 21s for example, 3rd division no restrictions, and a sliding scale in between. Cleverer mathematicians than I would adjust the handicap, season by season, to give everyone a chance.

For those who know horse racing I would turn the League Cup into football's Grand National, to differentiate it from the Cheltenham Gold Cup of the FA and League competitions.
Isn’t that in effect the current format of the Checkatrade Trophy? That’s pissed a few people off and we haven’t even bothered entering it probably because our under 21s are so bad right now. Can see a lot of the PL clubs not bothering with it.
 

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While the idea intrigues me, I'm against anything that gives the Old Firm any encouragement in their efforts to enter English football, and you can bet your bottom dollar those calls would follow soon after.
 

el3mel

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Won't that increase the number of teams competing in it, increasing the number of matches you need to play to win ?

It's a nice cup but I will really scrap it. Will do wonders of good for all English teams competing in Europe IMO.
 

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I do like the idea of experimenting with the League Cup to give it some kind of interest. There's something appealing about the possibility of drawing a Celtic or Rangers in the LC, especially as the occasional encounter with Celtic in the CL is always somehow disappointingly domestic.

The sliding scale age handicap idea is an interesting one too. Really you can try almost anything, since in its current format the LC is a bit of a waste of game time for most involved.

You do need to preserve that Europa League carrot though, that's currently the only thread it's hanging by.
 

711

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Isn’t that in effect the current format of the Checkatrade Trophy? That’s pissed a few people off and we haven’t even bothered entering it probably because our under 21s are so bad right now. Can see a lot of the PL clubs not bothering with it.
Oh bollocks, I'd never heard of it. A quick google shows quite a few top clubs did enter their U21s though, Spurs, Chelsea, West Ham, Leicester, so there must be something to the idea. If it did actually replace the League Cup then presumably everyone would take it up in the other's absence, and while the big clubs seem to be restricted to U21s that isn't the same as the genuine handicap I propose. Sponsorship and TV rights would be everything I suppose, it could really do with a rich sponsor to start it off.
 

FlawlessThaw

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Oh bollocks, I'd never heard of it. A quick google shows quite a few top clubs did enter their U21s though, Spurs, Chelsea, West Ham, Leicester, so there must be something to the idea. If it did actually replace the League Cup then presumably everyone would take it up in the other's absence, and while the big clubs seem to be restricted to U21s that isn't the same as the genuine handicap I propose. Sponsorship and TV rights would be everything I suppose, it could really do with a rich sponsor to start it off.
Not sure how interested a rich sponsor would be and even attendances would be low in Under 21 matches even from top clubs. So it’s a big ask. TV already happens for the Checkatrade Trophy. And yeah a few top clubs are involved in the Checkatrade Trophy but all Category One academies were invited to be involved and most like ours said no.

I do like the premise of using a certain number of players being either home grown or academy based. Don’t think it will change much but if 4 players hadn’t to be from the academy might help blood some youngsters in without causing a likely significant drop in interest.
 

711

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Not sure how interested a rich sponsor would be and even attendances would be low in Under 21 matches even from top clubs. So it’s a big ask. TV already happens for the Checkatrade Trophy. And yeah a few top clubs are involved in the Checkatrade Trophy but all Category One academies were invited to be involved and most like ours said no.
But if there were no League Cup, yet the 711 Handicap instead, then the interest might be higher.
 

711

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Why would it be?
Because clubs would have the vacant League Cup fixtures to fill, and because in time the kudos of a young side winning would be enormous. And yet in the nature of a handicap, if Scunthorpe won they would love it too. It would take time, but the Grand National had to start somewhere, and it's done alright.
 

FlawlessThaw

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Because clubs would have the vacant League Cup fixtures to fill, and because in time the kudos of a young side winning would be enormous. And yet in the nature of a handicap, if Scunthorpe won they would love it too. It would take time, but the Grand National had to start somewhere, and it's done alright.
Yeah like with the Checkatrade Trophy so prestigious we didn’t even bother entering it. And you didn’t even know it existed!
 

711

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Yeah like with the Checkatrade Trophy so prestigious we didn’t even bother entering it. And you didn’t even know it existed!
I know, it's impossible to fly, if you travel as fast as a train your head will explode.

You're a very negative person Flawless. Just send me fifty quid and I'll call it the Flawless Cup.
 

FlawlessThaw

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I know, it's impossible to fly, if you travel as fast as a train your head will explode.

You're a very negative person Flawless. Just send me fifty quid and I'll call it the Flawless Cup.
Just being realistic based on existing evidence. I know facts aren’t always in vogue but heigh ho.
 

Carolina Red

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We did have the Anglo-scottish cup at one time of course, and I know some fans loved it as a good reason to have a trip up North for a change.

I'm from Preston and the Nob-Enders have always been fond of aways to Scotland.
We could meet in Carlisle and invade Glasgow from there. Would be great fun.
 

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League cup is pretty useless and I don't know about other people but I hate the format of the FA Cup where a draw means there's a second game.

Rochdale and Newport managed to draw against Spurs and instead of extra time and having a great chance to knock them out, they'll play away and most likely get knocked out.