Manchester United fans have often referred to the League Cup as the Worthless Cup (playing on the words Worthington when they were the sponsors) with it falling as the last priority in comparison to the league, European Cup and FA Cup.
However, after not winning anything in 2005, United were more than happy to win the League Cup in 2006, with it being the first trophy the likes of Wayne Rooney, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra and Edwin Van der Sar, amongst others, won with the club.
We play our youngsters and fringe players for most rounds but obviously we’d rather win it than not win.
Whilst United have been accused of disrespecting this competition, we’ve gone on to win it more than any other team in recent years, lifting the trophy in 1992, 2006, 2009 and 2010. Regardless, Ben Foster has claimed that after helping United win the trophy in 2009, the players didn’t spend any time celebrating the win.
“There was no celebration,” he said. “There was nothing. We were straight on the train home, then in for training the next day. There was a Champions League fixture coming up, the Carling Cup was over already. Everyone automatically moved on to the next game right away. I was thinking: ‘Jeez, we’ve won a cup, we should be celebrating,’ but I was probably alone in thinking that. United have big games all the time. They win one, then move on to the next. It’s a different world, and though it can seem a bit mad, maybe it has to be that way. I don’t know if Birmingham can win the Carling Cup, but if we do we’ll definitely be celebrating. This is not just another game for us, it’s a very big game. A special occasion. You can sense that from the fans. I just hope they all enjoy it.”
