| Football League Cup | |
| Year: | 2006–07 |
| Other Titles: | Carling Cup, League Cup |
| Country: | |
| Num Teams: | 92 |
| Defending Champions: | Manchester United |
| Champions: | Chelsea |
| Count: | 4 |
| Runner-Up: | Arsenal |
| Top Goal Scorer: | Jermaine Easter Júlio Baptista (6 goals) |
| Prevseason: | 2005–06 |
| Nextseason: | 2007–08 |
The 2006–07 Football League Cup (known as the Carling Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 47th 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 in August 2006 and ended with the final on 25 February 2007. The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff hosted the final, as the reconstruction of Wembley Stadium could not be completed in time to host the final.
The winners were Chelsea, beating Arsenal in the final 2-1 after two goals by Didier Drogba.
The competition consists of five single elimination rounds (taking place only on week-nights) before a two-legged semi-final and then a final match at a neutral venue. The venue for each fixture in round one to the finals will not be neutral. It will be the home ground of one of the two clubs in each fixture, and will be decided as part of the draw for each round.
There are no replays in the competition. If necessary, extra-time and penalties will decide each tie's winners on the night.
The 72 Football League clubs compete from the first round, which is divided into North and South sections. 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 2005-06 season. Therefore, the clubs relegated from the Premier League in 2006; Sunderland (North), Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion (South) are the top seeds, and the clubs newly promoted to the Football League — Accrington Stanley and Hereford United — are bottom seeds in north and south sections respectively.
| North | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tie no | Home team | Score1 | Away team | Attendance | |
| 1 | 20 Chesterfield | 0–0 | Wolverhampton Wanderers 4 | 4,136 | |
| 0–0 after extra time — Chesterfield win 4–3 on penalties | |||||
| 2 | 5 Stoke City | 1–2 | Darlington 28 | 3,573 | |
| 3 | 19 Port Vale | 2–1 | Preston North End 2 | 3,522 | |
| 4 | 7 Burnley | 0–1 | Hartlepool United 25 | 3,853 | |
| 5 | 9 Sheffield Wednesday | 1–4 | Wrexham 29 | 8,047 | |
| 6 | 34 Bury | 2–0 | Sunderland 1 | 2,930 | |
| 7 | 8 Hull City | 1–1 | Tranmere Rovers 21 | 6,075 | |
| Hull City win 2–1 after extra time | |||||
| 8 | 22 Blackpool | 1–1 | Barnsley 11 | 3,938 | |
| 2–2 after extra time — Barnsley win 4–2 on penalties | |||||
| 9 | 13 Huddersfield Town | 0–2 | Mansfield Town 32 | 5,111 | |
| 10 | 24 Carlisle United | 1–1 | Bradford City 17 | 4,757 | |
| 1–1 after extra time — Carlisle United win 4–3 on penalties | |||||
| 11 | 23 Rotherham United | 3–1 | Oldham Athletic 16 | 3,065 | |
| 12 | 18 Scunthorpe United | 2–2 | Lincoln City 27 | 3,455 | |
| Scunthorpe United win 4–3 after extra time | |||||
| 13 | 36 Accrington Stanley | 1–0 | Nottingham Forest 14 | 2,146 | |
| 14 | 26 Grimsby Town | 0–3 | Crewe Alexandra 12 | 1,635 | |
| 15 | 3 Leeds United | 1–0 | Chester City 31 | 10,013 | |
| 16 | 15 Doncaster Rovers | 3–2 | Rochdale 30 | 3,690 | |
| 17 | 35 Stockport County | 0–1 | Derby County 10 | 3,394 | |
| 18 | 6 Leicester City | 2–0 | Macclesfield Town 33 | 6,298 | |
| South | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tie no | Home team | Score1 | Away team | Attendance | |
| 1 | 7 Cardiff City | 0–2 | Barnet 33 | 3,305 | |
| 2 | 25 Milton Keynes Dons | 0–0 | Colchester United 13 | 2,747 | |
| Milton Keynes Dons win 1–0 after extra time | |||||
| 3 | 26 Swindon Town | 2–2 | Brentford 16 | 5,582 | |
| 2–2 after extra time — Brentford win 4–3 on penalties | |||||
| 4 | 3 Crystal Palace | 1–2 | Notts County 35 | 4,481 | |
| 5 | 36 Hereford United | 3–1 | Coventry City 4 | 3,404 | |
| 6 | 17 Swansea City | 2–2 | Wycombe Wanderers 28 | 5,892 | |
| Wycombe Wanderers win 3–2 after extra time | |||||
| 7 | 29 Peterborough United | 1–1 | Ipswich Town 10 | 4,729 | |
| 2–2 after extra time — Peterborough United win 4–2 on penalties | |||||
| 8 | 21 AFC Bournemouth | 1–3 | Southend United 12 | 3,764 | |
| 9 | 15 Brighton & Hove Albion | 1–0 | Boston United 31 | 2,533 | |
| 10 | 24 Cheltenham Town | 2–1 | Bristol City 18 | 3,713 | |
| 11 | 14 Millwall | 2–1 | Gillingham 19 | 5,040 | |
| 12 | 8 Southampton | 5–2 | Yeovil Town 20 | 20,653 | |
| 13 | 1 Birmingham City | 1–0 | Shrewsbury Town 30 | 12,428 | |
| 14 | 9 Plymouth Argyle | 0–1 | Walsall 27 | 6,407 | |
| 15 | 32 Bristol Rovers | 1–1 | Luton Town 6 | 2,882 | |
| 1–1 after extra time — Luton Town win 5–3 on penalties | |||||
| 16 | 11 Queens Park Rangers | 3–2 | Northampton Town 22 | 4,569 | |
| 17 | 34 Torquay United | 0–2 | Norwich City 5 | 3,100 | |
| 18 | 23 Leyton Orient | 0–3 | West Bromwich Albion 2 | 3,058 | |
In Round 2, the 36 winners from Round 1 were joined by the 12 Premier League clubs not participating in European competitions.The draw took place on 26 August 2006 and matches were played during the week commencing 18 September.
Round 3 was drawn on 23 September from the 24 remaining clubs and the eight Premier League clubs in European competitions. The ties were played the week of 23 October:
| Tie no | Home team | Score1 | Away team | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wycombe Wanderers | 1–1 | Doncaster Rovers | 3,308 | |
| 2–2 after extra time — Wycombe win 3–2 on penalties | |||||
| 2 | Sheffield United | 2–4 | Birmingham City | 10,584 | |
| 3 | Leicester City | 2–2 | Aston Villa | 27,288 | |
| Aston Villa win 3–2 after extra time | |||||
| 4 | Watford | 2–1 | Hull City | 8,274 | |
| 5 | Leeds United | 1–3 | Southend United | 10,449 | |
| 6 | Chesterfield | 2–1 | West Ham United | 7,787 | |
| 7 | Notts County | 2–0 | Southampton | 6,731 | |
| 8 | Newcastle United | 3–0 | Portsmouth | 25,028 | |
| 9 | Charlton Athletic | 1–0 | Bolton Wanderers | 10,788 | |
| 10 | Liverpool | 4–3 | Reading | 42,445 | |
| 11 | West Bromwich Albion | 0–2 | Arsenal | 21,566 | |
| 12 | Port Vale | 0–0 | Norwich City | 4,518 | |
| 0–0 after extra time — Port Vale win 3–2 on penalties | |||||
| 13 | Everton | 4–0 | Luton Town | 27,149 | |
| 14 | Milton Keynes Dons | 0–5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 8,306 | |
| 15 | Crewe Alexandra | 1–1 | Manchester United | 10,046 | |
| Manchester United win 2–1 after extra time | |||||
| 16 | Blackburn Rovers | 0–2 | Chelsea | 14,732 | |
The Fourth round draw was made on 25 October 2006.
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The quarter-final draw was made on 11 November 2006 at 12:00 GMT.
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The semi-final draw was made on 23 December 2006 at 12:00 GMT. Unlike the other rounds, the semi-final ties were played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home.
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Chelsea won 5 - 1 on aggregate.----Arsenal won 5 - 3 on aggregate.