Arsenal is a big club, certainly in terms of English football as well as on the Global stage. The League Cup has been in existence since season 1961/62 and despite an inauspicious start is now undoubtedly on of the three major trophies available to win during the English domestic season. So for a club of our standing to have won it on a paltry two occasions is nothing short of embarrassing.
The wins in 1987 and 1993 effectively bookended George Graham’s Arsenal career with a dreadful 3-2 defeat to Luton also suffered in 1988 . Before then, there were final defeats to Leeds United and Swindon Town whilst since the Merson/Morrow final our Spring trips down Wembley Way have resulted to defeats to Chelsea, Birmingham City and most recently Manchester City. I don’t have the time nor the energy to list those clubs that have better League Cup record than us, but if I did it wouldn’t make for pretty reading. But as an indicator both Liverpool and Manchester City have each won it on four consecutive occasions in the early 1980s and late 2010s respectively.
There has been a lot of talk since this season’s semi-finals that the match on Sunday is a must win for both teams and will go a long way to determining the destiny of the League title come May. This may or may not be true, however my view is that we must win it for its own sake and if that becomes a springboard to bigger and better things then great, but Sunday should not be seen as a means to an end.
Our record in the multi-named tournament is only matched by our equally appalling record in European competitions. Our Fairs Cup victory in 1970 and the Cup Winners Cup triumph in 1994 are a truly pitiful return on our countless Continental appearances over the years, Final defeats to Valencia, Real Zaragoza, Galatasaray. Barcelona and Chelsea (again) also demonstrate that we’ve only been close on a very few occasions.
Hopefully we can start shifting the record back in our favour in both over the coming weeks, only time will tell!