The Carabao Cup, formerly known as the League Cup, is one of England’s premier domestic competitions, featuring teams from the Premier League down to League Two. It was first held during the 1960-61 season, with Aston Villa emerging as the inaugural champions after defeating Rotherham United 3-2 on aggregate. In its early years, the competition was unique in that cup-winning players received tankards instead of medals.
Key Takeaways:
- The Carabao Cup has featured several legendary goal-scorers throughout its history.
- Arsenal legend Ian Wright stands out as one of the competition’s top scorers, with an impressive tally of 17 goals in just 18 appearances.
- Liverpool dominates the top goal-scoring charts, with four of the top five all-time scorers in Carabao Cup history coming from the Premier League giants.
Top 10 Goal Scorers in Carabao Cup History
In its modern format, the League Cup offers teams an added incentive beyond the silverware—automatic qualification for the UEFA Europa Conference League. This makes the tournament particularly appealing to teams outside the traditional ‘big six’ in the Premier League.
Over the decades, the League Cup has seen some of football’s finest goal-scorers leave their mark. Here’s a list of the top ten all-time scorers in League Cup history, a competition that has always had an eye for prolific goal-getters.
| Top 10 Scorers in Carabao Cup History | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Player | Appearances | Goals | Trophies |
| 1 | Ian Rush | 75 | 46 | 5 |
| 2 | Robbie Fowler | 44 | 33 | 2 |
| 3 | Jermain Defoe | 37 | 22 | 1 |
| 4 | Sir Kenny Dalglish | 50 | 21 | 4 |
| 5 | Michael Owen | 24 | 19 | 3 |
| 6 | Alan Shearer | 31 | 19 | 0 |
| 7 | Frank Lampard | 42 | 18 | 2 |
| 8 | Jay Rodriguez | 32 | 18 | 0 |
| 9 | Nathan Ellington | 20 | 18 | 0 |
| 10 | Ian Wright | 18 | 17 | 1 |
