Arsenal and the League Cup- a complex history

Maybe I shouldn’t be typing these words ahead of Sunday but Arsenal and the League Cup is generally not a happy marriage. The Gunners have only won the trophy twice in their history, most recently 33 years ago. Since Arsenal last hoisted the trophy with three handles, they have won the FA Cup nine times.

Most of the reasons for this are obvious, once Arsene Wenger took over as manager in 1996-97, he began to heavily rotate his line-up in the early rounds. (Believe it or not, in his first season in England, Arsenal drew 1-1 away at Stoke in the competition and had to go to a replay at Highbury, which they won 5-2).

Over the last 20 years or so, teams who have put together enormous squads via VERY legitimate means have largely been able to adopt a second string policy more effectively than Arsenal due to their greater depth. However, Arsenal did lose three finals under Wenger, all in very different circumstances.

In 2007, Arsene Wenger kept faith with the collection of youngsters and squad players that had got Arsenal to the final against Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea. The line-up for the final was; Almunia (amazingly, Lehmann was suspended for reaching five yellow cards!); Hoyte, Toure, Senderos, Traore; Walcott, Fabregas, Denilson, Diaby; Baptista, Aliadiere.

Arsenal lost but in the thick of Project Youth, it was understandable (if debatable) that the manager felt there was an extra need to place trust in his young players. In 2011, the narrative and the squad had both shifted. The Gunners faced Birmingham in the Final at a time when they were also still in the FA Cup, the Champions League and the title race (….)

They were also significant favourites against a Blues side who were eventually relegated from the top flight and the subsequent stoppage time defeat was painful and, in reality, sowed the seeds for decline of the latter Wenger era. By the time the 2018 Final came along, in Wenger’s final season, Arsenal were limply thrashed by a second gear Manchester City where thousands of red and white clad fans left the stadium well before the final whistle.

In truth, no Arsenal manager has completely covered themselves in glory in this competition. Even George Graham, the only Gunners manager to win it to this point, suffered the indignity of a surprise defeat to Luton Town in the 1988 Final.

Arsenal were the holders and had a 2-1 lead when they won a penalty on 80 minutes. Nigel Winterburn missed the only penalty he ever took for the club (why was he taking it?!) and Luton scored twice in the last eight minutes to seal a stinging and humiliating defeat.

I used to go to away games with a guy called Pete who gave up smoking in 1983. He has had one cigarette in 43 years and it was after that final. The League Cup had an additional importance at that time because English clubs were banned from Europe, limiting the horizons and ambitions of a season.

A year earlier, in 1987, Arsenal won their first League Cup in memorable fashion against an all-conquering Liverpool side having dispatched Spurs in the semi-finals. Ian Rush opened the scoring and in his seven years at the club to that point, when that happened Liverpool had never lost. But a brace from Charlie Nicholas sealed the trophy for Arsenal on a sunny day at Wembley.

Again, this was an era when English clubs were banned from Europe, Arsenal had not won a trophy in eight years and been in the relative doldrums. An exciting young side was emerging under George Graham and that Littlewoods Cup win was seen as the precursor to winning the league title for the first time in 18 years in 1989 (even if the Luton defeat came before Anfield 89).

Surprise final defeats to Luton and Birmingham are more in keeping with Arsenal’s history in the competition than their 1987 triumph. In 1968, the Gunners lost the first League Cup Final they competed in to Leeds United. The result was no real surprise, it was the first trophy Don Revie won as Leeds manager, they had been Fairs Cup finalists the previous season.

They twice finished second in the First Division and had lost to Liverpool in the 1965 FA Cup Final. There was a sense that Leeds were building to something. Arsenal were far earlier in their journey under Bertie Mee and lost 1-0. The club had been trophy-less for 15 years. It was far from a disgrace. 12 months later, a very different story unfolded.

The Gunners played Third Division Swindon Town in the final and were huge favourites. But a virus tore through the squad in the days before the final (a misfortune that would befall Arsenal again in 1980 when they lost the FA Cup Final to second division West Ham United).

A Wembley pitch already besieged by heavy rain was made more unctuous when the Horse of the Year show was hosted at the stadium a week before the game. The conditions for a significant upset were created and the football Gods did not ignore the assist. Swindon ran out 3-1 winners after extra time and Arsenal were humiliated and left to contemplate the extension of a 16 year trophy drought.

League Cup wins are often linked to the beginning of dynasties but, in the case of the 1969 League Cup Final shock, defeat proved to be a springboard. Bob Wilson would later say, ‘We could have gone home, gone to bed, pulled the covers over ourselves, and stayed there. Instead, we came out fighting.’ Arsenal won the Fairs Cup the next season, breaking their long trophy duck and then won the domestic double in the proceeding season after that.

The Gunners used that defeat as fuel. The defeat in 2011 marked the beginning of a decline of sorts which was punctuated by the limp defeat in 2018. 1988 proved to be an aberration and the reaction was more in keeping with the Swindon debacle as Arsenal won the league in 1989.

The last time Arsenal won this competition in 1993, it proved to be a short term springboard to other cup successes. I was at that final in April 1993. A fortnight earlier, Arsenal had beaten Tottenham at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final, exacting revenge for defeat to Spurs at the same stage and on the same ground as two years earlier.

That win over Spurs was undoubtedly a factor when the Gunners beat Sheffield Wednesday- who they were also set to play in the FA Cup Final- to win the League Cup on 18 April 1993. They won the FA Cup after a replay and then went on to win the Cup Winners Cup a year later, cementing their status under Graham as that rarest of things- a ‘cup team.’

I recall going to the 1993 Final with my mum and the guys behind us assuming I had dragged her there (in reality, my mum had been going to football since the early 1950s and didn’t really need looking after!) When Paul Merson equalised with a stunning volley, the they hoisted me onto their shoulders and, for some reason, I cried. I presume I was just a little overwhelmed.

Tony Adams was certainly overwhelmed when he hoisted the match winner Steve Morrow onto his shoulders and promptly dropped him during the celebrations, Morrow broke his collarbone and missed the remainder of the season. Paul Merson mimed necking pints of lager in his post-match celebration, a celebration Arsenal fans enjoyed until around 18 months later when the extent of Merson’s relationship with alcohol was revealed.

The League Cup has also provided the platform for some unwanted cup upsets. A home defeat to Walsall in November 1983 led to protests against manager Terry Neill and he lost his job a few weeks later. Many of you reading will remember the defeat to Bradford on penalties in December 2012.

Hopefully this coming Sunday will be a bit more 1987 or 1993 than 1968, 1969, 1988, 2007, 2011 or 2018…

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