The Carling Cup or Football League Cup (also previously known as the Worthington Cup, Milk Cup, Coca-Cola Cup and Rumbelows Cup) was first played in 1961. Manchester United have won it four times; the Reds overcame Nottingham Forest 1-0 in the 1992 final, beat Wigan Athletic 4-0 in 2006, vanquished Tottenham on penalties in 2009 and came from behind to defeat Aston Villa 2-1 in 2010.
United would probably rather forget the team's first match in the Football League Cup. On 2 November 1960 the Reds lost 2-1 in the Second round to Third Division Bradford City. The club had to wait until 1983 for a first appearance in a final when the opponents that day were Liverpool. A young Norman Whiteside, only seventeen years of age at the time, gave United the lead but Liverpool came back to win in extra time.
Undoubtedly the club’s golden period in the competition came in the early nineties when United reached three finals in four years. On the way to the 1991 final - which the Reds lost to Ron Atkinson’s Sheffield Wednesday - Sir Alex Ferguson's young side demolished the then League Champions Arsenal 6-2 at Highbury. In 1992, United reached Wembley again and won the competition for the first time, beating Nottingham Forest 1-0 thanks to a goal from Brian McClair.
The Reds' next final appearance, in 1994, ended in defeat (1-3) to Ron Atkinson's Aston Villa. Victory would have ultimately given the club the domestic ‘Treble’ as the side would go on to win the League and FA Cup later that year.
A mix of young and senior players was sufficient to see United past Barnet, West Brom and Birmingham in the early rounds of the triumphant 2005/06 campaign. Sir Alex Ferguson then beefed up his side with more first-team regulars for the two-legged semi-final against Blackburn and then the final against Wigan in Cardiff. Goals from Wayne Rooney (2), Louis Saha and Cristiano Ronaldo ensured United did not finish a difficult season empty-handed.
Three years later, plenty of the players who had their first taste of silverware against the Latics were now much-decorated, but there were still a number of youngsters involved as the Reds swept to Wembley at the expense of Middlesbrough, QPR, Blackburn and Derby. Tottenham awaited in the final and, after a tense 120 minutes failed to produce a telling goal, a penalty shootout was required to give United the trophy. Ryan Giggs, Carlos Tevez, Cristiano Ronaldo and Anderson all scored, while only Vedran Corluka could find a route past Reds keeper Ben Foster, handing United a 4-1 shootout win.
In 2009/10, United became the first club since Nottingham Forest 20 years earlier to retain the cup. The Reds started the campaign with a home win over Wolves (1-0) and then beat Barnsley away (2-0) and Tottenham (2-0) at Old Trafford to tee up an all-Manchester semi-final against local rivals City. The Blues won the first leg at Eastlands 2-1 but an electric atmosphere for the return match helped the Reds to win 3-1 on the night and go through 4-3 on aggregate. Aston Villa took the lead in the Wembley final after just five minutes, when James Milner converted a penalty conceded by Nemanja Vidic. But an equaliser from Michael Owen and a second-half header from Wayne Rooney ensured
