The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup, is an English football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout (single elimination) basis. Unlike the FA Cup where 731 teams entered in 2007-08 only 92 clubs can enter—the 20 clubs of the FA Premier League, and the 72 clubs of The Football League, which organises the competition. Unlike the FA Cup, the semi-finals are played over two legs. The winners qualify for the UEFA Cup, if they have not qualified for European competition in some other way. (If the winner qualifies for the Champions League, the UEFA Cup spot is given to the team that finishes highest in the FA Premier League that has not already qualified for a European competition.)

Since 1982, the League Cup has been named after its sponsor, giving it the following names:

• Milk Cup (1981-82 to 1985-86), sponsored by the Milk Marketing Board
• Littlewoods Challenge Cup (1986-87 to 1989-90), sponsored by Littlewoods
• Rumbelows Cup (1990-91 and 1991-92), sponsored by Rumbelows
• Coca-Cola Cup (1992-93 to 1997-98), sponsored by Coca-Cola
• Worthington Cup (1998-99 to 2002-03), sponsored by Worthington Draught bitter
• Carling Cup (2003-04 to present), sponsored by Carling

The League Cup is less prestigious than the FA Cup, which also involves all other league teams (the Football League Trophy does not include the top two divisions) . The League Cup is seen by some larger clubs as a lower priority than other competitions. Some clubs have made a point of fielding a weaker side in the competition, making the opportunity for so-called 'giant-killing' of the larger clubs more likely. Many of the top English sides, Manchester United and Arsenal in particular, have used the competition to give young players valuable big-game experience.

The women's game has its own League Cup, which is open to the 36 women's clubs in the three divisions of the FA Women's Premier League.