THE LEAGUE CUP

The League Cup was established in 1960, with the first final being played in 1961. Back then, a number of clubs from the top flight refused to take part, and it wasn't until the 1969-70 season that all sides from Divison One entered the competition. The first six finals were two-legged affairs, and our first picture comes from the 1965 final between Chelsea and Leicester. Bobby Tambling beats Leicester's Richie Norman to the ball to score past goalkeeper Gordon Banks. It was the opening goal for the Blues in a 3-2 first leg win at Stamford Bridge. The second leg at Filbert Street finished 0-0, giving the Londoners the trophy

West Ham United's Brian Dear challenges West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Ray Potter during the first leg of the 1966 League Cup final. The Hammers claimed the advantage with a 2-1 win at Upton Park, but the Baggies stormed back to win the second leg 4-2 with goals from Tony Brown, Clive Clark, John Kaye and Graham Williams

A move to a one-off final at Wembley for the League Cup raised the competition's profile considerably. The first of these finals, in 1967 between QPR and West Brom, was a highly dramatic one in which the London club came from 2-0 behind to win 3-2 and become the first club from outside the top two divisions to win a trophy in English football. The above colour picture shows a general view of Wembley during the match. Below, West Brom goalkeeper Dick Sheppard lies distraught on the Wembley turf as QPR players celebrate their third goal, which was scored by the appropriately named Mark Lazarus
Swindon Town players celebrate with the trophy after arguably the most famous League Cup final win of them all, the Division Three outfit beating London giants Arsenal 3-1 in 1969. Two extra-time goals from Don Rogers gave Swindon their finest ever result and only major trophy. In this picture, left to right, are Joe Butler, John Trollope, Peter Noble, Rogers, the captain Stan Harland and Chris Jones
The two captains here just before the 1970 League Cup final, with Manchester City skipper Tony Book (right) showing West Bromwich Albion's Doug Fraser the result of the coin toss. City beat the Baggies 2-1 at Wembley, with goals from Mike Doyle and Glyn Pardoe. That ball was a classic of its time
A header from Stoke's Terry Conroy flies into the net, beyond a dismayed Chelsea's goalkeeper Peter Bonetti, after only four minutes of the 1972 League Cup final at Wembley. The Potters won 2-1 against the London team to claim the only major trophy of their long history. Stoke's winning goal was scored by George Eastham
The 1977 League Cup final needed three meetings between Aston Villa and Everton to find a winner, with a 0-0 draw at Wembley followed by a 1-1 draw at Hillsborough. Eventually Villa claimed victory in the third match at Old Trafford - here, Brian Little slams the ball into the net beyond Everton goalkeeper David Lawson for a late winner in the second replay. Villa were 3-2 victors and tasted success in the competition for the second time in three seasons  
Garry Birtles slides the ball past Southampton goalkeeper Terry Gennoe to score his, and Nottingham Forest's, second goal in the 1979 final. Forest eventually won 3-2, with manager Brian Clough claiming another major trophy to add to his league title and League Cup success of the previous years. Below, Andy Gray makes the most of a mix-up between Forest's David Needham and Peter Shilton to score the only goal for Wolves in the 1980 final, denying Clough's men a hat-trick of successes