5 of the biggest League Cup upsets in history

There were a few potential League Cup upsets on the horizon last night. We’ve listed them in the table below – four Premier League teams took on League One opposition last evening. However none of the League 1 clubs could pull off the giant killings that previous teams managed.

Huddersfield Town (L1) 0	Vs	Manchester City (PL) 2
Newcastle United (PL) 4	Vs	Bradford City (L1) 1
Tottenham Hotspur (PL) 3	Vs	Doncaster Rovers (L1) 0
Port Vale (L1) 0	Vs	Arsenal (PL) 2

The League Cup has played host to some monumental ‘cupsets’ in the past. After last night’s games where Man City and Arsenal had the toughest times winning by narrow 2-0 scores, let’s look at some of the biggest League Cup upsets in history.

2005 – Doncaster Rovers 3-0 Aston Villa

Doncaster Rovers were a club on the rise in 2005. They had just knocked out Manchester City in the previous round and were looking for another Premier League scalp when they were drawn against Aston Villa.

The Villans were outplayed and outclassed by their League One opposition. Michael McIndoe scored Doncaster’s first goal of the outing with a penalty, followed up by efforts from Paul Heffernan and Sean Thornton.

2012 – Bradford City 1-1 Arsenal (Bradford win 3-2 on penalties)

Bradford City’s League Cup run in 2013 was the stuff of legend, as the League Two side overcame multiple Premier League teams to reach the final – however, none of their wins were quite as impressive as their victory over Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal.

Garry Thompson scored first for Bradford, but Thomas Vermaelen temporarily spared the Gunners’ blushes with a late equaliser. The Gunners’ solace would not last long – Bradford won the penalty shootout to give Arsenal one of their most embarrassing defeats in history.

2025 – Grimsby Town 2-2 Manchester United (Grimsby win 12-11 on penalties)

Another Premier League giant suffering humilation at the hands of a League Two outfit – and this one is very fresh in the memory. Manchester United suffered a new low this season when they were defeated by Grimsby Town in the League Cup on penalties.

The Mariners went 2-0 up after a pair of catastrophic errors from Andre Onana, but the Red Devils were able to claw the game back to a stalemate. Despite this, they could not win the ensuing penalty shootout – in sudden death, Bryan Mbeumo hit the bar to send Blundell Park into raptures.

2014 – MK Dons 4-0 Manchester United

When we said ‘new low’ in the previous entry, we weren’t being strictly truthful – Manchester United have experienced League Cup woes against EFL opposition before.

MK Dons put Louis van Gaal’s Red Devils to the sword in 2014. Benik Afobe and Will Grigg each scored a brace to complete the embarrassment – it would be the final nail in the coffin for several of United’s players in the XI that evening.

1967 – QPR 3-2 West Bromwich Albion

On the surface, this looks like a pretty ordinary game to be on this list – but after just a little bit of digging, you’ll see why we put this game here.

This match took place in the final of the competition and West Brom were the heavy favourites – they were a First Division team, while QPR were languishing in the Third Division. Nevertheless, the Rs pulled a rabbit out of the hat to snatch the trophy – Mark Lazarus scored the winner, giving QPR their first and only major honour.