Football League Cup 2014-15

The 2014–15 Football League Cup, known as the Capital One Cup for sponsorship reasons, will be the 54th season of the competition. It is a knock-out competition for the top 92 football clubs in England and Wales.

The current holders are Manchester City after they beat Sunderland 3-1 on 2 March 2014 at Wembley.

The First round will kick off on 12 August 2014 and will consist of a North/South split with only regional teams drawn against each other.

The First round will include newly-promoted Luton Town and Cambridge United from League Two. Premier League teams relegated to the Championship usually receive a bye to the second round. The remaining Championship, League One and League Two clubs will contest the 1st round, with non-European Premier League sides entering in the 2nd and those involved in European competition entering in the 3rd round.

First round
The draw for the first round took place on 17 June 2014 at 10:00 BST. Ties will be played during the week commencing 11 August 2014.

Based on Football League Cup allocation rules, the 24 teams of League Two, the 24 teams of League One, and 22 teams from the Championship (70 teams altogether) will start the tournament in this round. The two Championship teams exempted from this round are Norwich City and Fulham, two relegated teams from the Premier League. Cardiff City was also relegated; however, are not given a bye since they finished last in the 2013-14 Premier League season. The draw was as follows:

Numbers within brackets represent a team's league level in the 2014–15 season, level 1 being the Premier League, level 2 the Championship, and so on.

Second round
Based on Football League Cup allocation rules, two teams from the Championship (Fulham and Norwich City) and 13 teams from the Premier League (those not participating in European club competitions (UEFA Champions League or Europa League)) will enter the tournament in this round. They will be joined by the 35 winners from Round One.

The draw for the second round is due to take place on 13 August 2014. Ties are due to be played during the week commencing 25 August 2014.

Third round
Based on Football League Cup allocation rules, the seven Premier League teams participating in European club competition (UEFA Champions League or Europa League) - holders Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Hull City, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur - will enter the tournament in this round. They will be joined by the 25 winners from Round Two.

The draw for the third round is due to take place on 27 August 2014. Ties are due to be played during the week commencing 22 September 2014.

Fourth round
The draw for the fourth round is due to take place on 24 September 2014. Ties are due to be played during the week commencing 27 October 2014.

Fifth round
The draw for the fifth round is due to take place on 29 October 2014. Ties are due to be played during the week commencing 15 December 2014.

Semi-finals
The draw for the semi-finals is due to take place on 17 December 2014.

First leg
First-leg matches are due to be played during the week commencing 19 January 2015.

Second leg
Second-leg matches are due to be played during the week commencing 26 January 2015.

Final
The Capital One Cup Final will be held on the 1 March 2015.

Broadcasting rights
The domestic televisual broadcasting rights for the competition will be held by the subscription channel Sky Sports, who have held rights to the competition since 1996–97. During this season Sky will have exclusive live broadcasting rights.

These matches will be broadcast live by Sky Sports on television: