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In association football, a League Cup or Secondary Cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament to be called "League Cup" was held in Scotland in 1946–47 and was entitled the Scottish League Cup. However, in the Republic of Ireland the now defunct League of Ireland Shield was the first national league-only tournament of its kind; this was subsequently replaced by the League of Ireland Cup in 1973.

The creation of a League Cup marked the difference from the Association Cup or Primary Cup, which is generally also open to teams from multiple leagues, often as far down as regional amateur leagues, and who are also members of the country's football association.

The creation of a tournament of this kind exclusively for the top national-level league teams, in addition to the two main domestic association football tournaments of the league and association cup, also created a new national footballing achievement called the domestic "treble"; see Treble (association football). The first national league treble of this kind was won by Shamrock Rovers of the Republic of Ireland in 1925.

League cups were generally introduced after the Second World War - for example, the Football League Cup in England in 1960 - although in other countries they were created following a rise in the number of floodlit stadiums, allowing regular midweek matches.

In certain countries, the League Cup had, or in some cases still has, group stages in the early stages. These often opened the season before the main league season began.

List of League Cups and Secondary Cups[link]

Asia[link]

[edit] Hong Kong

• Hong Kong League Cup

[edit] India

• Federation Cup

[edit] Japan

• J. League Cup

[edit] Singapore

• Singapore League Cup

[edit] South Korea

• K-League Cup

Africa[link]

[edit] South Africa

• Telkom Knockout

Europe[link]

[edit] England

• Football League Cup
• Isthmian League Cup
• Northern Premier League Challenge Cup
• Northern Premier League President's Cup
• Southern Football League Cup

[edit] Republic of Ireland

• League of Ireland Cup

[edit] Finland

• Finnish League Cup

[edit] France

• Coupe de la Ligue

[edit] Hungary

• Ligakupa

[edit] Iceland

• Deildabikar

[edit] Israel

• Toto Cup

[edit] Northern Ireland

• Irish Football League Cup

[edit] Portugal

• Taça da Liga

[edit] Scotland

• Scottish League Cup

[edit] Turkey

• Spor Toto Cup

[edit] Wales

• Welsh League Cup

North America[link]

[edit] Trinidad and Tobago

• Trinidad and Tobago League Cup

Defunct League Cups[link]

Asia[link]

[edit] Japan

• Japan Soccer League Cup

Africa[link]

[edit] Tunisia

• Tunisia Coupe de la Ligue Professionel

Europe[link]

[edit] Belgium

• Belgian League Cup

[edit] Bulgaria

• Bulgarian Cup
• Cup of the Soviet Army

[edit] Denmark

• Spar Cup
• Danish League Cup
• Viasat Cup

[edit]

• Olympia-Pokal (1964)
• Fuwo-Pokal (1972)
• DFV-Toto-Sonderrunde (1974 & 1976)

[edit] England

• Full Members Cup
• Super Cup
• Centenary Trophy
• Conference League Cup

[edit] France

• Coupe Charles Drago

[edit] Germany

• DFB-Ligapokal

[edit] Greece

• Greek League Cup

[edit] Norway

• Norwegian League Cup

[edit] Poland

• Ekstraklasa Cup

[edit] Portugal

• Federation Cup

[edit] Romania

• Cupa Ligii

[edit] Russia

• Russian Premier League Cup
• FNL Cup

[edit] Scotland

• Saint Mungo Cup
• Scottish Summer Cup
• Southern League Cup

[edit] Spain

• Copa de la Liga

[edit] Switzerland

• Swiss League Cup

[edit] Ukraine

• Ukrainian League Cup

[edit] USSR

• USSR Federation Cup

[edit] Wales

• FAW Premier Cup

Women's League Cups[link]

[edit] England

• Premier League Cup

[edit] Scotland

• Scottish Premier League Cup

Brendan Rodgers

Rodgers at the 2011 Championship Play-Off Final
Personal information
Date of birth	(1973-01-26) 26 January 1973 (age 39)
Place of birth	Carnlough, Northern Ireland
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Liverpool (manager)
Youth career
1984–1987	Ballymena United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1987–1990	Ballymena United	12	(1)
1990	Reading	0	(0)
Teams managed
2008–2009	Watford
2009	Reading
2010–2012	Swansea City
2012–	Liverpool
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish former footballer who is the current manager of Liverpool.

Rodgers began his career as a footballer at Ballymena United before moving to Reading, where an injury forced him to retire at the age of 20. He stayed at Reading as a youth team coach before being invited to join Chelsea as the manager of their youth team in 2004. He was promoted to reserve team manager in 2006.

In November 2008, he was appointed manager of Watford, before moving back to Reading as manager following the resignation of Steve Coppell in June 2009. He left the club by mutual consent in December 2009, and returned to management with Swansea City in July 2010. The following year, he led Swansea City to become the first Welsh team to win promotion to the Premier League, and guided them to 11th in their debut season. In June 2012, Rodgers was announced as the new Liverpool manager.

Early life[link]

Rodgers was born in Carnlough^[1] to parents Malachy and Christina,^[2] the eldest of five brothers.^[3] He was educated at St. Patrick's College in Ballymena.^[4] He played Gaelic football and hurling in Carnlough before taking up football when he was 13.^[4] He grew up as a supporter of Celtic.^[4][5]

Playing career[link]

As a player, Rodgers began his career in Northern Ireland as a defender for Ballymena United.^[6] He made twelve league appearances in three years before being signed by Reading at the age of 18, where he played in the reserves. His playing career was cut short at the age of 20 due to a genetic knee condition.^[7][8]

Managerial career[link]

Watford[link]

On 24 November 2008, Rodgers was appointed manager of Championship side Watford. It was his first managerial position, following on from spells in charge of the Reading youth team and Chelsea reserves.^[9] Watford won only two of their first ten league games, and were in the relegation zone by January. However, Watford's form dramatically improved, and Rodgers was able to guide them to finish 13th.^[10]

Reading[link]

After Steve Coppell resigned as Reading manager, Rodgers quickly became the favourite to replace him.^[11] He later distanced himself from leaving Watford, stating his "concentration is fully on Watford".^[12] and that those linking him with other clubs were questioning his integrity.^[13] Rodgers agreed a deal to become the manager of Reading on 5 June 2009, after a compensation package of an initial £500,000 had been agreed, which rose to £1 million.^[14][15] The Watford Supporters' Trust stated that Rodgers' reputation was "severely damaged" in the eyes of the supporters, but the Trust did "thank Brendan for his efforts last season and wish him well for the future".^[16] On 11 August 2009, Rodgers got his first win as Reading manager with a 5–1 win over League Two team Burton Albion in the League Cup first round. Despite a good start, a very disappointing string of results followed, leading to Rodgers leaving Reading by mutual consent on 16 December 2009.^[17]

Swansea City[link]

Rodgers was appointed as the manager of Championship side Swansea City on 16 July 2010.^[18] He got off to a winning start, and results were very positive, leading to Rodgers being awarded the Championship Manager of the Month Award for February 2011, after Swansea winning five out of the six league games they played that month, whilst keeping four clean sheets.^[19] By 25 April 2011, Rogers had managed to secure Swansea City's place in the Championship Play-Offs for promotion into the Premier League with a convincing 4-1 victory over Ipswich Town at the Liberty Stadium.^[20] On 16 May 2011, Rodgers led Swansea to the Play-Off Final after overcoming Nottingham Forest.^[21] He faced his old club Reading at Wembley on 30 May 2011, in a game which Swansea won 4-2 thanks to a hat-trick from Scott Sinclair, meaning Swansea became the first Welsh team to gain promotion to the Premier League.^[22]

Rodgers' first win as a Premier League manager came on 17 September 2011, when Swansea beat West Bromwich Albion 3–0 at the Liberty Stadium.^[23] Despite many predicting before the season began that Swansea were favourites to be relegated, their impressive season continued, as they picked up points against Liverpool, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, keeping them well above the relegation zone.^{[24][25][26][27]} In January 2012, Swansea claimed their first away win of the season at Aston Villa, a month which saw them beat Arsenal 3–2 at home and hold Chelsea to a 1–1 away draw, which earned Rodgers his first Premier League Manager of the Month Award.^[28][29][30] In February 2012, Rodgers signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract to keep him at the club until July 2015.^[31] Swansea eventually finished 11th in their debut season in the Premier League.

Liverpool[link]

On 1 June 2012, Rodgers was unveiled as Liverpool manager following the departure of Kenny Dalglish two weeks previously.^[32] In a press conference at 10:00 that day, John W. Henry – the club's principle owner through its parent company, Fenway Sports Group – said that "Brendan Rodgers's appointment today as manager of Liverpool Football Club is one of the most important steps we will take in building the kind of club on and off the pitch supporters can be excited about."^[32] Rodgers' appointment was also immediately endorsed by Jose Mourinho.^[33]

Personal life[link]

Rodgers is married and has two children – a daughter and a son.^[34] His son Anton, who was born on his father's 20th birthday in 1993,^[35] is also a professional footballer with Brighton & Hove Albion.^[36] Anton played for Reading academy before moving in 2004 to the Chelsea academy where he signed scholarship forms in summer 2009, but was released in 2011. Brendan also has a daughter Mischa.^[35][34] He speaks Spanish and is learning Italian.^[35] In June 2011, in honour of his mother, who died in 2010, and his father, who died of cancer on 10 September 2011, Rodgers joined a team representing the Football League to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care.^[2] Among the team was the man Rodgers succeeded as Watford manager, Aidy Boothroyd.^[37] His nickname is "Buck Rodgers", after the Buck Rogers character with a similar name.^[9][38][39]

Managerial statistics[link]

As of 1 June 2012^[40]

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	Win %
Watford		24 November 2008	5 June 2009	&1000000000000003200000032	&1000000000000001300000013	&100000000000000070000007	&1000000000000001200000012	&1000000000000004063000040.63
Reading		5 June 2009	16 December 2009	&1000000000000002300000023	&100000000000000060000006	&100000000000000060000006	&1000000000000001100000011	&1000000000000002608999926.09
Swansea City		16 July 2010	1 June 2012	&1000000000000009600000096	&1000000000000004300000043	&1000000000000002000000020	&1000000000000003300000033	&1000000000000004478999944.79
Liverpool		1 June 2012	Present	&100000000000000000000000	&100000000000000000000000	&100000000000000000000000	&100000000000000000000000	!—
Total				&10000000000000151000000151	&1000000000000006200000062	&1000000000000003300000033	&1000000000000005600000056	&1000000000000004106000041.06

Honours[link]

Managerial[link]

Swansea City

• Football League Championship Play-Off Winners (1): 2010–11

Individual[link]

• Premier League Manager of the Month (1): January 2012
• Football League Championship Manager of the Month (1): February 2011

References[link]